A gentle breeze carried the golden grains of sand in from the open door of the apartment. They glided along the hallway and fell to the floor in front of the closed door that led to Brent’s room. The sand tumbled gently along the carpet, rolling through the narrow crack at the base of the doorway. Each grain leapt up onto the bed and scattered along the bed. Beneath the covers his torso began to take shape along with his feet and toes. Seconds later Brent would reappear wrapped in the warm covers of the bed. His body lay motionless in the bed. Head resting on the pillow comfortably.

  Fingers curled beneath the pillow. His phone vibrated on the pillow next to him. The feeling from the vibration barely registered to him. His consciousness stirred from the next vibration and he slowly opened his eyes to the familiar scene in front of him. His vision was blurred at first, but they finally came into focus. A low grumble escaped Brent’s lips as he felt the pillow for his phone. He grabbed the phone and brought it to his eyes, the words of a text message had appeared in front of him along with the time and date. It had been a few months since the first meeting. Brent dropped the phone for a second and attempted to gather his wits. He let out a deep sigh and read the message on the screen once more. “I’m thirsty and I’m craving something to drink, that’s what I’m doing right now. ”The message had Maria’s name on it. Brent could recall exactly where this conversation led to. This was the night where he was caught.

  He answered the message the same way he did back then, this time he had to do things differently. He peeled the covers back from over his feet and sat up in the bed, burying his face in his hands. It was only a name, but that didn’t make it any easier to wake up from. He let his feet dangle above the floor for a minute. Once he gathered his wits he rose to his feet and began getting ready to go.

  The drive took only a few minutes and it wasn’t long before he reached the spot that he parked in. This is where it was going to have to be different. Brent would find another parking spot this time. He didn’t care about the walk if it meant going to see Maria. Putting his car out of easy sight might make it harder for him to be recognized. He stopped the car next to a park that sat a few blocks away from Maria’s house. His mind began to wander trying to figure out his next move. He Didn’t know if he should wait for Matt or not. He knew Matt would come by soon to drop off a bottle of booze for her. Matt was the one he needed to avoid. He could remember the conversation that was to come from this night. Maria had gotten spooked by Brent running into Matt and invited him into the office the next morning to break it off with him. Brent didn’t want this to happen again. So he waited patiently. The park that he was sitting at had a good view of the road that led to her house. He waited patiently for Matt’s car to pass by. A wait that almost seemed to take a few hours. He grew tired from it and the food that sat in his back seat was starting to thaw.

  Suddenly Brent saw what he was looking for. It was late at night and Brent had made sure to park between the street lights and use the darkness to conceal his presence. Brent waited a minute before opening the driver’s side door. He had to give Matt a few minutes to drop off the drink and leave. Brent crept up along the sidewalk, taking each step lightly so he didn’t alert anyone or stir any of the neighbors dogs to bark. Brent rounded the corner treading carefully. He scanned the neighborhood in search of the car and took a step back once he found Matt’s car, clearing himself of any light that might give away his position. He paused and watched it carefully waiting for the sound of the engine to run. A few minutes passed before he heard it. He watched with excitement as the car took off down the road and waited for it to disappear from sight before continuing along the sidewalk.

  Brent slipped in through the open fence and pulled out his phone. He didn’t want to alert any of Maria’s roommates. “I’m Here,” He typed out before sending the message to her. He waited for a few minutes to see if she’d answer the door. Brent clenched the bag of ingredients tightly before taking a step toward the door and squinting his eyes to peek in. Before he got close enough to look, the door knob turned and there she stood. The beautiful blond Maria stood with a large glass bottle in hand. Brent had to try to act casual and let his eyes fix on the bottle. “Who dropped that off?” He asked, pointing to it, despite already knowing the answer.

  “Oh this?” she asked with a hint of confusion. “Matt dropped it off. You just missed him.” she replied. Brent tried to conceal his excitement at already knowing what he might have just avoided. ”What’s in the bag?” she asked, pointing to the white grocery bag in Brent’s hands.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  “I thought I might make you something to eat.” Brent replied with a nervous smile. ”If you haven’t eaten yet, that is.”

