Thralldom

Chapter 3

I wake up late Sunday morning. I haven't gotten up before noon on a Sunday since I was a child. Growing up, my mom always made me and my sister, Evelyn, wake early and go to the 8 am church service. Then, we weren't allowed to make any plans other than lunch. And, we returned to church for the 6 pm service in the evening. My mom insisted that Sunday was a day of rest. That may be the reason that, to this day, I do very little on a Sunday.

After a cup of coffee and a bagel, I try to call Jonathan again. The phone goes straight to voice mail. I don't bother to leave a message this time. He'll see the missed call and know that I tried to reach him.

Biding my time, I pick up a novel that I recently borrowed from the book store. April lets us take copies of new books home, so that we can read them and be able to make adequate recommendations to customers. Today, I am reading Brody Jensen's, "The Snake". It's a fictional novel about infidelity. The snake on the paper cover is being held by it's "neck"  in the hand of a voluptuous woman. After reading the first couple chapters, I am hooked. I cannot wait to meet him at the Amelia Island Book Festival. 

A while later, I must admit, I get a little bored. I have probably already spent too much time with Ethan this weekend, I have read more than half of a new novel, and Jonathan won't be back until tomorrow afternoon. Laying on the red microfiber couch in the living room, I drift off, taking my usual Sunday nap. My Sunday afternoon nap is something I, also, developed while growing up. Since we weren't allowed to go anywhere or do anything, I would always take a nap. Even if we had family over, I would be present. But, I would be dead asleep on the recliner.

I wake at 3:00 pm and decide that it's time to get out. I make the quick trip down to Harris Teeter on the south end of the island and do a little shopping for the week. I pick up some lunches and all the ingredients for a special dinner for tomorrow night. I am back home an hour later and have all the groceries put away.

Boredom still present, I take an evening walk and then call it a night. At least when I was a kid, I had church to fill half the day on Sunday. Now, as an agnostic adult, I am just biding my time until I have to go back to work on Monday.

I finish up the pizza in the fridge and try to call Jonathan again. This time he responds. Finally.

"Hey, babe. How are you?" he answers sounding a bit preoccupied.

"Good. I was starting to get a little worried about you. I haven't talked to you since Friday morning." I reply.

"I'm sorry, babe. I didn't have much of a choice, unfortunately. The firm really wanted us to go to the headquarters at Chimera Pharmaceutical Innovations. If we become more familiar with the product concepts they are working on currently, it will help us develop better graphics for their marketing. They are working on some really cool stuff. They showed us the prototypes for dental implants that contain a combination of biological and synthetic materials. They theorize that the new implant design will improve dental implant acceptance and longevity by as much as 30%." he chimes on spiritedly.

I don't know a whole lot about Jonathan's business trips. I am even more confused about the commentary of dental implants, but I respond with a jaunty, "That sounds great!" and continue whining, "I've missed you."

"I know, babe. I've missed you too. I can't wait to see you tomorrow. Anything you want me to bring back for you?" Jonathan asks graciously.

"Nah. I'm good. I picked up all the ingredients for your favorite dinner for tomorrow night. I figured you'd love a homemade meal after being gone for a few days." I say hoping to make him miss me just a little more.

He takes a brief pause and then responds "Awesome. I wouldn't like anything better than to spend a quiet night alone with you when I get home."

"Me too. And, thank you for the Moon River pizza and beer. I ate all of it this weekend." I confess.