by A N Busch
Abigail looked at the clock again; it was four-thirty now, and she knew there was no going back to sleep. She decided to go work on the project a little, maybe the peace and quite would help her think of something new.
She quietly carried the sleeping Brady back into his bed and went downstairs. In her office, Abigail went back over the work she had done. It was good but something was missing. What was it though? She pulled out some old books from college classes hoping for inspiration. As she looked through the pages of buildings in her book, nothing was jumping out at her. Her favorites were the pencil sketches that were very old. That was it, what she was missing! The feeling of being old; new but like it had been there since before the 1950’s. An old classic style of architecture brought to life in a new way.
With that the ideas started flowing from her head into her hand and she couldn’t get things down fast enough. She was writing and sketching things out as fast as she could to get every little thought down on paper. Soon there was not enough room on her desk and Abigail started to spread things out on the floor in front of her.
A short time later she sat down in her chair to take a breath and closed her eyes for just a moment to let the building develop in her mind.
Chapter 12
Abby opened the curtains to find what must have been over two feet of snow on the ground with more coming down. It was already five in the afternoon and the news was forecasting that the snow would not stop till well into tomorrow afternoon. She had never seen so much snow in her life. It was almost mesmerizing to her.
Suddenly there was snow falling on her and she looked up to see gloves rubbing together and sprinkling it down onto her. When she turned around, Westly was smiling with a red rose.
“Hey handsome. You look cold.”
“I am, make me warm.”
“Yes sir. First thing you need to do is get that snow-covered coat off. Gloves too!”
“Anything else?” Suggestively wiggling his eyebrows at her.
“I will let you know,” Abby said putting her hands on his chest and pushing him backward until she stepped on a wet footprint. “I changed my mind, first to go better be those shoes. You’re making a mess of my room.”
“Oops, sorry.”
Abby just laughed at the pout on his face, “Off with them, let’s go.”
The two of them sat on her bed for hours doing schoolwork and studying; on occasion one would bump the other on purpose or push the other’s paper away from them. They were quiet with the exception of occasional laughter.
Abby slammed her book shut first. “All right I’ve had enough, I think my brain hurts.”
“Your brain doesn’t hurt. Come on, one more hour.”
“Nope I’m done,” Abby said reaching over and shutting his book, “and so are you.”
“Oh really, well then what are we going to do now?” Just when she was about to answer him there was loud knocking at the door.
“Well I had an idea, but you have to wait now.” Abby yelled out for them to come in thinking it was Melanie at the bathroom door, but the front door opened and Rachel bounced in. She looked fashionable, as always, wearing a white coat with fur around the collar and high white boots that matched. Abby thought the leggings and short jean skirt where an odd combination with it, but that was Rachel for you - fashion before function, always.
“Hi Westly, I’m Rachel, Abby’s best friend. We all think she has been hiding you from us long enough, so I am here to take you away for some fun.”
“And what would you like me to do with myself Rachel?” Abby said with an attitude. Rachel had some nerve she thought to herself.
“Abby you are more than welcome to join us. Unless you would rather study.” Rachel took it upon herself to grab Westly’s hand and pull him up from the bed. Well, she pulled as best she could anyway, he didn’t make it easy for her but not as hard as he would have made it for Abby to pull him up. He probably would have used his strength to wear Abby down and then with one quick pull, had her on his lap.
“Well we were studying; what’s goin’ on anyway?” Westly looked a little worried when he heard the agitation in Abby’s voice as she spoke. He reached out and took her hand in his giving it a gentle squeeze.
“Fun Abby; that is what is going on. Now get dressed to be outside for awhile…lets go!”
Westly helped her up with a smile and kissed her sweetly on the nose. Ten-thirty at night, on a Tuesday for that matter, was a bit late to be having fun, but why not? With all this snow classes were sure to be canceled tomorrow. Abby and Westly put on their things with Rachel waiting in the hall. Before they walked out Abby knocked on Melanie’s door in the bathroom.
“Hey Abby, what’s up?”
“According to Rachel something fun. You want to come?”
“I just got off the phone with Jamal, and he told me all about it. Give me two more minutes and I’ll meet you in the hall.”
Abby stopped right after she started to shut the door, confused. “Jamal? What is going on? Everyone knows but Westly and I!”
“Fun Abby; that is what is going on. Now, go wait in the hallway for me.”
Abby grabbed her school ID and keys and shut the door. Westly was already in the hallway talking with Rachel.
“What are you two talking about?” She asked while turning the lock.
“Rachel was just telling me what we are doing. Let’s go if you are ready.”
Abby sighed, great, now she was the only one that didn’t know what was going on. “Melanie is coming; she said that Jamal called her. She should be out in a minute or two.”
Melanie practically sprang out of her door at that moment. “Okay, I’m ready. Lets go!”
Rachel locked arms with Westly, and Melanie wrapped her arm around Abby’s with a smile. The two said nothing more as they marched Abby and Westly into the elevator. Downstairs Westly put his arm around Abby’s waist as they started to walk. She pulled out her gloves and started to put them on as she asked, “Are you going to tell me what is going on?” Westly said nothing and just kissed the top of her head as they walked out the front doors into the crisp night air.