  “Ohhhh You’re making me dinner?” She said with a quirky eyebrow and flirtatious smile. ”Aren’t you romantic?” She asked rhetorically. “Come on in,” she continued, stepping aside to let him in.”I’ll show you where everything is. I’ve been craving this for the past few hours, I hope you don’t mind it.” she gestured toward the bottle of scotch that was tightly gripped between her fingers.

  “I wouldn’t dream of it.” Brent replied, setting the bag of ingredients down on the counter. The Apartment was mostly darkened with only the light from Maria’s bedroom and the light of the moon. Maria wandered off down the hallway and made herself comfortable on her bed. All the while Brent went to work searching for pots and pans to cook the food in. He could hear the soft sounds of the lid from the bottle being loosened. Brent set the noodles to boil and stepped away from the stove, making his way down the hallway after her.

  “Is the food almost ready?” She asked, turning on the tv and flipping through her streaming services. “I'm sooo hungry right now. A girl can’t survive on Alcohol alone, you know?”

  “I’m just boiling the noodles now. ”Brent let out a soft chuckle and rolled his eyes. “So what are we watching?” He asked, taking a seat on the bed.

  “I haven’t decided yet.” Maria said, taking a sip from the scotch bottle. “Want some?” She asked, holding the scotch bottle up to him. “This is like totally hitting the spot right now.”

  “I don’t drink.” He replied, shaking his head. “Plus. Isn’t that a bad idea to drink from the same bottle?”

  “We’ve Kissed sweetie.” she replied, screwing the cap back on the bottle. “We even slept together the other night. Do you really think I’m worried about sharing a bottle of alcohol with you?” Before Brent could answer, he heard a loud hissing sound coming from the kitchen. Brent knew precisely what the sound was. “Please don’t burn my house down” Maria shouted after him as he took off back into the kitchen. Brent had almost forgotten about the boiling noodles that he left on the stove. He quickly pulled the pot off the stove and shuffled through the bag to get the rest of the ingredients.

  By the time Dinner was done, Maria had made a sizable dent in the scotch bottle. Brent threw two plates of food together and cleaned up his mess, taking one more look at the spot on the stove where the water boiled over and spilled. He slipped quietly into the room where Maria sat on her bed focused on the movie. The blond had climbed between his arms and cuddled as they each began to eat their dinner. ”What are we watching now?” He asked the very comfortable curvy lady.

  “Beauty and the Beast.” She replied, looking up from her food over at the show she had just put on. “This movie is so romantic, don’t you agree?”

  Brent nodded and took a bite of his food. “Isn’t this the live action one? I love this movie.” Brent held his position tightly, despite the lingering smell of alcohol that Brent could smell on Maria’s breath.

  “Hold on” Maria said, cupping her hand over Brent’s mouth. “This is like my favorite part of the movie. The ballroom scene.” She said, excitedly as she peeled away from Brent and scooted a little closer to the tv. “This is like soo sweet! I wanna go ballroom dancing sometime.” Brent detected the sound of slurring in her words. “Maybe I can go with a nice return missionary one of these days.” Her eyes widened as she spoke. “Could you help me find a place in town to go ballroom dancing?” She asked, with a grin on her face, batting her eyelashes.

  Brent tried to brush her words. Nothing about what she had said, seemed to give him any comfort. He tried to ignore her words and move on. Brent had grown to hate those words throughout his short adult life. There always seemed to be this unspoken theory among Brent’s age group in Ivins, that Return Missionaries were the ultimate example of good men. Given the ones he’d met in his lifetime, that wasn’t exactly the case. In Brent’s opinion, A person could do every honorable thing imaginable and it didn’t mean that they were always a good person. Brent clung that philosophy and pushed on through the night. Maria passed out halfway through the movie, setting down a bottle of scotch that only had a quarter of its contents left. Brent tucked her in and positioned her on her side, before leaving her apartment. The long walk to his car served as a good time to get lost in his thoughts, just as well as the drive home.

  Brent pulled out his keys and stuffed them into the locked door of his apartment. It was late at night and the lights were all out. Brent couldn’t shake the feeling that Maria didn’t feel the same way about him that he did about her. Her words were a sign that Brent chose to ignore, Solely for how much he had grown to like Maria over the last few months. He got into his bedroom and turned out the lights once he’d finished changing into his PJs. He tried to put the whole statement out of his mind and closed his eyes for the night.