It's Only Temporary

Chapter 16: A Lazy Saturday Morning (Part 2)

David watched in horror as Penny spun away and stepped off of the curb. The light changed, and the traffic bore down in her direction, but she gave no sign of stopping. He lunged after her, reaching out reflexively. His forearm clenched around her waist, and he pulled her backward just in time. A yellow cab sped by in front of them, horn blaring.

Penny lost her footing and stumbled backward as his arm locked around her, but he was too close behind to let her fall. For a moment, she felt the full length of his body pressed against her. Her calves against his shins. Her thighs against his thighs. Her rigid back against his chest. His arm tightened around her, enveloping her - just as it had once before.

The thought flashed through her mind, unbidden. A lazy Saturday morning, spooned together in a king-sized bed. She'd awakened first. She'd come up slowly from her delicious dream, gradually aware of an arm flung around her waist, and the pressure of a body against her back. His breath had tickled her ear. She'd turned in his arms and watched his eyes flutter open. Watched the hazy fog of slumber clear away....

She didn't turn around now, as they stood locked together in the street. Every muscle of her body tensed except her heart, thrumming wildly.

His voice sounded in her ear, low and harsh. "You trying to get yourself killed?"

"Let go," she breathed, when she could breathe again. She raised her hands and pushed down with all her strength against the arm that held her confined."I have to go," she said.

David let go of her waist, but he grabbed her arm again and dragged her back to the safety of the curb. Her eyes were wide now with something close to panic, and he watched her wrap her arms around herself protectively. Her pale yellow t-shirt clung to her chest, transparent. The taxi had rolled through a puddle as it went by. She'd been splashed from head to toe.

"Shit," he said. "Your shirt. Here, come with me-"

"No!"

"What?"

"I'm late!"

"Penny, you're soaking wet. You can't walk around like that."

"I have to go."

"Just-wait. My car is right over there." He pointed toward a sleek black Lexus sedan, parked a few spots down the block. "I have a towel. Just come and get dried off."

Penny hesitated. She'd lost her bearings in the sudden whirl of motion. Her eyes followed the direction he was pointing. Were they facing East or West? East, she saw. The direction of the test center. A gust of wind blew against her, and she shivered inside her sopping clothes. She allowed him keep his hand at her elbow and usher her in silence to his car.

"Wait here," he ordered. He sat her down in the passenger seat.

"I have to go," she repeated once again, but she stayed where he had seated her. Penny watched over her shoulder as he jogged to the back of the car and reached to pop open the trunk. He met her eyes through the back window for a moment. He raised one finger, and she watched his lips form the shape of a soundless word.

"Stay."

Then his face disappeared from view, replaced by blackness, behind the open trunk.

David knew what he was looking for. He kept a stash of supplies for emergencies just like this one, and he silently applauded himself for his forethought. It paid to be organized. He pulled out a neatly folded towel and an old college sweatshirt - the good warm kind, with a hood and a kangaroo pocket. He reached up to swing the trunk closed again, anxious to get back to her, but he hesitated for a moment.

He still couldn't quite believe he'd seen her. His thoughts swam in his head from the surprise. A month had passed since he'd last seen her. He'd all but given up hope. And now here she was. A chance encounter on the street. Penny. Here. Now. Not his secretary. Not her boss. Just Penny and David. Just a guy and a girl....

"I have to go," she kept saying. She was in such a godforsaken rush. Would she run away before he had a chance to stop her? Couldn't she at least let him buy her a cup of coffee? He had so much needed to say.

Now here she was, right in front of him - and she might slip away again before he had a chance to say a word.

He couldn't take the risk.

He had a pen in the trunk, inside the first aid kit. He reached inside and grabbed it. Then he pulled something out of his wallet and scribbled hurriedly. His hand slipped into the pocket of the sweatshirt and back out again as he strode around the car and sat himself in the driver's seat.

"Here," David said, handing her the sweatshirt. "Put this on."

"I have to go," she repeated once again. She didn't look at him. Her words were clipped and rushed.

"Just put it on, Penny!"

"I'll mail it back to you."

"Don't worry about it."

She threw the sweatshirt around her shoulders as he continued speaking. "Wait. Just-are you OK? Are you-Penny, are you in some kind of trouble? Please, just talk to me for a sec-"

If Penny had been thinking clearly, the pleading look on his face might have swayed her. As it was, she barely registered his words. Her mind was still reeling, from the physical contact as much as anything else. All she could see was the round polished-silver clock, the size of a silver dollar, built into the dashboard of his car.

The little hand pointed to the nine.

The big hand pointed to the 11.

Her mind clicked into a focus. 8:55 AM. Five minutes until the doors of the test center would be closed and barred against her.

"I have to go," Penny told him one last time. Then she popped the car door open and ran briskly down the street.

"Penny!" he shouted after her, but she didn't turn to look. He watched helplessly through the windshield as she made her way past idling pedestrians and disappeared from view.

In other circumstances, that last glimpse of her retreating form might have made him laugh. He'd forgotten just how big that sweatshirt was: a men's size x-large. It fit him loosely. On her, it hung down to to her knees.

Too late, he realized his mistake. He'd slipped a message in the pocket - the kangaroo pocket that swung against her lower thighs, just out of reach of her fingertips.

Penny never did put her hands in the pocket that morning, as she dashed down the sidewalk and lurched through the test center's revolving door. It would be some time before she discovered the message that remained there, unnoticed and unread.

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