Some Temporary Domestic Assistance
As he had intended, Mick was roused from his sleep at 7:30 a.m. by the alarm on his cell phone. He struggled to focus his eyes enough to be able to see the screen and hit the snooze button. It seemed like before his head was able to land back on the pillow the klaxon was sounding again. Mick laid there struggling to gain clarity. In the back of his mind, he was aware that he had a very full schedule ahead and he did not want to get a late jump on getting the day started. He willed his legs over the side of the bed as he sat upright, planting his feet on the floor and his head in his hands.
Not surprisingly, Mick's first lucid thoughts were of his saturnalia with Hannah from the night before. He smiled into his palms as the fog in his mind continued to lift, giving way to clearer and clearer recollection of the previous evening. As much as he wished to linger and ruminate about Hannah, Mick could not help but veer towards the thought of all that the rest of the day was going to bring.
Mick dropped his boxers down to the floor as he stood up, then walked over and opened his armoire where he donned his bathrobe and shower sandals and grabbed his toiletries bag. He shuffled down the hall and for once was glad to find he had his bathroom all to himself. Mick grabbed a quick hot shower even though he was heading for the gym just a bit later, as a good shower always helped clear his head both figuratively and implied.
Back in his room, Mick made himself a cup of coffee then sat down at his desk to spend a little time checking his social media accounts and reading his emails. When he opened up his inbox he found a message from Cory Jensen who was an old squad mate from their days in the military together. He was getting married and wanted Mick's current mailing address so he could send an invitation to his wedding sometime in the spring. Mick sent him a reply with his school post office box and congratulated his friend on taking the plunge. "Better him than me," thought Mick.
He then turned his attention to studying for finals which were throughout the upcoming last week of scheduled classes for the semester. As Mick worked through his notes, he gnawed on a nutrition bar and finished a second cup of coffee in preparation for his workout.
When Mick saw that it was 9:00 a.m., he got up and put on his exercise clothes including a fleece hoodie and pair of athletic pants for the walk to the gym and his jog back to the dorm. Before leaving his room he made sure to grab a sports drink for his workout. The fitness center was not far from Bradley Hall but the trip was a little quicker than usual that morning as it was rather brisk outside.
Mick arrived at the campus exercise facility and immediately placed his outer layers in a locker, grabbed a towel from the shelf and headed over to the stationary bikes to get warmed up. He fiddled with the equipment's settings to get the difficulty set to where he wanted it to be before turning his eye towards the television directly above him. The weekend morning news program was discussing how abnormally bitter it was outside for southern Colorado. "No crap," he quietly said to himself.
Having completed his warm-up, Mick hopped off the cycle and went to grab the sanitizer bottle and a few paper towels to wipe the apparatus down with. He happened to look over towards the weight rack and caught a glimpse of his friend Sean Ellis having a conversation with a girl that Mick had seen in the gym from time to time. Mick turned his attention back to cleaning his bike and then moved on to the circuit equipment as there were a few pieces he liked to utilize before hitting the free weights.
After he was done, Mick moseyed over to the free weights where Sean was still very much engaged with his lovely acquaintance. Mick made eye contact with his friend as he approached and both of them nodded to the other while offering their hand for a loose, passing handshake. "I'll talk to you later," Mick heard the girl say to which his friend Sean responded, "Good seeing you."
Mick let several seconds pass to give the young woman time to get out of earshot before turning back towards to his buddy and saying, "Sorry man, I didn't mean to be a cock-block."
Sean laughed and replied, "No worries, we were pretty much done." Mick nodded hearing his friend's words but Sean quickly witted, "Besides, you couldn't cock-block a hummingbird with that dick!"
"Fucking homo," replied Mick before adding, "I've told you to stop looking over the partitions in the men's room." Both of them laughed heartily as they engaged in a semi-embrace man-hug, being sure not to allow their torsos to come into contact with each other.
Sean was graduate student majoring in chemical engineering. He was an attractive African-American with a cut physique who was as about as tall as Mick. Early in the semester the two struck up a friendship when they met in the gym during their working-outs.
