Breve Series: Date at the Water Grill

He recounted the bills for the fifth time. With shaky hands he carefully put them back into the empty Godiva box. This was the first time in his life he saw this much money in cash. But this was only money. He thought of the much larger things at stake

                                                                                        -1-

Brigitte opened her eyes. She wasn't sure if she really heard a noise or if she was just dreaming. She squinted at her alarm clock; it showed 11:30 pm. With her head still fuzzy from sleep, she tried her best to focus and listen into the dark. Suddenly, there was a loud noise like someone crashing into furniture followed by a man's painful hiss: "Oh, hell!"

Oh my God, there's a man in my apartment, thought Brigitte and she was instantly fully awake. Her entire body tensed up but she tried not to panic. She couldn't see the man because it was really dark, but even if she turned her light on, she could have only seen a small area of the hallway through the open bedroom door. It sounded like the man was purposefully crashing into every single piece of furniture, cursing as he went. For a fleeting second Brigitte thought, surely, he must be the most incompetent burglar in the world.

"Jeeez." she heard again the man's voice, now a little louder. Seriously, he was really hopeless. She was close to feeling pity for him. Considering how few things she owned worth stealing, the guy would be paying a high price in bruises. Then, it suddenly occurred to her she might be in real danger if the burglar discovered that she wasn't asleep anymore. Maybe in his panic he would kill her. Once she read in a newspaper that burglars get violent when they were surprised by someone. She didn't want to be killed and definitely not by some complete idiot like this one.

She considered her options. She could jump out of bed, dash out of the bedroom, turn left, and with a few steps she could be out the front door. It seemed so simple! With her heart in her throat, she jumped out of bed, ran out of the bedroom, and immediately collided with the burglar. She fell on the floor, and the burglar fell on her. Now she really panicked and started to pummel the man with her fists.

"Stop it, Brigitte, it's me," said the man.

Surprised, she stopped punching. She wasn't sure about the voice, but the man definitely knew her; he called her by name. She still couldn't see anything in the dark. "Who are you? And get off me!" she yelled.

"It's me, Pete," replied the burglar, rolling off her and standing up.

"Pete? What on earth are you doing in my apartment in the middle of the night? Are you crazy? You scared the hell out of me!" Brigitte got up and felt for the light switch on the wall. She flipped it on. She was still trembling but as much with anger as with fear.

Pete covered his eyes with his hands. "Do you have a more romantic light? You're burning out my retinas."

"Oh, I'm really sorry but I wasn't prepared for a romantic night," Brigitte said. "Are you out of your mind? I could have shot you dead!"

"You have a gun?!" asked Pete, instinctively taking a few steps back.

"No, I don't have a gun," admitted Brigitte.

"Thank God for that," laughed Pete.

"But if I had one, I would have shot you," continued Brigitte, still angry. "Just because I don't own a gun, you still shouldn't be breaking into my apartment in the middle of the night."

In spite of her anger, she was relieved that the intruder turned out to be Pete and not a real burglar.

"I know, and I'm really sorry," apologized Pete. "Your door was unlocked. I thought you were sleeping and didn't want to wake you up."