They followed Melanie and Rachel as they walked across campus. Abby could hear the two of them whispering but couldn’t make out what they were saying. Every time she looked up at Westly, he was smiling at her and it was enough to keep her from asking any more questions about what was going on.
After some time, she could see Jamal and Paul waiting for them at the top of the hill near Waders Lake. She almost felt sorry for Westly; this was an ambush. They had hardly been dating three weeks now and he was going to be bombarded by all her friends at one time. He had gotten to know Melanie somewhat but mostly it was just a little small talk now and then.
When they got to the top of the hill, Jamal was the first to speak, “Westly, nice to meet you man. I’m Jamal; this is Paul. And I’m sure you know Melanie and Rachel.”
Westly didn’t miss a beat, sticking his hand out to both of them as he spoke, “Hi, nice to meet you Jamal. Paul, it’s nice to officially meet you as well. I have heard quite a lot about you both.”
Rachel reached out and took Abby’s free arm. “Abby welcome to snow. Now let’s have some fun and enjoy it!’
“Rachel I have seen snow before you know. Not this much, but I have seen it.”
Jamal reached out and grabbed a stack of trays that were from the cafeteria. “Let the games begin!” He handed one to each of them, then sat on his own and went flying down the hill yelling.
Rachel started laughing and was the next to go screaming down the hill. Westly sat on his and stuck a hand out to her. Abby sat on her tray and took his hand. Before she knew it he had pushed off, and she was being pulled down the hill with him. Abby wanted to close her eyes but didn’t. When she got to the bottom of the hill she flew forward onto the ground laughing. Westly landed beside her with a crazy “uff” sound, which made her laugh even harder.
They did the same thing ove
r and over again for hours. One time Rachel, Melanie and herself lined their trays one after the other and went down the hill only to land on top of each other at the bottom, laughing the whole time.
Westly, Jamal and Paul seemed to have a good time. The three of them sat for some time talking while the girls drank out of a very large thermos filled with peppermint flavored hot cocoa Rachel had brought. They laughed at crazy ideas that the others had of how to go down the hill on the trays. Rachel actually took a dare from Jamal to go down the hill standing on the tray. She only made it half way down before she fell off and went rolling the rest of the way. None of them could stop laughing as she trekked back up to them covered in snow.
Rachel fell to the ground laughing as she asked Abby how she was feeling.
“I’m fine why?”
“Because there is a chance that you might be a little drunk. The peppermint flavoring in the hot chocolate comes from a mix of peppermint liquor and vodka!”
“No wonder I’m not cold and I feel so good right now! Awesome Rach!”
Rachel lay back on the ground and started rolling with laughter as Jamal tried to pull her away by the hood of her jacket.
He just rolled her back down the hill with a simple, “I’ll get her for you Abby,” and he was off down the hill after her.
One by one they went down the hill without their trays, ending up all in a pile at the bottom of the hill fighting to stand up and trying to knock the others down. Soon they were all laying in the snow half out of breath and giggling. Every time Abby got herself together and thought she could stop laughing, someone would sigh or say something funny and she would start to laugh again.
Paul was the first to stand up. He walked over and put a hand out to her and Melanie helping both of them up from the ground. Melanie fell back down three times and Westly had to help Paul stand her up. It was four in the morning and Melanie clearly needed to get to bed. Westly wrapped his arms around Abby and asked how she was feeling.
“I’m good, I think.” Abby threw her arms around him and jumped up wrapping her legs around his waist. “You know, I think you’re cute. Can I keep you? For a little while at least?”
Westly’s laugh was almost booming before he spoke, “Just a little while, that’s all?”
Abby’s face got very serious for a moment. “Well if I said forever, you might run away.”
“Abby, I think you’re a little drunk.”
“Shh, don’t tell anyone but so do I. It’s Rach’s fault though.” Westly put her down laughing. Rachel and Jamal had gone back to the top of the hill to collect their things. By the time they got back to the bottom, Rachel had almost fallen three times.
“Hey Paul,” Jamal called out to him after catching Rachel for the fourth time, “can you please get Melanie back to her room? I’ll drive Rachel to her place and jog back to the dorm.”
“Yeah, not a problem. Be careful.”
Abby didn’t know what to think when Jamal walked over and kissed Mel on the cheek telling her that he would see her after he got Rachel home safely.
The four of them walked back to the dorm together. The trip seemed faster than it had earlier. Outside of the doom’s doors Abby leaned over and gathered some snow into a snowball. When Westly stopped two paces ahead of her and asked her what she was doing, she put her finger to her mouth as if to tell him to be quite.
“Oh my gosh, Mel, look!”
Melanie and Paul both turned around at just the right time; Abby threw the snowball hitting Melanie in the face with a thud.
When she got over the shock all she said was, “Oh, hell no! It’s on Texas!”
The four of them were throwing snowballs one after the other until Melanie tackled Abby onto the ground and rubbed a handful of snow in her face.
Westly laughed as he pulled Melanie off of Abby and then helped her up off the ground. Paul was sitting on the bench almost out of breath, and Melanie was standing with Jamal’s arms wrapped around her as she laughed.
