End of the World

4

Benjamin, as quietly as he could, put the key into the old lock. He grimaced at the sound of screeching sliding tumblers. He turned the doorknob and walked through the door, trying to quietly close the door behind. The whole house was dark and quiet. It could not be otherwise, it was three in the morning. He solved the high leather boots and walked barefoot up the stairs, trying to keep total silence. He dreamed of a few hours of sleep after a hard journey, so when he went to his own room, threw clothes and went to bed. He had no strength even to shower. Lying with his eyes closed, took a deep breath. He remembered the smell of childhood, smiled. A few days in a family house  will be good ....

Tess rubbed her face. She was as usual tired. Lack of sleep troubled her more and more. The body demanded more rest, but she could not give him more. She needed pills. She looked at watch, it was five in the morning. Slowly she sat up and stretched lazily, yawning. Through her head ran the thought that she would give anything for eight hours of sleep, breakfast in Chicago's restaurant Lou Mitchell's on Jackson Boulevard and a cup of coffee at Starbucks. Sorely miss her, "previous" life. She missed walking in heels and meetings with friends. She still could not understand what her mother had seen in such in this godforsaken hole. Tess hated sweaty clothes, sand in mouth, pouring the heat from the sky and hard physical labor on the farm. She missed the chance to talk on the phone whenever she wanted to. Her hands, once delicate and well cared, were now tanned and had blisters. The nails were in ruins, and the hair dry like hay. She sighed heavily. Keeping the promise made to her mother, it was getting harder. She wanted to get in the car and see this terrible hole in the rearview mirror. She pursed her lips in determination and stood up.

After a warm shower, dressed sleeveless shirt and jeans. With welcomed the fact that the skin on her back stopped hurting badly. She left the room, closing the door quietly. Did not expect an easy day. She was waiting for the shipment of the ordered vaccines and hoped for a quick end to repair her apartment above the office. She felt instinctively that each successive day stay with Vincent under one roof brings them to disaster. This guy worked for her annoyingly and exciting at the same time. She had no plans to romantic love, with some rural rancher.

The prevailing silence could indicate a home immersed in a dream. Nothing could be further from the truth. In the kitchen, she found Vincent. He was fully dressed and clean-shaven, sitting at a table spread over the papers and in his hand was a cup of coffee. The smell of cooked grains pleasantly teased her senses, and the presence of a man caused a pleasant tightness in the lower body. What , the hell, happened to her?

- Good morning - she said a little hoarsely, crossing the threshold of the kitchen.
Vincent looked up from his papers at the incoming women.

- Good morning Tess

For a change, his voice was naturally low, soft and warm. She could tuck him like a blanket, if she could.

- What plan the day? - she asked, pouring coffee into one of the cups standing on the shelf above the sink.

- The same thing, and you? What are you going to do?

Tess sat down, ignoring a pleasant tingling on the neck, due to the proximity of Vince.

- I think that today I get orders from wholesalers drugs - stopped to drink coffee - Can I borrow your car? I want to drive to Idaho Falls to check the progress of the renovation and look to the mechanic.

- Of course - Vince stood up, walked over to the hanging in the hallway jacket, pulled from his pocket the keys and put them on the table.

- Thank you - she said, nodding at the same time - Of course, first go to the stable to see Mezzo - added hastily ahead of his question.