Nude - Jenlisa

Chapter 5

Jennie woke up, but not on her own. Light streamed between the curtain and the wall, all over her old Thor movie poster. She rolled over to see the cause of her unnatural waking; her mother sat on the edge of the bed, plush blanket squished up around her thighs. She leaned back on her arms, smiled wide and mischievous.

"Good morning," her mother sing-songed, reaching out to push a sleep-messed strand of yellow hair out of her daughter's face.

"Yes?" She asked, voice raw and hoarse. She looked sideways at the digital clock: thirty minutes past eight. "Ma, it's Saturday."

"I know, but I couldn't wait. You weren't home when I went to bed last night." Her grin widened, a light blush warmed her cheeks. "So…I take it that your date went well?"

Jennie sighed. "Can I get a cup of coffee first?"

Her mother obliged, and pushed off the bed. The brunette listened to her soft footsteps across the carpet, and the gentle closing of the bedroom door. She pulled the blanket over her face and sighed into it. Peeling herself from the bed, she dressed in her lazy weekend wear and dragged her feet into the kitchen, to the coffee pot.

Her mother waited at the table while she made a cup.

"So," her mother continued after the first sip. "How was your first date with the hunk? Karl?"

Jennie rolled her eyes, but her mother didn't see. She took another long drink. "Kai."

"Right, right, Kai." She rolled the name off her tongue. "How did it go? He seemed nice."

She stared into the coffee, lightened with cream. "It was fine."

"Fine?"

"Yes, fine."

Her mother paused, blinked, and then shook her head. "Just fine?"

Jennie shrugged, and leaned against the counter, holding her coffee dear. "Yeah, it was fine. He picked me up, we went to dinner, then to the movies, we held hands, he brought me back, he kissed me goodnight, I went to bed."

"He kissed you?"

"Yes, as I just said. It was just a simple, goodnight kiss. Nothing movie-worthy." She drummed her fingers along the porcelain handle, where the image of a cartoonish cat had long since been dishwaher-ed off.

"So is there going to be a second date?"

Jennie focused on a tiny spec in the coffee, a fine grain of a mashed bean, delicate enough to slip through the filter. It floated with the liquid to the side of the cup, where it stuck. "I don't know. Maybe. It depends on how I feel about it when he asks."

Her mother smiled, showing off her too-white teeth. A car honked outside, and whatever she was about to say vanished. "Oh, that's Vivian. I'll be gone most of the day. See you later, sweetie."

"Bye." She gave a quick wave as her mother jogged out of the door and into the idling sedan outside. It flashed in front of the kitchen windows, sun reflecting. Jennie sipped her coffee. Her father had gone to help a friend install new windows before winter, and with her mother gone, the house felt too quiet.

There were a number of thing she could do, and several that she needed to do. The dust had gathered in her room. She needed more shampoo, and others things from the store. Her comforter needed a trip to the laundromat. Her coat needed dry cleaning before winter. That paper needed to be drafted.