“Wow, that was fast Jamal.” Mel wrapped her arms around him and said she was glad and that she had missed him. Was Melanie that drunk or had Abby been missing something that was going on right under her nose?
Abby gave Westly her key when they got to her room and he unlocked the door. Melanie and Abby giggled good night to each other. Each of them half carried into their rooms by Westly and Jamal. Abby was still giggling as she almost launched herself onto her bed.
“Abs, are you okay?”
“Um, yes. I have never been drunk before. I have never had more than one beer before to be honest, but I’m ok. I don’t want to puke, so that is a good thing right?”
Westly pulled her boots off as she removed her coat and then lay down with her in the small bed. Abby enjoyed staying in his room but sometimes being on the small twin bed was better. She would be in his arms all night long, safe from anything and everything in the world. She felt one kiss on the back of her neck and was fast asleep.
Chapter 13
“My love. Abigail!” Her husband paused, standing in the doorway, “Hello, are you awake?”
“Huh, what? Oh, I’m sorry. I got an idea and I had to start from almost scratch. It just came to me and I have been trying to get it all down. What time is it anyway?” Abigail started stretching; her body was stiff from sleeping at her desk.
“It’s just after six-thirty, the alarm went off and you weren’t in bed. I came down and called for you six times before I found you in here. Talk about being dead to the world.”
“Sorry handsome, you know how I can get when I’m working, guess I worked till I crashed. Just give me a few more minutes to get some things down on paper, and then I’ll start getting ready and wake the kids up.”
“All right, love you.”
“Love you too, baby.”
Abigail worked faster this time writing things down, making notes on her notes. In her mind it was all coming together faster and easier than anything had before.
The whole family was out the door and ready to go in no time, she wanted to get to work early for a meeting. Abigail yawned as she put her things on the passenger seat. Tired, but that is to be expected being up half the night, she kissed her husband and was off to drop off the kids.
Abigail’s meeting was short, and she could tell the boss was not happy with her yawning through most of it. Afterward she went into her office and got back to work. Before she knew it, it was lunchtime. She packed up her things and decided to work at home for the rest of the day. First she would have to tell her boss.
“Hi Mr. Donavan if you don’t mind I think I’m going to work from home for the rest of the day. I was up half the night with Brady and I am dead tired. Is there anything you need me to take care of before I leave for the day?”
“No you’re fine; go home and take a nap while you can. I hope Brady is all right.”
“He is good just some bad dreams. I’ll be gone for almost a whole week, and I think it’s getting to him. I’ve never been gone that long before.”
“I see, well just make sure you get some work done please. This is a very big account and we need to get it. As I said before, there might be a promotion for you.”
“I started over from scratch this morning, but the new idea is much better and I think they will love it. It just came to me and I know I’ll be ready before I have to leave.”
“Good, think you can give me a small presentation on Friday?”
“Not a problem, see you tomorrow.” With that Abigail was out the door and on her way home. Now all she could think about was the promotion. Nothing like a little extra stress to make the project fun, but she knew this idea was too good.
Abigail’s mind wandered back to her dreams. Rachel still had not called or written her back, even though she knew she had read the email. Her Blackberry was glued to her at all times; she even slept with the thing. Maybe she should call her when she got home. A nap was out of the question now, there was a promotion riding on this project.
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br /> Abigail wasted no time when she got in the door and picked up the phone in her office. It rang twice before Rachel answered it.
“Abigail, hey woman. How are things in married suburbia?”
“Hi Rachel, they’re good. I just got a big project at work. I have to go to New York next week to do a presentation. If I do well I could get a promotion out of it.”
“That is great; I’m so happy for you. I just talked to Melanie last week. Can you believe her and Jamal are going to have baby number two already? Their little one is not even going to be two by then. I swear I have no idea where that woman finds the time to do so much.”
“Yeah she called me a couple weeks ago. I think it’s great. I called though because of the email I sent you a couple days ago. Did you get it?”
“Yes, um sorry I have been really busy with things around here. The fashion world doesn’t sleep you know.”
“So what do you think of these dreams? Did we know a Westly? Or am I just going crazy?” The long stretch of silence made Abigail wonder if the call had been dropped. “Rachel are you still there? Did you hear me?”
“Yes, sorry. I got distracted with something. Um, it’s just the stress from work. I dream I’m back in college all the time; I would not even worry about it. Maybe it’s a subconscious need to feel young again. Not that we are getting that old. When you are done with your trip to New York, why don’t you come out and visit me for a long weekend. We can go wild and act like we’re young again. Trust me that is all you need, a weekend with me.”
“You’re probably right. It’s just too weird though. I mean everything is so vivid more like - I don’t know, like a recent memory more than a dream maybe. I can’t explain it. I went three nights without them and then...”
“Abigail, that’s enough. Could you please just forget about it? You’re married and have a great life and three great kids. You don’t need to be mulling over him. I mean, this person you are dreaming about. Seriously, if you just let it go, I’m sure it will stop. But you have to stop thinking about him, or the dreams never will go away. Trust me, please!”
