Storytime

Five years ago, just after I had graduated from high school, I had gotten into a hugh fight with my oldest brother. Zach is 14 years older than me, he had married his high school sweetheart, Mary when he was 20. They had three girls; Cassie, Lindsay and Natalie. Zach is a great father and a great cop, although sometimes he can't separate the cop from who he is when dealing with his family, I guess that's normal. He had also been my legal guardian since my parents were killed in a car accident when I was 8 years old - a drunk driver hit them. I wish I could say that I made it easy for him, but I didn't. There were so many times that I uttered the phrase 'you can't tell me what to do, you aren't my dad.' I knew it hurt him, I knew that he would've done anything he could to have my parents back again but I was young and hurting too. I don't remember why we fought that night, all I know is that it ended up with all of us in tears - Zach, Mary and me. That summer I moved out of his house and left town. I went to my other brother's home 6 hours away. Chad was two years younger than Zach and I hadn't spent that much time with him because he lived so far away. At first he didn't really want me to stay with him, he didn't want to come between Zach and I; he wanted us to work it out. But Zach had asked him to take care of me, I didn't find that out until later.

Everything was going great that summer, I had gotten a job at the diner there as a waitress. I was enjoy it. While working one night, I had run into a guy that had gone to my school a couple years ago. We didn't hang out when he was in school, he was a jock and we didn't run in the same circle. I met him at Mac's, the local bar, a couple weeks after I moved in with Chad. Robbie was still a jock, he was going to college here and living with his brother and his wife. Robbie kept trying to pick me up every time that I saw him, until finally I gave him a chance. He was throwing a party and had invited me to go. He told me that his brother, Josh and his wife, Carol were gonna be outta town.

The night of the party came. I was getting ready to go when Chad came in my room, he wanted to talk to me about what my plans were for the upcoming school year. I told him I wasn't going to college this year. He didn't like that, started to lecture me about taking a year off and not going back, stuff like that. I didn't want to hear it, I've heard it lots from Zach all summer every time I talked to him on the phone. I told Chad I didn't want to hear it and that I was going to a party. Then he starts to question me about the party - who was gonna be there, where it was, that kinda stuff. Being a teenager is sometimes the worst thing ever. Every one telling you what to do and then expecting you to be adult and make your own decisions. I wish I could say that I was mature all the time, but like everyone there are always moments of immaturity. I was frustrated, I finally told him he wasn't my dad and to back off. He stood there, shocked for a moment. I just left and walked over to the party.

There were a lot of people at the house, the music was pumping and the drinks were flowing. Around 2 that morning everyone was wasted, I was feeling good. Robbie had been hanging around me for most of the night, I knew why but I just wasn't interested in doing anything with him. I was about to tell him when the music stopped. We all looked around. Standing next to the stereo was one pissed off guy. He looked around the room, searching for someone. His eyes stopped in my direction and he started forward. I heard Robbie curse behind me. "He wasn't supposed to be in town." He muttered. Josh had stopped right in front of me, he was towering over me, looking behind me at his brother. I wanted to move, but found I couldn't. I glanced up at him, he had to be 6'2 easily. 6'2 and really mad. He was gripping his teeth, his jaw twitched, his blue eyes were cold. I was glad I wasn't on the receiving end of the look he was giving Robbie for he scared me and intrigued me at the same time. He reached around me, grabbing Robbie's arm pushing him towards the kitchen. Before he went through the door, he turned to look at the people still there, "Party's over, go home" he growled then disappeared. People started to scatter, soon I was the only one standing in the living room. I didn't want to go home, I was still upset from my fight with Chad.

So I stood there and listened to them arguing in the kitchen. I couldn't hear what was being said no matter how hard I tried. After a couple minutes I heard glass breaking. I ran into the kitchen, they both stopped and stared at me, I was drunk and crying, who wouldn't stare at me?

"Who are you?" Josh demanded

"A..Anna" I stammered. Robbie had come over and slipped his arm around my waist. "You ok?" I asked him, he nodded.

Josh looked at the two of us for a moment then he shook his head, "I'm going to bed."

