Half-Nekkid Thursday

My first HNT...I'm not a virgin anymore!



Kitty decided she likes the idea too...

The Walking Date

After not seeing Aiden for five days, we finally got the opportunity yesterday to have another afternoon lunch-thing. Okay, it wasn't really lunch...I ate lunch with a friend from class in the middle of the day, but afterwards met up with Aiden in town. He grabbed a slice of pizza and then the two of us went walking, all over town, for more than an hour. Usually I don't like walking aimlessly - I'm a runner, not a hiker. But just being with him made it fun, holding hands or with our arms crossed and hands in each other's back pockets, stopping every random now and then to kiss.

It was colder than a brass teat in January outside, but I put up with it because we really have nowhere indoors that we can go. At least it was sunny. We talked about everything, from cooking to work to autism to his wife's accidental pregnancy (apparently the only reason he's married at all). I needed the workout, too...my legs are sore today from climbing all the hills. When it was eventually time for him to go to work, we got into my car so I could give him a ride to his on the other side of the hill. I parked on the back street, and the making out starting in earnest.

He unzipped my jacket (and then my second jacket...I like layers) and started running his hands over my stomach and my breasts while we kissed. I returned his touch, finding the nipple ring I knew was there. I've never been with anyone who had a nipple ring, and I like them. His hands moved slowly, gentle but firm and confident, and my insides started to melt. He pinched my nipple, and I gasped slightly.

"It's a good thing for both of us it's so cold outside," he said.

I nodded. "Uh huh, yeah, it is..."

"I really can see you and I have a d/s relationship," he said, something he'd mentioned in passing a week or so ago.

"I have no problem with that," I agreed, excited at the possibility. Kevin and I had discussed such a thing a while back, but it never really happened, and now there's no way I'd ever let him have that degree of control over me, not when I don't even enjoy fucking him anymore.

Aiden grabbed my hair and pulled my head close, so that his mouth was in my ear. "Would you like to call me Sir?" he asked.

I smiled to myself. "Yes Sir," I responded, then turned the conversation to nipple rings, since I was playing with his. "I've always wanted to get mine done."

"Just as long as I get to play with them first," he said.

"Of course," I said.

"Do you wear a barbell or a hoop in your VCH?" he asked. It's actually an HCH, but I didn't bother correcting him.

"A hoop, why?"

"You get a couple of horizontal barbells, and I'll get you a keeper...and I'll make you wear it at work."

"You're awful," I said. "And you would, too..."

He nodded. His smile made me dizzy.

This time there was no discussion of "is this a date?" He simply said that he thought having a "walking date" was cute. So we had an actual date this time. I'm excited. Oh wait, that's not news.

"I'll give Kevin credit for one thing," he said as we were leaving. I raised my eyebrows to ask what that one thing was. "He was right - I did need a girlfriend."

My plans for last night were to go to dinner with Wren at the diner, then for the two of us and Kevin to go out clubbing, but she didn't realize the dinner wasn't going to include him and told him about it. So the three of us went to dinner on Aiden's shift. He didn't have a section when we got there; he was finishing sidework and getting ready to leave, so after we finished our food he sat down with us. It wasn't really the way I wanted Aiden and Wren to meet, with Kevin sitting there staring us all down, but I'll take what I can get.

All in all, things didn't go badly...Aiden and I are both good at playing the casual game, and I've kept enough secrets for Wren that she would never say anything. My only moment of vague unease was my own fault and came when Kevin said again that Aiden needed a date.

"I just think that who he's going to be looking at..." he trailed off, and I nearly jumped out of my skin.

"Oh come on," I said with disgust, "Are you really still on about him hitting on me?"

"No," he said, and I wanted to kick myself. "I think he's going to be looking for a boy, honestly."

"Oh. Yeah, I can see that, he's admitted to me that he's not 100% straight."

Usually I'm good at keeping my cool, but we all have our moments. I wish I hadn't jumped down his throat about it. Wren did her best to save me, too, by pointing out that flirting with your coworkers is just a fact of restaurant life, and she would know - she's been a waitress for years.

Nothing else odd happened, and after half an hour or so we all took off, Aiden home to Lily and Wren, Kevin and I to the club. It was a fun night, though it would have been better (as well as significantly more dangerous) if Aiden could have come, too. We begged him to join us, but he said his wife would throw a hissy and went home.

