Corn, Cows, and the Apocalypse

The Last Supper

I made a quick meal of Spaghetti O's and Vienna sausages. It was hardly a meal fit for an adult, but I didn't want too many dishes and I didn't want to spend more than a few minutes preparing it.

I was surprised that Garrett hadn't argued about leaving. He packed up his bag and set it by the door like he planned to leave that night instead of in the morning. When he came back in with his jacket on, I expected he might skip the meal as well.

He looked over the microwaved meal with disdain before looking to me. I didn't offer anything that might be construed as an opening for appeal. He came in and sat down at the table. He didn't bother offering the standard "looks good" before diving in with his spoon.

It was apparently a race against awkwardness, so he didn't bother to swallow between bites. The faster he ate the more my stomach felt too sick to eat. I knew we had gotten off to a rocky start. I also knew that he wasn't a great conversationalist, but I thought perhaps he might attempt to mend the situation. I watched him practically choke himself to get through our last meal together and it made me feel like a piece of gum on the bottom of his shoe.

I didn't bother excusing myself when my eyes started to water. I just slipped away from the table and went upstairs to my bedroom. As much as I wanted him to be gone, I still hated hearing the front door slam shut.

I buried my head in my pillow so I didn't have to hear his motorcycle distancing the house. I tried to remind myself that I wasn't alone. My friends would be back, hopefully soon. Garrett was a difficult man to get to know, but he was still a better conversationalist than the walls.

"You forgot to take your bags out of the satchel," Garrett's muffled voice said from inside my room. I lifted my head from beneath my pillow. I was certain he could see my tears, because he already looked uncomfortable. My hair was no doubt a mess from the pillow, but that was nothing to fuss about now. "Your clothes," he said, waving two bags from the clothing store we had gone to the other day.

"Just put them anywhere," I said, baffled that he was making the effort to bring them upstairs when he could have just left them downstairs, or strewn them through the yard if he preferred.

He dropped the bags right below him, taking the "anywhere" part literally. "What about this one?" He pulled a small bag out from under his jacket that was from the same store. I recognized it immediately. It had been stashed in with my wet clothes. "What do you want to do about this bag?"

"I don't know."

He pulled the pink nightgown out of the bag and dangled it on one finger. "What are we going to do about this?"

"I don't know," I said again, irritated that I was on trial for having the pink nightie when he was the one who had put every last innuendo into the damn thing.

"This is a beautiful nightgown, but I can't keep it."

"I'm not asking you to." My brow wrinkled with confusion.

"I like the way it feels," he continued with his speech. "I like the way it moves. I would love to lie next to this nightgown night after night, but I don't have that to offer."

I took in a deep breath as I gleaned the meaning of his words. "You're just here to train me. You're going back to Chicago when we're done, aren't you?" He nodded. "When?"

"Not long. I've been wanting to explore this, but for reasons even beyond time limits, I didn't think that was fair to you. I see my waffling has made me seem like a tease. I'm sorry for that. I didn't mean to put you on the rollercoaster with me." He stepped forward and handed me the negligee and sat on the bed with me. "I didn't argue with you about leaving because I thought it might be best to leave before I make you hate me for more reasons than you already do. The truth is, you either need to put that on, or I need to get the hell out of here. Either way, I'm still going to be the son of a bitch who runs out on you."

I looked down at the nightgown. I already knew what the answer was. I still had mixed feelings about Garrett's personality and his motives, but in the end there weren't a lot of men to choose from in the new world. One-night stands and flings were about as good as it got.

"Will you ever leave Chicago?"

Garrett took my hand. "I have responsibilities there." I glanced down at his hand.

"So I shouldn't turn down all the marriage proposals I get after you leave." He smiled and even chuckled at that, but didn't answer.

I stood up and took the nightgown behind the door of my closet to slip it on. When I emerged, I saw Garrett lighting the emergency candle I kept beside my bed. It was a small gesture of romance, and I appreciated it.

He looked me over with tensed urgent attraction. It had been a long time since any man had looked at me that way, if ever. When he pulled me to straddle his lap, my hands started to shake.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes," I said with a tremor in my voice. "I didn't get a lot of practice with sex prior to the world ending."

"Oh," he said, leaning back on the bed. "It's a good thing I'm your trainer then."

I smiled and leaned over to kiss him. He tasted like mint, and I wondered if he had popped a Tic Tac on the off chance that I might put on this nightgown. When he finally pulled me back from the kiss, he proceeded to instruct me on what to do, starting with removing his pants.

At first, I thought the act seemed a little too directed and unromantic, but since my past experiences were hardly worth mentioning, anything was an improvement.

We experimented with several different positions until I found one that did for me what any position did for him. He brought me the satisfaction I had been missing from my other experiences.

"Thank you," I panted into his ear, still dizzy from euphoria.

He chuckled and caressed my cheek. "You say that like we're done. Always trying to get out of your training early." He clicked his tongue.

"I hope this isn't a work-me-until-I-puke training session."

"No, but I'm pretty sure I can get you to the pass-out stage." He kissed me deeply. It took a moment before I could get used to the fervor of it, but once I did I was offering it right back.