After he left Robbie told me that Josh was supposed to be with Carol but something happened. Carol went by herself and Josh went out with his friends, "...he's just as wasted as we are." Robbie and I cleaned up a little then went upstairs. Robbie tried to get me to share his bed with him, but I told him I'd rather be alone. Reluctantly he showed me to the spare room and mentioned that he was in the room on the left, if I changed my mind. He went to the bathroom as I closed my door. I changed into the shirt that he had lent me and slipped into bed.

About an hour later, after tossing and turning I laid on my back thinking about Robbie's not so subtle invitation. Finally I decided to go join him, sure I wasn't really into him but I didn't want to be alone that night either. Quickly and quietly I made my way to his room. Closing the door, I paused momentarily as I heard his soft snores. I chuckled and decided to join him anyway. Waking up in someones arms is a lot better than waking up holding a pillow. I made my way to his bed, lifted the sheets and slid in next to him. I laid on my side, I could see his silhouette, he was laying on his stomach, his head in the pillow. I reached out my hand to touch his shoulder. I was a little surprised to find that he wasn't wearing a shirt, I couldn't help myself as I ran my hand down his back to the waistband of his pj pants, my lips pressed gently against his shoulder. He stirred, mumbling something I couldn't make out. I don't know if it was the drinks I had that night or if it was the fact that he was asleep and I was touching him but laying next to him I wanted him, badly. I trailed my fingers back and forth above the waistband of his pjs as I tried to figure out what else to do, I was very inexperienced. I knew I wanted to touch him but with him on his stomach, I didn't know how or where. I shifted my position, now up on my elbow I leaned over him and kissed the back of his neck. His arm came out, wrapped around my waist and pulled me to him. He stopped moving when his body was pressed up against mine, his lips rested against my forehead, his hand was cupping my bum. I could barely breath, I didn't expect to feel the sensations that flowed through me, I wanted more. I stretched, slowly turning my face up to his, my lips grazed his throat as I moved. A low moan came from his lips, his left hand left my bum to grip my hand as he turned me onto my back and moved over me. He lowered his head, his lips brushing mine once before he kissed me. Until that moment, I didn't understand what people meant with they said that they melted. I didn't have time to think about it either, for his hand had left mine and was sliding up under my shirt. I gasped against his mouth as his hand cupped my breast and I froze as I felt something cold and hard against my warm flesh. OH MY GOD!! My mind screamed as I realized what it was. I tried to push him away but he wouldn't stop. I panicked, I did the only thing I could think of, I bit his shoulder, hard.

He swore. "Son of a-" He stretched to turn on the lamp next to the bed, "Honey, wh-" He looked down at me, all the color drained out of his face, "Anna? How the..." He took a deep breath. "What the hell are you doing? Why are you..." His eyes had left mine, he was staring at my shirt barely covering my breast and his hand which was resting beneath. He pulled his hand away as if it was burnt, his eyes flew to mine, he ran his hand nervously through his hair. He cleared his throat and went to say something. I didn't want to hear what it was, I had to get outta there. I freed myself from him. I grabbed my stuff from the spare room and ran down the steps. I got to the front door before he caught up with me.

"Let me go." I cried, the tears streaming down my face. "I'm sorry...I didn't...I...I..." I gasped for breath as I struggled to get away from him. His eyes searched my face for a moment, then he released me. I ran out into the night, carrying my clothes, no shoes on my feet. I made it into Chad's house and in my bed without anyone seeing me. I cried myself to sleep that night, vowing to leave the next day.

****

I looked over at Jordan when I finished the story, he was staring at me in disbelief. "You made out with Josh?"

I nodded, "I didn't realize it was him at the time. Of course, when I look back on it, there were signs that I missed."

Jordan shook his head. "I can't believe you never told me this before."

I sighed, "Jordan, I wanted to forget it. It's not everyday I mistakenly make out with a married man. I was embarrassed and wanted to forget." Jordan hugged me. "It all came back tonight, I felt stupid all over again, and I passed out. I'm just glad that I never have to see him again."

"What do you mean?" Jordan looked puzzled.

"Well, he's only here for Christmas, visiting his parents. He'll have to go back home and I won't ever have to run into him again." I smiled, thinking how I'd only have to be on guard for a few days then it'll be fine again.