When Kevin wandered away to talk to his friends, I finally got a moment to ask Wren for her opinion of Aiden.

"He seems really effeminate," she said. "But not in a bad way. I mean, we didn't really get to talk much."

"I like that," I said with a grin, and repeated the same thing I'd said to Aiden himself earlier in the day. "I'm sick of the macho man complex."

Kevin claims to be so comfortable with his sexuality, and for a while I believed him...but then I started taking notice of his actual behavior, and realized his claim is bullshit. If it's not masculine, it's not for him, never mind that anyone who knows him knows very well that he's straight. I'll never forget the look on his face the night he got his ass pinched by a DJ in a club. It was funny as hell, but not pretty. I appreciate a guy who can wear platforms and eyeliner. Okay, in total honesty, I find them sexy as hell.

Night of Wren

I had sex with Kevin last night for the first time in two weeks. As a note, I barely count the last time, because I was drunk out of my mind...but technically that was the last one. Anyway, I got into my work uniform and headed to the diner, but once there, was told that they didn't need me. Apparently no one found it necessary to call and inform me of such; at least the manager apologized, but I was a bit annoyed.

I ran into Aiden for the first time in four days, but Lily and his son were there, so nothing happened but "Hi how are you bye." On my way home, it occurred to me that that was the last place in the world I wanted to be going. I haven't been disappointed the last couple of weeks when I've been put on closing shift, because being at work lately is more fun than being at home. I feel like a bitch saying it, but it's the way I honestly feel.

Halfway home, I turned down the music and called my old friend Eben to see if he wanted a visitor, but he didn't answer. I turned up the music, drove almost all the way home, then turned it down again and called Wren. She answered and was thrilled with the idea of seeing me, since we hadn't seen each other in almost two months. I considered just going straight to her house, but she wasn't going to be home for another hour and a half, and I didn't really want to show up there in my greasy-smelling uniform, so I went home first.

When I got there, Kevin was on the phone with his mom, but he hung up as soon as I came in. He was thrilled that I had the night off, and totally bummed when I told him I was going to visit Wren.

"I just got you back and now I'm losing you again," he complained. I tried to give him a hug, but the response was lackluster. "When are you leaving?"

"In half an hour," I answered.

"Oh, damn."

"Why?"

"I was going to take you upstairs and get you naked."

"Can you finish your dinner and get me naked and dressed again in half an hour?"

"Well, it'll be a little more than that. Wren will have to wait."

I knew I'd be late, but at that point I'd committed myself. I've had less than no interest in having sex with him for three weeks or so now, but I can't just stop doing it altogether if I want to keep things together a little longer. Once again, I sound like a total bitch in my honesty here, but it's the blatant truth. As much as I'd like to end it right now, I can't; I have nowhere to go. If he kicks me out of the house, I'll be living out of my car, and I'm far enough north for the weather to be deadly in that case. Better a live bitch than a dead bitch...right?

I cleaned the kitchen while he ate his dinner, then went upstairs. I asked him to join me in the shower, but he said he'd rather "get dirty and then get clean," so I stripped down and followed him to the bed. I tried my very best to act just like I always do, and I think I did okay - but when you feel like you're watching your own self act from the outside, it's impossible to know if you're doing it perfectly. I act by feel, and I felt next to nothing.

We made out, fondled each other, licked and kissed and nibbled. I was focused on the moment but not turned on in the least. I faked it until he started licking my nipples, and then I pushed him away almost involuntarily. Even when I'm totally into the sex, there are times when I don't like having someone's mouth on my nipples; and when I'm not into it, it's the most horrible sensation in the world, literally making me want to throw up.

I covered the push by rolling him over and treating him to my best blow job, but only got a couple of minutes in before he grabbed my shoulders and pulled me up onto him. He had a little trouble getting his cock into me, since I wasn't wet, but enough of my spit was left on the head to do the job. I performed like a whore until he came, then played enough kissy games to let him know I was in a good mood and not upset about not coming myself. Honestly, there wasn't a chance it was going to happen.

Finally I got off him and joined him in the shower. I wish I could have showered on my own, but it wasn't a good moment to push my privacy, so I smiled and washed fast. I threw on some jeans, cleaned the toothpaste stain out of my favorite black shirt, and dashed out the door to a repeated "I love you! See you later! I miss you!".

