succinct, pt. 2

When she invites him into her apartment, he declines. "It's not much further," he says, and there is something about the way he says it that gives her pause. He kisses her, and he says good night, calling her by a name he's never called her before. This is not lost on her, but she doesn't say anything about it.

It's still early, as far as she is concerned, so she puts on a movie and pours the last of the red wine they opened the other night. It is not, as she fears, vinegary. She puts her concerns out of mind and drops off before the climax of the movie.

She wakes from strange dreams at four in the morning, and now her mind is racing, because she doesn't remember falling asleep, and that is upsetting. And now she remembers the strange name he used, and now she is worried. She begins typing an email, hesitates, begins calling his cell phone, hesitates again, and settles for the email. She passes out again. In the morning there is an email waiting for her that says he didn't mean anything by it and honestly didn't even remember calling her that.

She worries at first, but by the time she has taken a shower and gotten dressed the sun is high and it's a beautiful morning in the fall, and there's simply so much to do today.