Jordan coughed, "Ummm Anna, I don't know how to tell you this."

"What?" I questioned cautiously

"Babe, Josh lives here now. He works at our old high school." He hugged me again, "Anna, he's friends with Zach."

Going Home

The rest of that night passed by quickly. I was very relieved when 10 pm came so I could go home. Home for me is a cozy three bedroom house located just outside city limits which I share with a friend. There aren't that many people who are fortunate enough to have a life long best friend, I was extremely fortunate, in that I have two. It's one of those cases where our parents were friends, so we hung out and actually liked hanging out.

On my way home that night, I was hoping that my roommate was home, I really needed to talk. But when I pulled onto my street and looked towards the house, I was disappointed to see all the lights were off with no cars in the driveway. Before entering my home, I checked the mail. Entering the front door, I flipped on the hall light and made my way to the kitchen. Hitting the button on the answering machine, I glanced at the whiteboard on the fridge to see if there was a note left. Not finding a message for me, I made my way down the hall to my bedroom.

In my room, I dropped the bags that contained the remainder of my Christmas shopping in the pile with the rest of the unwrapped ones. I stood for a moment rubbing my sore neck, then decided to go sit in a bubble bath and relax for a while.

After removing my clothes and donning a bathrobe, I made my way further down the hall, pass my roommates room to the end where the bathroom was located. The bathroom was tiny and nothing spectacular to look at. There was a small window across from the door, it had not curtains up to it, I'm not sure what kinda glass was in there but you couldn't see in from outside through it. I know that because I checked it out when we first moved in there. Behind the door stood a couple shelves that were built into the wall, they held our towels and extra bath products. Grabbing a towel and my bubble bath from the shelf I took the two steps to the left towards the tub. While checking the water temperature, I poured a generous amount of bubbles into the water. Stepping back from the tub I turned to brush out my hair. Finally the tub was full enough, I removed my robe and lowered my arching body into the water. Sighing, I leaned back and closed my eyes.

I must have fallen asleep for the next thing I know, I'm being shaken awake. "Wha-"

"You know babe, it's times like this..." My roommates words died off as he saw the look of panic on my face.

"Jordan! Get out!" I drew my legs up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them. "You shouldn't be in here."

Laughing, he knelt next to the tub, "Relax babe, I can't see anything, too many bubbles." He dipped his hand into the bubbles and removed some which he proceeded to blow around the room. "So I heard that you fainted flat on your face tonight. Something about some guy?"

I rolled my eyes, "How did you - oh wait, nevermind." Jordan had a friend who worked in TLE, Henry.

"So it's true then?" He turned to look at me, "You ok? Who was the guy?"
I sighed, "Josh Baker. It was stupid Jordy." I told him about Jesse and the Code Adam.

"I still don't understand the passing out." He said when I was done. I sighed again. "Come on Anna, why would seeing Coach Baker cause you to faint? You don't even know him."

I looked at Jordan. "I did five years ago. Well, sorta."

He gave me his 'you are talking crazy' look. "Secrets? From me? I'm shocked."

"Well, a girl's gotta have some secrets." I joked, he didn't laugh. Sigh. "Ok fine, give me a couple minutes. I'll finish up in here and join you out in the living room."

I took my time getting out of the tub, I really wanted to talk to Jordan about the whole thing with Josh but I've been trying to avoid ever remembering that night. When I joined him on the couch, Jordan was pretending to be asleep. "Took you long enough" he said, peeking at me through one half opened eye. I hit him with a cushion. "Abuse!" He called out as he grabbed me and started to tickle my sides.

I hit him again laughing. "Get off me you freak!" When we finally stopped laughing I started to tell him the whole story.

Life's Like That

Everything was black, then slowly the blackness was gone. I could hear low murmurs of voices, they weren't that far away but not close enough for me to hear what was being said. There was a light coming from...beneath me?? I felt like I was trying to wake from a deep sleep; disoriented and groggy. I laid there for a while, my eyes closed.