"Okay, okay, I get it," I muttered to myself as I rammed the door shut behind me and hopped in the car. I stopped for gas, then hit my favorite northbound route, cranked the music and floored it. Kevin kept bugging me as I was driving via my two-way radio; I responded enough to let him know where I was, since he was testing equipment, but didn't bother turning down my music or having an actual conversation. Ten minutes along, I stopped responding entirely.

I knew just how much I needed the time with Wren the second I stepped in the door. There was a girly scream of greeting from both of us, and in thirty seconds we were talking about everything and laughing hysterically. I told her how much Kevin was driving me crazy, and she pointed out what I already knew: the things that are bothering me have always been there, I was just determined to ignore them before.

"Remember when we were on that trip?" she asked me. "And you were out of cell range, and he starting freaking the fuck out?"

"Yeah," I admitted. "Made me nuts."

"Thank you!" she said.

"No, thank you," I said. "I needed that."

While I was there, Aiden called, having gone to the store to go grocery shopping.

"Five days without Blue shouldn't suck this much," he said with a laugh, and I agreed. I was about to say something else when I backed into Wren's printer and knocked down a framed portrait on its lid. Having not seen it there, I scared myself shitless, then couldn't even pick it up because I was laughing so hard. Wren and I started screaming at each other, I don't remember about what, in hysterical laughter.

"Fuck you!" I yelled.

"Fuck you harder!" she yelled back from less than ten feet away.

"Fuck you with a stick!" I screamed, almost doubled over.

"Who are you fucking with a stick?" asked a very puzzled Aiden.

"Wren!" I hollered more loudly than was necessary. "I'm at Wren's, she gave me beer!"

"Then stop drinking it, silly!" she yelled at me.

"Sounds like fun," said Aiden.

"Oh hell yeah. Can't wait for you two to meet each other."

"Absolutely!" he agreed. "Anyway, I'm home, I should probably go deal with being married." We hung up and I went back to my psychotic ramblings with Wren.

She agreed that Kevin's abnormally needy and clingy and doesn't know how to let me have time to myself. Eventually her new boyfriend came over so I could meet him, and the three of us spent the evening talking and laughing and playing video games. I scarfed down chicken patties, beer, and chocolate chip cookie dough, and felt infinitely better by the time I left (despite trying beer and cookie dough together, laughing while doing it, and almost squirting the whole mess out my nose).

I'd been forced to agree as I left the house earlier to text Kevin when I left Wren's, but I didn't, just cranked the music and enjoyed the hour-long drive completely to myself. When I reached the house, he was surprised to see me, but didn't bug me about not having contacted him.

"So are you going to break up?" Wren had asked me.

"Yeah, eventually," I said. "I don't see this getting fixed, he's driving me around the bend. I just can't do it now, I'll be out in the street."

I was so convinced we were going to last forever. If he'd proposed to me a month ago, I would have said yes. Now it's just a matter of time until I can pull myself free. I don't feel good about this, but breakups never do; I need out, one of these days.

TMI Tuesday

1. Is there a sexual act/position/practice that you were sure in advance you would hate (or never try) and then discovered to your surprise you loved?

Sex with a guy! I was convinced for a while that I was a lesbian...exclusive, long-term relationship with a girl and all that. I loved making love to her, but when she penetrated me (whether with her fingers or a dildo) I always ended up crying. It seemed to the be the sensation that caused that reaction, so I was terrified that the first time I had sex with a guy it would wind up in tears, but it didn't. I LOVED it. Haven't let a woman penetrate me since ;)

2. Is there a sexual act/position/practice that proved a lot less interesting in practice than you thought it would be beforehand?

Sixty-nine. Blah. Boring. The view of blanket/balls just does nothing for me.

3. How do you let your significant other know you're in the mood? How do you let a new person in your life know?

I pick a body part and start licking/sucking/nibbling. With siginificant other, it can be any - hands, neck, ears, mouth, whatever (though I don't suck toes). With someone new, either I'll nibble their neck or ear or I'll just let my hands cause their own trouble while we're making out.

4. How does your significant other let you know he/she is in the mood?

Pretty much any way he can, from kissing to nibbling to saying "Let's go upstairs and get naked." Sometimes I'm woken up in the middle of the night by his hard-on poking me in the lower back, too.

