Awakening Abigail

Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Saturday morning Abi saw the sun come up from the hammock in her garden. She didn't feel like sleeping, afraid that she might actually wake up and realise the previous night was just a dream. She slowly got up, her eyes catching something half-buried in the dirt. Frowning, she bent down to do further inspection....and pulled her left shoe out of the garden. Half smiling, half disgusted, she shook the clumps of dirt of her expensive shoe. Clearly last night did occur, and Tiny had a field day with her footwear. She pictured Andrew's face the moment the keys connected with him. Laughing to herself, she searched for her other shoe, but couldn't find it anywhere.  

"Here you go boy, finish it off." She threw the shoe at Tiny, who was blissfully unaware of the day breaking.  

Inside she made herself a nice cup of coffee, and glanced at the clock. It was still too early to phone Louise and report the previous night's happenings. Abi sat down on Tiny's chair, staring at the place where she and Andrew sat just a few hours ago. Never in a million years would she have imagined the night to end the way it did. She blushed, thinking about him holding her hand, kissing her fingers. She felt a movement in the pit of her stomach, like little butterflies. He loved her. The thought made her heart race, excitement bubbling. How was she supposed to act now? Maybe he was regretting his impulsive words, wishing he never uttered them.  

Abi closed her eyes for a moment. He didn't even know her. He knew more than other people who knew her, but it's not because she wanted him to know. 

Tiny came in, stretching and yawning. He stood in front of her, eyeing her cautiously. Abi laughed and roughly scratched his ears.  

"Boy, we're taking a nice morning jog."  

Quickly she got up to get dressed. Tiny followed her, tail wagging. He knew what was waiting. Abi brushed teeth and pulled her hair in a pony tail. She jumped into her sweats and jogging shoes and found Tiny's leash. It's been a while since she took him out, and she felt bad seeing his excitement as she connected the leash to his collar. Together they walked to the gate, Tiny whining of impatience as she stretched. At last she started to jog, and Tiny galloped happily next to his boss. Abi kept her breathing in pace with her footsteps, her mantra chant repeating in her head. The mantra varied from a song to a single phrase stuck in her head, whatever came to mind. It kept her focused. Today’s mantra was: "Black hat black hat." She didn't know where it came from, but it kept her on track. She quickly glanced at her watch. Six o'clock. They should be home in about forty minutes. Then Louise would be awake, and Abi could take her out for an early breakfast. She desperately needed to tell her best friend about the new development.

****

Andrew woke with a banging sound in his ears. He made an irritated groaning sound, and caught the time through squinting eyes. Half past 7. Again the knocking on his front door sound up. He swore, and contemplated yelling at the person to fuck off. Closing his eyes for a moment, he reminded himself of his good upbringing, and with another swear-word he got up. 

"I'm coming, dammit!" He yelled at the shuddering door, kicking at a piece of paper that fell off his desk. He jerked the door open, and found his next door neighbour standing on his porch.  

Deb felt a bit flustered, staring at Andrew. He was only wearing a pair of long black sweat pants, hanging loosely on his hips. One look at his face made her cringe a bit; he was clearly irritated with being woken up. She swallowed, and slowly her eyes drifted down his naked frame. Even though the man was an academic, he was built like an athlete. Broad shoulders, followed by a perfectly defined muscular upper body, ending in narrow hips. She felt like drooling. Even though he was properly pissed at her for waking him up, how he looked without a shirt made it all ok.