"I've seen her in here a few times... she is smoking," Mick stated before asking, "Are you and her...?"
"No I wish," his friend replied before adding, "That's Reggie Patterson's girl."
By the tone of Sean's voice, Mick took it that he should have known who Reggie Patterson was, but he had absolutely no idea and shrugged his shoulders.
"Reggie Patterson?" spurted Sean, "Senior... six-seven... starting small forward for the Colorado Buffaloes basketball team?" Mick stared back at Sean blankly while slowly shaking his head side to side. "Word is," remarked Sean, "he is being scouted by the pros and has a shot at being drafted."
"I guess it's true then," said Mick, "jocks get the hot women."
"Yeah she is," Sean remarked emphatically before further adding, "You should hear her talk... Even her accent will give you a hard-on."
"Do tell," Mick directed.
Sean said, "She's one of those island girls, I think she said Martinique."
"So how is it that she hooks-up with a guy all the way up in Boulder?" inquired Mick.
"Apparently she has a girlfriend from back home attending Colorado," said Sean, "and she was at a party up there with her friend and that's how Gabrielle and Reggie met."
"Gabrielle...," thought Mick, "pretty name for a pretty girl."
"That guy is a lucky dude," stated Mick.
"Well from the sound of it, I'm not so sure how much longer they'll be together," offered Sean.
It was obvious by Mick's reaction that his curiosity had been piqued. "Must have been an interesting conversation the two of you were having," surmised Mick.
"Very, and I'd love to tell you all about it," replied Sean, "but it's going to have to wait for another time because I have to get out of here."
"I have to get moving too," stated Mick, "We'll have to catch up later."
The two fist-bumped each other before Sean collected his water bottle and hurried out of the gym.
Mick immediately attacked the free weights and moved methodically through his routine as he was very mindful of the time. As he focused on his workout his interest in Sean's and Gabrielle's conversation quickly waned. After he had completed his sets, Mick put his outwear back on and headed out for his run. Fortunately, the morning had decided to warm up a bit while he was inside the fitness center which made his three-mile trot across campus and through the adjoining neighborhood a bit more bearable. As he arrived back at Bradley Hall, Mick checked the clock on his phone and was pleased to see he still had enough time for his usual post-run cool down and stretching.
Mick walked into the dorm and up the stairs to his floor. As he turned the corner he immediately peered down the hallway to see if Whitney was waiting by his door. He was not surprised when she was not. "I've got another five-hundred bucks that she doesn't show," he mumbled to himself as he made his way to his room.
After unlocking his door, Mick entered his room and tossed his ID badge, keys and cell phone onto his desk. He removed his shoes and stripped off all of his dank garments leaving them strewn across the floor. Mick grabbed the towel he had used from his earlier shower and dried himself off the best he could as it was still pretty damp itself. He put on a dry pair of boxers and a tee shirt before retrieving a bottle of water from his mini-fridge and sitting down at his desk to recommence cramming for finals.
Several minutes passed and Mick almost began to forget about Whitney as he became engrossed in his studies. His concentration was interrupted however when his cell phone rang. He picked up his phone and let out a throaty breath, as he was very displeased to see that it was his mother calling. For more than a few seconds Mick sat there looking at his phone contemplating if he should take the call, or let it go to voicemail. "Hello mother," he answered impassively.
"Where were you?" she demanded before snidely inquiring, "Too busy to pick up the phone?" Mick immediately could feel his blood pressure begin to rise.
"Actually I am studying for final exams before I have to go to work," he answered, gritting his teeth and regretting his decision to answer the phone.
"Did you get my email about coming home?" his mother asked with an aggressive tone to which he replied, "I did."
"So why haven't you given us an answer?" she snapped continuing her interrogation.
"As I said I have been studying for finals," he replied, doing his best to remain calm.
"Hmmph," she snorted, "Doesn't seem to stop you from posting on Facebook."