5. Is there one that got away - a sexual opportunity you didn't realise was one at the time, or weren't ready for and regret missing ever since?

There was one guy that I almost had a fling with. We got as far as doing oral, but I didn't let him actually have intercourse with me. I kind of wished later that I'd lost my virginity to him, but I've never really decided once and for all if I honestly do wish that.

I'd link back to TMI Tuesday if I hadn't lost the link. Oops. Anyone care to help me out?

Another Un-date

I wasn't sure I'd see Aiden today, since he was working at the diner and they're not too good about giving breaks, but I should have known he'd manage. He called me as I was getting out of class and asked where I was. I told him to meet me on campus at one of the large, well-known buildings, and he said he'd be there soon.

I hung around by the entrance for a while until my phone buzzed again. He said he was at the other entrance, so I ran down the concourse to go find him. It was brought to my attention rather rudely that I haven't been for a run in far too long; it wasn't the heavy motorcycle boots or carrying my schoolbag that had me gasping for air by the time I reached his car.

"Hey pretty lady," he greeted me as I hopped in the front seat, and gave me an enthusiastic kiss. We headed over to another small, back-street restaurant in the same town as yesterday, this time Mexican instead of Asian, and sat down with tacos.

It's taken me a while to notice, since it never shows at work, but he does have a rather ADD personality style (or is it ADHD? I never remember). We were talking about sailboats and water and drowning, and suddenly he asked, "Do you sing?" He made it sound like it had something to do with water, but it was completely random. Fortunately I find that sort of thing mostly amusing and not annoying.

"So I think my wife has just become completely asexual," he announced, and of course I asked for details. "I kissed her last night and she told me, 'Don't even think about it, I won't sleep.'"

"Wow, harsh," I sympathized, and gave him a half-kidding pat on the head. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, me too."

I dumped more hot sauce on my taco, finished it off, and started spinning the plate in circles on the table. The bottoms of their plates are slightly rounded, making them difficult to eat off of but great entertainment.

"You know, this is the first time I've really made the effort to be friends first," he said thoughtfully. Caught off guard, I gave him a look that was probably much weirder than intended. I couldn't get the words out to say I appreciated it, but one of these days I will.

As we were getting back in his car afterwards, my phone buzzed and I flipped it open. "Oh, it's Wren!" I said excitedly.

"Here," he said, reaching for the phone, and I handed it to him. He stared at it in confusion while it had a silent technological fit - I hate my phone.

"What are you gonna do?" I asked, taking it back.

"I was going to call Wren," he said with a mischievious grin. I beat my phone into submission, dialed Wren, and handed it back to him.

I heard a squawk on the other end, then he said, "Hi Wren, it's Aiden! How are you?" I couldn't hear her end of the conversation, but I didn't need to; I know her well enough I could hear it in my head and fill in the rest from his responses. She was surprised to find herself talking to him, but immediately took the opportunity to bug him to go out clubbing with us next week so she can meet him. He said he'd do his best to be there, then handed the phone back to me.

I think she was trying to tell me something about Mike, but with Aiden driving the car with one hand and stroking my leg with the other, I couldn't hear myself think, so I agreed to talk her later. I started patting him in return, and by the time we were five minutes back toward the diner, I was biting my tongue to keep myself under control. It didn't occur to me that we were going in the wrong direction until he pointed it out.

"Damn, I'm not thinking," he said, and turned around.

"It's okay, I'm sure there's a bus I can take from here," I said. "I don't want you to be late."

"I'm not worried," he assured me as we headed back up the hill. Then, "I'm going to stop down here on this side street - your walk is short, and that way I can avoid all the lights." I had to wonder if there was another reason. "And I don't have to worry about who's driving by while I accost you," he added with a wink in his voice.

"I knew it!" I said, laughing. "I knew that wasn't an entirely innocent plan."

"But I'm cute, sweet, and innocent," he protested, looking anything but.

"I'll give you the first one," I said. "I'll even give you the second one. But the third one, no, you can't have it. Keep trying."

He parked behind another car and we made out for a few minutes before he had to go. Every time I kiss him, I enjoy it more...it's so dangerous, and so irresistible, the latter partly because of the former.

"I haven't felt like this since high school," he said with what I could have sworn was a giggle. "You definitely would have been in my clique in high school."

"There wasn't one of them at my school," I said. "I had no friends in high school."

