We Lucky Few

Early morning whispers and late night kisses

I tossed around again with a frustrated sigh and glared at the glowing blue numbers on my alarm clock with a vengeance.

4:17

I took my pillow and covered my ear. My head was just spinning with too many loud thoughts, shutting them in was not helping. It got worse by the minute. They were erratic, hopping from one thing to the next like a bunny on speed. I hated nights like these. I used to have more of them, but after my studies, they had made themselves blissfully scarce.

With another sigh, I heaved myself off my bed. I blamed Calliope, really. The time I'd spent with her the day before had left me puzzled, both emotionally and intellectually. I flipped the lamp in the living room on and shuffled over to the coffee machine. I knew that on nights like these, there was just no use in trying to go to sleep. So I gave up and took my coffee over to the couch to zap through the heavily pornographic program that was night television.

I really need to get Netflix installed.

I'd had Netflix when I was still living in L.A with Darlene. But the subscription was on her name so when I moved out...

I grunted again and went to my bedroom to pull random jeans and a shirt on. I slipped my feet into my sneakers, grabbed my jacket and left the apartment. Cool night air greeted me and I breathed deeply. I took the three steps down to the street and faltered when I saw Calliope sitting on the sidewalk, just outside of a pool of light from one of the streetlamps. I chuckled quietly to myself.

Seems like there is just no way around Calliope lately.

"Calliope?" I called softly. There was no reaction.

I approached and touched my fingers to her shoulder. She jerked, left hand reaching up to yank a headphone out of her ear. When she saw who it was she let out a breath. Her left hand flew to her heart.

"Good Lord, James, you can't do that to people!"

I shrugged and took a seat next to her. "I called your name but you didn't react."

She held the headphones up wordlessly.

"So, are you often sitting here in the middle of the night, listening to music so loudly that you don't hear anyone coming?" I did my best to sound nonchalant, but that girl just seemed to have no sense of self-preservation and it rubbed me all the wrong ways. It was irresponsible and I didn't like irresponsible people.

Calliope looked at me sideways and the corners of her lips lifted. "It has happened before, yes." Her eyes glinted with amusement and a touch of mischievous dare.

"Well, that's not very safe, is it?"

"So far I've been doing fine," she answered with a shrug.

"Aren't you afraid of someone creeping up on you?" I asked, now clearly exasperated.

"No, I'm not. Though you creeping up on me has me reconsidering that." She winked at me, but my look remained serious. "Come on, James. No risk, no fun, right?" Calliope saw my dubious expression and laughed. "You disagree, don't you?"

"I do. I hate that saying. You can have plenty of fun while staying safe at the same time."

Calliope grinned, while her eyes studied me. "I guess. But a bit of risk always makes for a nice, thrilling touch."

I grunted and shook my head. 

Unbelievable. How can someone with that mindset still be alive?

My eyes slid down her body and noticed Calliope's thin tank top.

"Aren't you cold?"

"No, I rarely am." She looked up at me with a cocked eyebrow. "You are quite protective, aren't you?"