"Annabelle! Where's my good tie!? I need that tie for a meeting today. If they can't see a good presentation, they won't choose my company to represent them!"
"Did you look in the dog's bed?"
"WHAT!? Why would it be there!? That's my best tie!" Zarrek stormed out of their room, nearly falling over a sleeping 2-year-old Abby, who, like most nights had had another nightmare and decided to bunk down in front of her parents' room for safety reasons, of course. After neatly avoiding a toe on stomach collision, he promptly tripped over an over excitable German Sheppard/ Husky and fell flat on his face.
A number of things happened all at once. Abby awoke, startled, and began to wail like a banshee, Annabelle came whizzing around the corner from the kitchen to see who had died and the dog yelped and began to bark like crazy, deciding it was playtime. Annabelle flew to Abby's side, picked her up and rocked her back and forth to get her to calm down.
"Zarrek, are you alright?"
Zarrek lay there for a bit before turning over onto his back to see his dog wearing his favorite tie. "Yeah, I'll be fine. Joey! Come here now!"
The shuffle of little feet was all that was heard as 5-year-old Jolene came into the room as if she were being walked to the electric chair. "Yes, Daddy?" She murmured in a whisper.
Zarrek looked up at his little girl, the quietly asked, "Joey, why is Oobboo wearing my tie?"
Joey looked at her mother, then back at her father, "Cuz Oobboo wants to go to work with you, Daddy, he told me so."
Zarrek sighed, shook his head and retrieved his tie from the dog's neck. "From now on, Honey, people cloths stay on people only, Ok?"
"Yes Daddy."
Zarrek finished dressing, and then looked at the clock. Quarter till 9. He muttered a curse, grabbed his briefcase, coffee and paper and rushed out the door, hurriedly pecking a kiss on his wife's cheek as he left.
Chapter 2
Annabel lay next to her daughters that night, for they had decided to share a blanket fort in the living room rather than have their beds to sleep in. Both of them were sleeping soundly...for now. Annabelle decided to get up and finish the kitchen chores. She looked at the clock on the stove, seeing that it was almost nine. Another night with out her husband. She set to work, cleaning the table, filling the dishwasher, and wiping the counters down. She looked at the clock again, 9: 15. She sighed and wandered down the hall to her room. She was tired of spending all her evenings alone. It wasn't fair to her or the kids. She was determined not to be a married single parent, just like her sister was. Being married didn't mean splitting tasks to be done; it meant working together on them. She needed to have that talk with her husband.
She put some music on, some soft, sexy melody to dance to as she undressed for her bath. She began to sway back and forth, and then as the song went deeper into her body, she began to move her hips and shoulders more. She rocked her hips in time with the beat as she slid one strap of her tank top off her shoulder, then the other. She sensuously slid the tank top down her chest, off the gentle slope of her breasts. She pushed it down past her hips, down her long legs and kicked it away from her. Annabelle danced as if for a lover watching. In her minds eye, she could see him, standing in the doorway, dressed in slacks and a shirt that was halfway open, showing off his very masculine chest. Next she unbuttoned the button on her denim shorts, slowly slid the zipper down and shimmied her way out of them, caressing her stomach as she did so. She turned from the doorway, showing her imaginary lover her back. She slowly gyrated her hips as she reached behind her to unfasten her bra. The house creaked, sending shiver of fear and aloneness up her spine. Annabelle shook it off then went to go turn off the music, what she was doing was silly, it's not like any one was watching her, she thought.