"Really?" He pulled on the collar of my jacket until we were nose-to-nose.

"Pretty much," I said.

"Wow. Idiots." He kissed me again and finally let me go.

"Have a good day," I said, getting out of the car.

"You too." He rolled down his window as I was walking away. "Blue!"

"Yeah?"

"I think the proper response to that was, 'I already have.' Because no matter what else happens today, I'm going to be smiling."

"Wearing the same silly, psychotic smile I am, you mean?" I asked, demonstrating because I couldn't help it. I walked back to the bus, grinning to myself all the way.

The Un-date

To start with a quick side note that amuses me highly, I am writing this in class since it's safer than writing it from my house. It's a computer-education-purposed classroom, with rows of monitors on large tables, and I sit on the end with a wall on my left and another student on my right. When the guy sitting in the chair next to me today saw what blogs I was reading and commenting on, he logged out of his computer and moved to the other end of the table. I love those people - they make me laugh, and they remind me just how forbidden some of these lovely topics are.

Anyway. Now that we've had a laugh, the rest of this post is going to be a combination of happy and sad, but I'll stop giving previews now and just do the show.

Aiden works another job aside from the diner, as an office assistant in the next town, and we met up yesterday on his lunch break. I got off the bus at the bottom of Main Street and walked up the hill towards the four-way stop light at the top. As I reached the crosswalk, I saw Aiden coming toward me on the other side of the street. He paused long enough to glance around, then sprinted across the street against the light. He gave me a kiss, and then we started walking back down the street together.

"You are the victim of my boredom," he said, handing me a paper cup. I took it cautiously and peered inside. It was filled with unbelievably tiny paper cranes, made out of gum wrappers and tea bag tags.

"Wow!" I said, impressed, and tried to hand the cup back to him. He shook his head.

"Yours now. Throw them at people in class or something, it'll make them wonder." I laughed, already plotting what could be done with such strange little items.

"Where do you want to go?" he asked.

"Don't care, where do you want to go?" I replied.

"Oh dear." I go through this routine anytime I meet up with anybody, and it always makes me laugh. "The Vietnamese place?" he asked, gesturing across the street.

"Sure." We jaywalked through a line of cars stopped at the light and squeezed down the tiny alley leading to the back parking lot and the restaurant. Fortunately for both of us, there's only one place in that town where I'd worry about being seen with him; I've never been in any of the others.

We got a table in the corner of the small restaurant and ordered our food, and talked about this and that. When the food arrived, Aiden got a weird smile on his face. I asked him what it was for.

"Does this count as, like, a date?" he asked.

"If you want it to," I answered.

"That's probably not a good idea," he said, but his smile said he was thinking otherwise.

"Okay, then it's not," I said. "Happy now?" When a few moments had passed and he was still wearing the strange expression, I said, "It's still bothering you, isn't it?"

"A lot of things are bothering me," he answered, the smile turning rueful. "This is so complicated."

I sighed and nodded. "That it is."

"Have you ever had a real, in-person affair before?" I asked.

He shook his head and held his hand in the air so I could see his wedding band. "Not since I married my wife."

But he took my hand over the table and held it while we ate. One of my fingers was squeezed painfully into the edge of the table, but I didn't move, and it eventually went numb. We talked about Lily, his wife, who he said he would have been rid of long ago if he didn't have his son to worry about.

I pointed out that kids aren't stupid and know when their parents are unhappy; my parents hated each other for as long as I can remember, and I begged my mother more than once to just "get the damn divorce and get it over with." But that's not what worries him the most.

"I'm afraid she'll use him as a playing piece," he admitted. "She'll use him to get what she wants, and she'll probably move far away and I'll never get to see him." Another situation I had nothing to say about, since it's out of my realm of personal experience.

We talked about Kevin, too. Aiden knows my worries about Kevin's violent streak and what would happen if he ever found out about us.

"I don't like that he wants to kill me," he said, and I snorted sarcastically.

"No one would, and neither do I."

"Has he actually said that? Does he have it out for me for some reason?"

"He threatened you before anything was going on between us," I said, and got a very puzzled look. "I was telling him what you said about Lily," I explained, "And he said, 'That boy needs a girlfriend.' I protested that you were married, and he said, 'He needs a girlfriend. He just better not be looking at you - I don't want to have to kill him.'"