I fainted! I can't believe I fainted! One look into those amazingly blue eyes of his, one glimpse of his handsome face and you are worst than jello! What is wrong with you? I lectured myself, feeling the embarrassment creep up. You always read in romance novels about women swooning and fainting; about how graceful it is. But in reality, it's down right embarrassing. How embarrassing? I think it rates right up there with accidentally flashing your cleavage in public. Or maybe I just embarrass easily.

"Ama open eyes tay?" I smiled at the almost commanding tone in Jessse's voice. He was kneeling by my side on the bed in the first aid room when I peeked at him. He giggled, "You wake."

"Hey Sweety," I lifted my hand to brush the hair out of his face, knocking his bear from its resting place against my arm. Catching the bear before it hit the floor, I handed him back to Jesse, who promptly hugged him tight. "So who's this little guy?"

"That's Mister Bear." Somewhere in the conversation with Jess, his dad had appeared in the room. "They go back a long way, right kiddo?" He sat on the edge of the bed and ruffled Jesse's hair.

Crawling onto his dad's lap, Jesse replied. "Yes daddy, Mis'er Bear Jesse's."

Wrapping his arms around Jesse, he kissed the top of his son's head and looked at me. "Hello Beautiful."

My chest tightened as he called me that. I had to look away, I had to close my eyes, I didn't want him to see the effect that had on me after all these years. Taking a deep breath, I looked back at him, smiled. "Hello Josh, it's - "

"Well, Anna it's about time you came too!" Barb, the assistant manager on duty, burst in the door. I always liked Barb, she's one of those people who are forever cheerful that you wonder if they are doing anything illegal substances at work. At 30 she's been with the company for 10 years. She started out as a cashier, worked her way up the ladder. She has seen it all and still gets excited everyday to get out there to greet the customers. Working with Barb is always fun and she's not afraid to get her hands dirty, so to speak. "How are we doing?" She looked back and forth between Josh and I; catching my eye, she gave me this knowing smile and winked! Winked? Who does that?

I sat up slowly. "We are doing fine. Ready to get back to work."

Josh's hand came down on my arm as I started to get up. "Do you think you should do that? Maybe I could take you home?"

Shaking off his hand, I made my way to the door. "I'm fine. I'm tough. I can handle anything." He lowered his eyes. I left the room, turned left and headed towards the receiving doors to the front.

"Hey Anna." Josh called out from the first aid room.

I looked over my shoulder at him. He had followed me to the doors, he was right behind me. He leaned against the door jamb as I waited for him to say what he wanted too. "It's great to see you again. I was hoping I'd run into you." Picking up Jesse, he pushed through the swinging doors. "Come on Kiddo, Nana's gonna be worried."

"Bye Bye Ama." Jesse waved at me over Josh's shoulder, Mister Bear dangling from his tiny hand.

I wanted to follow him. I wanted to go back to that moment five years ago when things got so messed up. I wanted that, but I watched him walk away, thinking the one thing I always thought the many times I watched him do so. Damn! He makes a great exit.

"Associate in or around infants call 105 or come to till 6 for customer service." I looked up at the ceiling, sighing as the page repeated. "Associate in or around infants call 105 or come to till 6 for customer service."

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

The holiday season is fast approaching; with just a week until Christmas Day it's easy to understand why I am wishing that I was anywhere but where I was tonight - at work.

I work in retail, to be more specific, I work for the biggest 'boxstore' in the world. That's right folks, I work for WalMart. Now normally it's not that bad here - sure you get the odd customer that seem to go outta their way to take out their crappy day on you but you learn to deal with them. Believe it or not, that's not the worst thing a customer can do.

This time of year always brings the crazies outta the woodwork. You know who they are. The Ones who expect to get something for nothing, the ones who expect you to pull this years hot 'must have' toy from places that toys don't normally come, because they decided to leave their holiday shopping until the last minute. Nothing matters to them, not the fact that you aren't gonna magically find the toy hidden somewhere; or the fact that soon the toy they spent forever looking for, and a ton of money on, will sit unplayed with, gathering dust in some forgotten closet long before the shine wears off. Ah yes, I was having one of those days, so my Christmas spirit is pretty much nonexistent at the moment.

