Chapter 1 – Time for a change
Michelle cursed the alarm clock, the toaster that fried her breakfast, and of course, the traffic that was making her morning horrendous... Michelle very slowly made her way to work. Michelle had thought today would be a good day – it was Friday, the boss was out of town. It should have been cake. But, with the way her week had been progressing, this was the icing on the cake as they say.
Monday morning Michelle awoke to a text message, suggesting that perhaps it was time for us to explore other options. This from Jack, the man that had just two months ago had proposed to me. Michelle knew something was going on – there had been so many business trips and late nights at the office. It was not really a surprise.
The sad part about it, Michelle was not all that upset that it was over; Michelle was more upset about the chicken shit sort of way that he told her. Monday night was spent boxing up the few things that he had left at her house; Michelle just set the box on the front porch. He could get it when he wanted.
Michelle tried to act casual when she saw Alex pulling into the driveway Monday night. Playing off the box in her hands as some sort of charity donation; Michelle did not want to admit any of it to him. She had known Alex all of her life; he was probably her best friend. But, it was not the sort of talk she wanted to have right now. Talking about it would lead to her needing alcohol to get the story out, and she really did not need a hangover for Tuesday. So, instead, it was a bit of idle chit chat as she tried to extricate herself before he could tell anything from her expression or tone of voice.
Giving one last wave as Alex went off to check the mail; Michelle snuck into the house. Taking a few moments to take stock of her life; she chuckled a bit and walked into the kitchen for her favorite dinner... cold cereal. With bowl in hand she settled into the couch, watching some inane cooking show competition.
As she sat there during one of the rare lulls that week at work, it finally hit her that now she could do whatever she wanted with her vacation. No worrying about saving up for that too expensive honeymoon that was planned. Michelle am not sure even how she had gotten all caught up in it; or even why she had said yes to Jack in the first place. She suppose it was just getting lost in the moment, doing what was expected of her, fitting in with what was regimented into her head from the start.
But, as she sat back now, looking in from the outside – she was not quite sure why she had even said yes to the second date. Jack was autocratic, self-centered, and to be honest; unimaginative in bed. While he most assuredly always went to sleep satisfied; she was not more often than she was. It was straight, missionary sex only in Jack's mind; and there better not be much foreplay or light in the room either.
I laughed a bit, wondering if Jack had some deformity he never wanted her to see. Shrugging to herself, she figured she was better off just not knowing. Michelle knew there had to be more to sex that what Jack was showing me; but, considering she had no experience other than him... she was clueless on where to even begin to figure out what she enjoyed. The romance novels she had read in the past though, sure did give the impression that there was a whole lot she was missing out on.
Alex had grumbled under his breath. He never liked Fridays... too many couples, too many people wasting their lives, drowned in alcohol and hedonism. It also meant too many people with injuries coming into his work. He worked at the nearby hospital, working as a doctor's assistant. His friends would joke with him, call him a nurse, making sure he never forgot that he failed in med school, and only got to this position because he knew people. But it had been an interesting week, and he was just about ready to wind down...
Monday morning, he was awakened by an urgent call on his cell phone. It was about 8 or 9 AM, but since he usually worked night shifts at the hospital, he was used to sleeping in late. He groaned as he saw the call was from his work.
"Hello?" Alex asked with hesitance, trying to think of a reason why he wouldn't have to work that morning, a way he could get out of it. Family emergency, perhaps?
"Alex, this is Susanne, you're needed to work today. There was a wreck on the freeway and we have several victims. Too many with our staff alone. Can you make it in?" Alex sighed softly, feeling frustrated. This wasn't what he had planned today. "Yeah, I can make it. Give me half an hour or so." Alex hoped he could at least get in a shower before he made it to work. "Sounds great, see you soon." Alex hung up his phone, and checked his texts. He had several. They were from his girlfriend of 6 months, Elise. She had been drinking the night before. In fact, it always seemed she was drunk.
"hi babe, just txting u to let u know i miss you! :) see u when i see you."
"hey how come ur not txting bak? im with the girls tonite at the bar so txt me asap thx"
"omg im relli worried about u... r we ok? if were not just txt me n tell me. luv u!"
Alex grumbled. She always freaked out that he wanted nothing to do with her, but in reality he was simply sleeping. Working late nights do that to a person. She was much too clingy, and the fact she loved him so much almost drove him away. He shook his head, and replied with a simple, "I love you, don't worry about us, I was just sleeping." and got out of bed. Throwing his phone in his pocket, he made his way to the shower. It took him about 10 minutes. He knew he was running late already. He ran out to his car, and saw that Michelle's car was still there. She had been his best friend since forever, neighbors growing up, but they never really had that spark between them. Perfect, since Elise was so jealous that he lived with her.