Aiden tried to laugh, but neither of us found it particularly funny.

"I'm serious," I said, "When I say that if he ever found out, I'd be concerned for your life."

That effectively killed the conversation, so to speak. A spectacular awkward moment arose as we looked at each other, then tried to find something else to look at in favor of sitting and staring. I bounced my leg so hard my entire body rocked. Most people make fun of me for that habit, but he said nothing. I know now why I don't usually go on "dates" when things first get going with someone; it's too damn awkward. So that's why a movie is a good first date, and not lunch.

Sorry, I forgot - it wasn't a date. Even though we started making out over the table after our dishes were cleared, then sat and held hands while the conversation continued. He said that he wasn't a violent sort at all, that he's a huge teddy bear and incapable of hurting anybody. I didn't say as much, but it was a relief to hear that from the person whose hand was in mine. The death threats against random people really are getting tiresome. Adrenaline junkie I may be, but out to kill the world I am not, and Kevin isn't capable of understanding that.

The bill came and we threw some cash on the table and got up to leave. "Yup, we're servers," Aiden said with a laugh, realizing the math came out to a 25% tip. I set a mini paper crane on the table, and we threw on our jackets and walked back outside. While it wasn't warm by most people's standards, the air actually had a smell to it for once, telling me the temperature was at least close to freezing instead of many degrees below it.

"How tall are you?" Aiden asked me, and I suddenly felt like I towered over him. "Five-nine, maybe?"

"Yep. How tall are you?"

"Five-six."

I just laughed. "Not like I care."

"Hey, I make up for my lack of height in other aspects."

I giggled, knowing it was the truth, and he leaned in and kissed me. He's a good kisser, and his lips are soft. I let my worries go and just enjoyed the moment, opening my eyes for a second to sneak a peak at him. A thrill of excitement ran through me, and I closed my eyes again.

The air in the alley as we walked up was cold, and emerging back on the street into the bright sun was a pleasant shock. He lit a cigarrette and we started walking around aimlessly, talking about our relationships again.

"So, yes," he said, returning the topic of having affairs. "You're the first girl I've kissed besides my wife in eight years."

Some part of me wanted to feel honored, and another part wasn't sure if that was right. Hell, it's a feeling - who cares if it's "right." I felt honored. We wandered up to the light, down the cross street, up through the lower parking lot, back to where we started, across the street, through an alley into the upper parking lot, down a back street, and then finally back to the main road and up the hill to his office.

"All right," he said reluctantly, "I have to go back, as much as I'd rather stay." He stomped out his third cigarrette - or was it the fourth? I'd lost count. He paused for a moment on the step to the front door, made some ambiguous comment about Lily, then kissed me and went back inside.

I walked back through the light and down the hill to the bus stop wearing what was probably an alarming and psychotic-looking smile. Leaning against the bus shelter, I pulled out my phone and texted Wren.

"omg I just had a legit date! btw did u get any sleep last night?" She's also in the process of aquiring a new boyfriend, but for once she's the one doing it the honest way, as she's single and so is he.

"No! but he broke all ties w bitchface. R u home? get online!!"

I told her I'd be home in half an hour and would do so. As I was coming up the last road before my house, my phone buzzed again.

"Bitch where r u??!!"

Then, a minute later, "omg I just totally sent that to mike by mistake."

I was in hysterics by the time I got in the house. Leave it to Wren.

The Rose

In the interests of straightening out some of the chronological skipping around I've been doing with this whole Aiden adventure, I'm going to take a moment now to go back a few days and catch up before moving on. I can't honestly remember whether it was Saturday or Sunday that this occurred, because he and I worked the same combination of shifts on both days, but it's irrelevant anyway. Let's say it was Sunday. Actually, now that I've put the thought into it, it was definitely Sunday.

I worked the day shift, beginning at eleven o'clock in the morning and finishing whenever my customers left as the night shift was coming in. Kevin dropped me off and told me to call him when I was done so he could pick me up again. That's unusual - I'm independent to a fault and much prefer to drive myself, but I had agreed to let him borrow my car for something. Would that it had been any other day that I did so.

Day shift was peaceful, but I started getting jumpy around mid-afternoon, knowing that Aiden would be coming in soon to work the dinner shift. He showed up just a couple of minutes late and gave me a quick wave as he ran to clock in. It was a few minutes before I actually got to say hello, as it was reasonably busy.

