Burning Desire

That Kind of Day

It was a relief when morning arrived, and the end of our shift came with it. Some of the others had made plans to go to a cafe for breakfast, but my aching body was crying out for a lazy day on my sofa, leading me to head home instead.

The minute the front door slammed behind me, I headed through to the bathroom, dragging my shirt over my head and tossing it onto the floor, eager for a freshen up. After a nice hot shower, I changed into some comfy sweatpants and set about satisfying my other craving... food. There wasn't much in the cupboards, having not made it to the store for a few days, spotting a box of cereal on the counter, I grabbed it, not even bothering with the bowl or milk, and crashed out across my sofa, flicking on the tv, and selecting last night's football game from my planner. Tossing a handful of dry cereal into my mouth, I crunched it down, watching my team taking a hammering with style.

"Ugh, C'mon ref!" I shouted at the screen, jolting upright in frustration as he pulled a red card and sent my team down to ten members.

The sound of the doorbell halted my torrent of profanity. I didn't even bother to pause the game, knowing that it was effectively all over now. Standing the half empty cereal box on the edge of the table, I got up to answer the door.

Lifting my arms over my head, I stretched out my muscles, plodding along the hall until I reached the door, and swung it open.

"Lacey?" I said in surprise, caught off guard by her presence.

"Hey," She smiled briefly, her eyes drifting down over my bare chest, whilst she shifted her weight slightly, then cleared her throat. "I'm sorry to just show up."

She was the last person that I'd expected, but there was no denying how much brighter I felt at her presence, especially when she looked so breathtakingly beautiful. It was a rare sight to see her in a dress, but the simple red skater one that she wore could have brought any man to his knees.

"How did you even-" I began, before realisation dawned, "Dodger." I muttered, more to myself than anything.

Lacey nodded with a small laugh and I barely managed to contain an eye roll, holding the door open and stepping back to let her inside.

"Hope I wasn't interrupting anything." She teased as she went into the living room, and picked up the cereal box..

I followed after her, resting my hand on her waist whilst I stepped around her, picking up the remote and muting the tv.

"Oh yeah, I was being so productive." I replied sarcastically, taking the cereal box from her and flopping down on the sofa.

"Looks like it." She smirked, joining me on the sofa, and turning towards the screen.

I waited for her to say something, to tell me why she was here, but instead she just stared at the tv, lost in some unknown thought.

"Why did you stop by?" I asked, bringing her attention back towards me.

Her silvery eyes fixed on me, and she tucked a stray wave of her dark hair behind her ear, pulling one leg up onto the sofa as she turned to face me.

"I didn't want to be on my own."

Her admission caught me off guard. I straightened up, turning the remote towards the television and turning it off, the colours fading out to black.

"It's pretty dumb really." She continued, "I've had much closer calls before. It's just, this time, it was so different, completely unexpected, and I can't shake it off."