Overstimulated

Rekindle

(poem by Rupi Kaur from Milk & Honey)

Aurora opened the door to her apartment and promptly fell to the floor in a groaning heap of pain and exhaustion. Everything hurt. She wanted to take a hot shower, eat some ramen, crawl into bed, and just die for the night.

She had completed her first krav maga class. How successful it was? She wasn't sure.

Aurora had thought the first session would be some sort of introductory lesson for newbies like herself. Instead, it had been, what she assumed was, a normal day. And sometimes a normal day consisted of kicking. Lots and lots of kicking. Many repetitions of kicking with kicking trainers that stopped her mid-kick only to adjust her stance, critique her execution, and ask her to kick some more.

"Ooooow," Her groan was muffled due to the majority of her face being smushed into the hardwood floor. Part of her wished she had face-planted into her bed but she had known damn well that her shaky thighs were not going to allow her the journey.

Damn you, Brandee! Ari shouted in her mind. She wanted so badly to be upset with her therapist for even suggesting self-defense courses. But the silly thumbs-up emoji she had received after sending the doctor a sweaty gym picture had given her such a rushing feeling of accomplishment that she couldn't find it in her to be mad. If anything, she felt proud of herself. An emotion that had seemed to elude her for the last month and a half. It felt good. She felt good. Even while laying down face first on the floor in her foyer sore as all fuck, she was really happy.

"Okay, bitch," Aurora mumbled to herself, rocking her body in an attempt to turn over on her back. "You need to get the fuck up. Even though it feels like someone shoved your body into a meat grinder, this floor is still dirty as shit no matter how many times you clean it. Now turn over!." She took a deep breath and rolled over to her back with only a minimal amount of complaining.

"Whew!" Aurora whooped, throwing her fist slightly in the air, wincing when it stretched the used muscles there. "I did it. I'd pat you on the back girl, but I don't think I can reach." She laughed at her own ridiculous and childlike behavior.

She was contemplating if crawling to the kitchen for water was a better option than trying to get full use of her legs when there was a knock on the door.

Aurora picked her head up and looked at her entryway through the curls that had managed to escape her top knot. Who could that be? She had just seen Jade and Kailoni right before going to the gym so it couldn't be either of them.

She pushed herself up to a sitting position, forcing herself to breathe through the burn.

"Who is it?" Ari called out. She knew it was rude but she absolutely refused to move if it was just her neighbor Janice trying to "borrow a cup of salt" again. Stupid nosy hag couldn't even get the saying correct.

"Room service," a familiar deep baritone answered back.

Aurora's body jolted at the sound and she ignored her legs cry in protest as she quickly got to her feet and limped over to the door, peeking through the peephole.

She gasped softly. It really was Erik, standing in the hall with a smirk pulled across his plump lips. She stared at him in surprise for a few moments, hardly believing he was even there.

"You gonna open the door, Princess? Or you just gonna lean against, breathing all hard?" he jested, leaning toward the barrier between them, his brown eye coming towards the peephole.

Aurora jerked back, an irrational thought that he was actually coming closer to her face had her heart quickening. She laid a hand on the overactive organ as she feebly attempted to calm her now erratic breaths.