All I needed for another day

 

It was going to be great. Maybe.

Rox walked around the empty apartment. Was it completely true? How did Pan do it? Well, there must have been some help from his mother because she did have the couch and the shelves. Her mom wanted to get them a new bedroom suit, but Rox said no.

Yes, Pan got on in the Evidence Room down at City. It was kind of a big deal. Evidently. Jobs like that didn't happen overnight, but it all worked out because he did have a degree in this kind of thing. It was just at the time, it seemed useless until it wasn't. Sure, he should have gone to Chicago or somewhere long ago, but some fellow remembered him. And like winning the lottery, he was their new guy.

They'd moved up from their basement studio. Now she was just down the hall from Nonnie. And Rox & Pan each had their own room now. 

"Are we just an old couple," she asked Pan, who already moved his router and computer in. No way was he going to lose a day of the Internet.

"Nonsense," Pan shrugged with a sigh. "This is called going the distance." He smiled proudly.

Pan would take the bed they'd been in all this time. Of course, it was a Good Will special. Her mattress was coming from Amazon. 

About then the doorbell rang and there it was in a box. He helped her with it. Of course, they were neither that strong, even in the last few minutes he lifted it up as if he was still lean and youthful. 

She went to work with the box cutter and it wasn't long before they released the mattress as if maybe it was alive after all. It sprang open like it might be a dove's belly waiting for her to hop on. She couldn't help but laugh. 

Yes, she was happy to call it her own. 

Of course, they'd still have sex. Not that much had changed. It was what they did before sleep. Occasionally, it was in the morning too, but that part was waning. After all, a lot of the time they took turns with the bed. First, she would go to sleep some nights early back at their time in the studio. As soon as he hit the pillow he snored like an elephant.

He accused her of being a kicker. Her big toe had left him with a bloody leg more than once and his farts just got stinker. Maybe she wasn't much better.

She remembered a time she would get up early just to put her face on, but she didn't care anymore. Yes, she looked forward to having her very own space. 

The base of the bed with the headboard was coming tomorrow. Oh, she could hardly wait, for the first time she could have a place to call her own. She knew he'd be up all night playing some video game. Yes, they were home and Gabe and Sammie were keeping the cat for a little while. All was good in the world at least for an hour or so.