"Blue," he said, eventually catching me up. I don't know why he started calling me by my last name, but I kind of like it.

"Hey, what's up?"

"I got you a present," he said with a mischievious grin. "I left it on my windshield cause I couldn't find your car. Go look when you get out."

"Uh oh," I said, grinning back. "You're not causing trouble again, are you?"

"I couldn't resist."

It was a while before I got done with all my work, but as I was going out the door, he caught me again. "Blue, come back and tell me what you think," he said.

"Can I hide it in here?" I asked, waving my little apron full of change and straws.

"Play dumb," he said with a smile.

I raised an eyebrow and headed outdoors into what had become a snowy, slushy mess of a parking lot. Pulling out my phone, I considered calling Kevin, then decided it would be better to wait and see what I was dealing with from Aiden first. I stuffed it back in my pocket and slogged the length of the parking lot, drenching the ankles of my pants in semi-frozen dirty water. Upon finding his car, I stopped. There was a single red rose under one of the windshield wipers, wrapped in plastic and partially frozen to the glass. I put my hand over my mouth, hesitated, then pulled it out.

Unsure what to do, I walked in circles for a couple of minutes, then stopped under a tree, thinking. There was no possible way I could play dumb; Kevin knows I'm not stupid, and there's only one person at work he would pinpoint for giving me such a thing. I would just have to hide it, but where?

Finally I walked into the department store next door to the diner and wandered up and down the aisles, looking for something I might need to buy. My mind wasn't cooperating very well, but finally I decided that a couple of boxes of frozen waffles would do the trick, and I grabbed them and headed for the checkout. Once again I pulled out my phone, then decided to wait and make sure the rose fit in the bag. The phone went back in my pocket.

I thanked the cashier and stopped before I reached the door, adjusting the boxes of waffles in the plastic bag to make as large a space as possible. The rose, however, was far too long; I turned it upside-down and stuffed it in head-first, figuring I could just hide the top of the bag with my arm, and headed outside. I stood by a trash can in the sleet and snow and finally made my call.

"I'm already halfway there," Kevin told me. "I figured you'd be out soon, so I went ahead and left. See you in two minutes." I gulped. That had been a much closer call than I'd thought.

Leaning against the wall of the building, I decided that trying to hide the rose wasn't worth the risk of him possibly seeing it, so I finally gave up and stuffed it in a trash can on the sidewalk. I felt bad doing it, but couldn't think of another possible option.

"Who's the rose for?" asked a voice next to me. It was Kaely, another one of the waitresses, also just getting off shift.

"From," I corrected her.

"Oh, from who?"

I looked around. "Don't pass this on, but...Aiden."

"Ohhh," she said with a knowing smile. "Yeah, everyone's been wondering what's going on."

I had figured that, as we hadn't been trying to hide it. "Well," I hedged, "He's married and I live with my boyfriend..."

"I know he's married," she said. "So how do you feel about that, that he gave you a rose? You don't think it's a little inappropriate?"

I shrugged, unsure what to say. I was thrilled, actually, but didn't feel like sharing that. "If he's going to cause trouble, it's gonna happen." Halfway through that sentence I realized it wasn't going anywhere, and she looked as confused as I felt.

"So what are you going to tell your boyfriend about the rose?"

"Oh, I threw it away," I said, feeling guilty.

"Really? I would've told him, 'Here, I got you this! Present!'" That hadn't occurred to me in my slightly panicked state.

"Hm," I said. "You think faster than I do."

It occurred to me later, though, that I had probably done the right thing after all. I don't think they actually sell roses at that deparment store, and Kevin would've known that and asked about it. He really is obnoxious about details sometimes.

I already mentioned that the next day we went out to lunch after I finished my shift. As we were standing in the parking lot, Aiden smoking a cigarrette, he said, "So, because I got you a rose, I had to get my wife one too. But you were the driving impetous."

I smiled, lacking words for that one.

"How does it feel to be the reason a married man buys his wife a rose?"

"Nowhere I haven't been before," I said. "Though slightly less honest."

I did tell him that it was sweet of him and I was charmed. I didn't tell him I threw it away, though. I told him the plan about the shopping bag and let him assume it had worked. When he threatened the next day to leave waffles on my car as an inside joke, I cackled out loud in front of all my customers.