This Time Around

I pulled my shirt back down and covered my face with my hands, letting out a mortified groan.

"What the hell just happened?" I asked out loud after I heard Simon's door shut with a defiant click.

Frustrated, I blew out the candles and sat back down, watching the smoke evaporate into the air.

Damn electricity. Picked the most inopportune time to come back on.

I wonder what the power company would think if I called them and asked them to turn the power back OFF, I thought with a chuckle.

I got up and turned all the lights off, heading upstairs to take a shower. Once inside, I finished off the job Simon had left me, fingering myself until I felt my orgasm shatter around my hand. Only somewhat satisfied, I washed myself clean and got out of the shower. I brushed my teeth, washed my face, and crawled into bed, laying on my left side and curling up into a ball underneath the sheets. Doing my best to ignore the fact that Simon was only a room away, I drifted off into a restless sleep.

~**~

I opened my eyes slowly when I awoke the next morning, squinting at the morning sunlight that filtered brightly into my room.

I stretched as I rolled over and looked at the clock.

7:24.

Yawning, I pushed the covers back and went to use the restroom. I groaned as I studied my 'just woken up' appearance in the mirror and grabbed a ponytail holder, throwing the wavy mess of hair on top of my head as I wrapped a thick robe around my suddenly chilled body.

I halted quickly at the top of the stairs as I heard movement in the next room.

Simon.

Everything came rushing back to me, the power outage, our moment on the couch, his quick and unexplained exit. I bit my lip, debating whether to go into his room or wait for him to come downstairs.

I decided on the latter, making my way towards the kitchen and putting on a pot of coffee. As it was brewing I stepped outside to retrieve the newspaper, and sat down at the breakfast nook, breathing in the soothing aroma of the coffee as I carried on my morning routine.

It wasn't long before Simon appeared at the bottom of the stairs, dressed in his clothes from the previous night. I smiled at his disheveled appearance, wrinkled shirt, stubby face, little pieces of hair sticking all over the place.

"Morning luv," he greeted me.

"Good morning," I replied with a soft smile.

"Do you have a spare toothbrush?" he asked, "I need to clean up a bit."

I nodded as I stood, leading him back up the stairs, waging an inward battle with myself the entire way.

You should ask him about last night, I told myself. You should ask him why he left for no reason; you should ask him what this means for us now. You should be upset with him.

But I wasn't. He was apparently over it, and honestly, so was I. I didn't want to bring it up, because I knew. I knew what his answer would be. It could be a combination of things really. I was the one that ended it back in the summer, he was with Terri, the list could go on. Besides, this was just the way Simon was. He had this innate ability to be romantically involved and then revert to a platonic relationship with no qualms about it at all.

"I think I may have one under the cabinet," I said as we made our way through my bedroom to the bathroom, where I browsed.

"Here we go," I said as I spotted one I had gotten from the dentist a few months back. I turned around, toothbrush in hand, and was greeted by a quick, but full, kiss on the lips. I pulled back as it ended, looking up into his pensive brown eyes.

"What was that for?" I asked, biting my lip to keep from smiling.

"Do I need a reason?" he asked with a chuckle, reaching around quickly to pinch my behind before taking the toothbrush from my hand. I handed him some toothpaste as well and proceeded back downstairs, pouring myself a generous amount of coffee as I waited for him to clean up.

He returned a few moments later, cell phone in hand, a perturbed expression on his face.

"Terri just called, she wanted to know where I was," he said. "I didn't tell her I was here because...well...you know."

I nodded, understanding what he was saying. Terri and I have always had a very different sort of relationship. We were friends, at least on the surface, but deep down, I could tell there was something about me that bothered her. I'm sure she had her suspicions about us, and him spending the night at my house last night would probably only enforce those suspicions.

"Do you need a ride?" I asked him as I took my last sip of coffee.

"Well, I was going to just call a limo, but if you're offering..."

"Let me just go put on some clothes, and then I'll drive you. Give me ten." I shouted over my shoulder as I took the stairs two at a time.

"You know love, you don't have to put on clothes," he shouted after me suggestively.

"Get over yourself Cowell!" I responded, laughing as I disappeared down the hall.