My main department is infants; I stock the shelves, help customers look for items and make suggestions where ever I can. The real reason I work infants is to see and talk to the little kids that come through - I love kids. I can't wait to have some of my own. I'm 23 years old and single, so that may not be for a while but it'll happen.

Like all associates, just because I'm assigned to a certain area doesn't mean that you'll always find me there. Now I know what you are thinking, that you can never find an associate at WalMart when you really need one, and for the most part you are right. I assure you, it's not intentional. The lack of people in the town I work in, and the high number of places looking for people, make for staffing issues at my store. So if you don't find me in infants it's because I was called to help someone else in the store. I'm cash trained, so you may find me at the tills; you may sometimes find me covering the fitting rooms while that associate is on break; you may even find me helping a customer at the layaway desk, which is where I found myself tonight.

This close to Christmas, store policy is to no longer except layaways until the new year. We like to have all layaways picked up by the middle of the month but of course, in some cases, people don't quite have the money for their items until later. So that's why I was helping two different customers pick up their layaways. While I was working with the customers, they were a mother and daughter, really friendly - it's always nice when customers are friendly, it makes life so much easier and honestly? It makes you want to help them - I noticed a little boy wandering around the area. I didn't think too much of it, I assumed he was with them.

I finished with the ladies, cleaned up the counter and went to make my way back to infants. I paused, seeing the little boy was still wandering around, I looked around for an adult but there wasn't anyone close by. Turning my attention back to the boy, I watched as he stopped, looked around and then he looked at me. When his tear filled blue eyes met mine, I was struck with a feeling that I should know this little boy but for the life of me I couldn't figure out who he was. He looked so sad, it damn near broke my heart. His little lip trembled as he hugged the raggedy teddy bear to this tiny body. Damn, I thought, he can't be any older than 3. I stepped closer to him, intent on finding out who he was. He sat on the floor, his shoulders slumped, tears fell freely as his tiny voice called out, "Daddy?" I felt my own eyes fill with tears as he called out to his dad again.

"Umm, hey little boy," I said softly as I knelt next to him. "My name is Anna, what's your name?" He stared up at me, like he was thinking that he shouldn't talk to me because I was a stranger. "I work here, see?" I straightened up, showed him my smock and pointed to my name badge. "I'm Anna." I repeated. Nodding to the counter behind me, I continued. "I'm gonna go over to there and make a phone call to find your daddy. You'll stay here?" He nodded, "Want Daddy"

I smiled, "Don't worry sweety, I'll find him." I made my way back to the counter, picking up the phone to page, I glanced back to where I left him - he was gone! A moment of panic hit me, then I felt a little tug on the leg of my pants. Scooping him off the floor, I sat him on the counter in front of me. "Now to find-"

"Attention all associates," a concerned voice came over the PA system. "We have a Code Adam. A boy, 2 years old. He has blue eyes and dark brown hair. He is wearing a red t-shirt, blue jeans and black sneakers - all have Spiderman on them. He is carrying a teddy bear."

Raising a brow, I smile at the boy. "Daddy is looking for you." He held onto my arm and stood up on the counter. He leaned towards the phone at my ear when I dialed the paging number. "Child matching Code Adam description in Layaway," I said. The little boy piped up, "'lo Daddy?" just as I was finishing. Laughing, I replaced the receiver. "Daddy is coming sweety."

Not long after I heard the sound of running footsteps, as they got closer I heard a deep male voice call out, "Jesse?" The little boy on the counter grinned, his eyes growing wide, he threw his arms up, "Daddy!" He cried as he jumped from the counter, into the strong arms of his father.

I picked up the phone, paging again. "Code Adam child safe and sound."

I turned back to Jesse and his dad as I hung up the phone. At the same moment, Jesse's dad lifted his head from his son's shoulder, he started to say something as his eyes slid over to me. I don't know what it was that he wanted to say, the second my eyes met his blue ones I felt my stomach lurch and my heart clench, I knew why Jesse seemed familiar to me. "Oh my God!" I exclaimed before everything went black.

In the beginning...

...there was nothing but in the following days life started to take shape. What will happen? Who knows? Maybe this journey will be a little interesting ~g~