The klaxon blaring from Jane's cell phone went off first, and then Marie's added to the din. Both Jane and Marie were in the kitchen, bumping around one another to try and make a decent meal for the night. "What's that about?" Marie wondered as Jane walked over and picked up her phone. She thumbed the device and scanned it quickly, looking up at Jane.
"Severe thunderstorm warning," she said, and then her thumb moved as she opened her weather app. She checked the radar just as a deep rumble of thunder rolled over the region. "Holy shit," she said, then showing Jane the image.
"Derecho," Jane said right away. She looked at the supper. "Should we finish? It's going to be here when?"
"Twenty minutes," Marie replied, returning to the kitchen. "Everything's prepped, right?"
"Yeah, but the recipe calls for like forty minutes of baking," Sarah peered at their recipe.
Marie shrugged. "Well, let's put the cold stuff back, and see what happens." This led to about five minutes of more back-and-forth, now putting stuff into the fridge. "Besides," Marie added, "we could always let the chicken marinate longer."
The thunder was growing closer and steadier. The degree of light had lessened a great deal as the dark, thick clouds full of water neared. The wind picked up; the apartment the girls shared overlooked a county park, and it was all thick woods behind their building. They watched as the small trees began whipping forward under the force of the wind, springing back and then doing it again.
Why Marie reached out and took Jane's hand in hers was never really decided upon. Later, Marie wondered if the night would have turned out like it did had she not made that simple gesture as the two stood in front of the sliding glass door that led out to their small, concrete balcony. But she did, plucking Jane's hand into hers, and together they stood there, hand in hand, watching nature put on a display of fury.
The tempest was upon them. The lightning strikes lit things up in crazy flashed, the thunder boomed and rumbled and boomed again. The rain came down in sheets, driven nearly horizontal from the force of the wind. Marie's reflexive gripping of Jane's hand was to seek warmth and comfort.
When the hot streak of blue-white light filled their eyes, followed instantly by an ear-shattering crack of thunder, both girls screeched in terror and backed up. Marie bumped into the couch and fell, and her grip was so tight on Jane's hand that she pulled Jane into the coffee table. She fell with a heavy thud, and the coffee table's legs gave way, and Jane finally crashed onto the floor, the rubble of the destroyed table strewn under her body. And to top it all off, the lights snapped off with a finality.
"Owwww fuck!" Jane managed weakly. Marie, who'd tumbled onto the couch, looked down and laughed.
"Oops."
Another close bolt of lightning struck and the resulting ear-shattering crack sent both of them scurrying to their feet, moving to the innermost wall of the building. There they sat, their backs to the wall, their feet drawn up, and watched in awe at the wrath.
But like most fast-moving storms, this one came to a sudden end. The wind died, the rain lessened and the sounds of thunder became more distant and less frequent. But the lights did not come back on, and while the air temperatures had cooled during the storm, both the temperature and the resulting humidity began to climb in the wake of its passage.
"Oh god, I hope the power comes back on," Jane said an hour later. They were seated on their couch together, both girl's attention focused on their phones. They had nothing else to do, or that they could do. They had to conserve power on their phones or those would be utterly dead, too.
"My guess is that it won't be for hours," Marie said. "Remember I grew up not far from here," she added.
They'd met in college, tossed together as roommates their freshman year. They discovered an instant bond, made stronger over the years as they weathered the pressures of college and social life. They had boyfriends and lost boyfriends. They had hookups that they recalled fondly, and others that were never to be mentioned again. They were normal college kids enjoying a normal college life, and their tight friendship was supportive. They rarely fought, though on those times that they did, they were intense moments.
They managed to graduate at the same time, and both chose their first career positions in the city closer to Marie's home. It was much further for Jane, but she had long professed a desire to escape her family. Jane's parents were divorced two years ago and Jane remained angry at them both. Her older sister was as entitled a bitch as Marie had ever met, and Jane had supported Marie's overall desire to be rid of her family. Marie's parents treated Jane like she was Marie's sister instead of her best friend and roommate, which made the separation from Jane's home feel more tolerable.
"I know," Jane replied quietly. "Wonder if your parents have power?"
"Oh!" Marie exclaimed. "I should find out!" She quickly typed up a text to her mom then waited, and about three minutes later her mom confirmed that their power was out, too. So the two texted for a while as Jane watched and read over Marie's shoulder.
The apartment got steadily warmer and muggier. Jane, who sported a thicker body, whined a little. She pulled her shirt off, removed her bra and then jammed her shirt back on.
"Improvements?" Marie asked, a bemused expression on her face.
"No," Jane grumped. "I hate boob sweat," she said with a grimace.
"Oh yeah, that sucks. Don't we have a fan?" Marie wondered.
"We do," Jane said, "but there's that little power problem."
"Oh, DUH!" Marie laughed at herself.
"I wonder if the windows open would be better or not?"
"Well, if it cools down at all," Marie thought aloud.
"Let's do it," Jane decided. "Can't be worse, can it?"
An hour later, Marie scowled at Jane in the near darkness. "Can't be worse, can it?" she mocked.
"Oh, shut up," Jane replied crossly.
Both girls were now without bras, and their shirts stuck to their bodies uncomfortably from the influx of humidity leading to a closeness that led directly to perspiration. "God," Marie moaned, "my shirt is soaked through!"
"So's mine," Jane agreed. She looked down. "See, this is where big tits are definitely NOT a plus!" she laughed.
Marie looked over, seeing how her shirt clung to her bigger, fleshier body. "Yeah, I see that," she agreed. Then, in a flash, she muttered "Well, I don't give a fuck," she peeled her shirt off, then stood up suddenly and yanked her pant and panties off. Then she sat back down. "Fuck it, if I'm gonna sweat, then I'm gonna be naked doing it."
"Naked!?" Jane laughed. "It's a naked night? You should have told me!" She did the same thing, and peeled out of her damp clothing. Now the two sat on the couch together, fully naked.
It was dark. It was hot. Marie had a flashback to holding Jane's hand while the storm ramped up, before they were scared into breaking their furniture and the lights went out. She recalled how warm and soft the hand felt in hers, and all of a sudden, she couldn't get that touch out of her mind.
