Burnt Out
Archer came home from work and hour earlier than usual and decided it was the perfect time to catch up on her favorite TV show. The smoke detector beeped loudly bringing to her attention that her popcorn was burning and the whole kitchen was full of smoke. "Great," she said as she dumped the bag of blackened kernels in the trash can. She placed another bag in the microwave and set it to two minutes while she walked around her small apartment to begin opening the windows to get rid of the smell. She had just opened the last window when she heard a knock on the door. "Coming," she yelled as she walked through the apartment to the front door. She stood on her toes to look out the peep hole and raised a brow. Archer took a step back to open the door and tilt her head at the tall man standing in her doorway with a squished nose, "Yeah?" He waved his hand in front of his nose and narrowed his eyes, "Phew-so it's you." Archer placed her hands on her hips and stared at him, "Excuse me?" "What are you burning? I could smell the smoke downstairs," he pushed past her and disappeared around the corner to the kitchen. "Hey!" yelled Archer as she chased after him. When she entered the kitchen, he was dumping the bag of popcorn in the sink. "Hey!" she yelled again, rushing to rescue the bag before he turned the water on, "What the hell are you doing?" He turned around with an amused expression and snatched the bag from her hands, "You weren't seriously going to eat that were you?" Archer glanced at the bag to see that it was the burnt bag and had smoke pouring from the top like a volcano about to erupt, "Well, not that bag." The guy raised a brow and dropped the bag back in the sink and turned the water on. The smoke in the bag stopped pouring out but the smell of smoke continued to linger in the air, burning her eyes and nose. "How can you burn popcorn so bad that it catches fire?" asked the stranger as he shut off the water. Archer stared at him standing in her small kitchen with a look like he'd just saved the day, "Get out." He turned to her with a started expression, like he'd just realized she was there, "Um…no?" Archer shook her head and pointed back toward the door, "Get out before I call the cops." He chuckled and grabbed the bag from the sink, "Ha ha very funny." He dumped the wet bag back into the trash and tied up the black force flex bag, "Hand me another bag babe?" Archer frowned and dropped her hand, "What?" He looked up from tying the bag up and raised a brow, "I'm gonna take out the trash. Can you put a new bag in?" Archer shook her head and pulled the trash bag away from him, "Get the hell out of my apartment before I call the cops and have you arrested." The guy straightened and frowned, "Archer babe, what are you talking about?" Archer dropped the bag and darted for the phone hanging on the wall beside the fridge, "I'm not kidding…I'm dialing the number." The guy raised his hands up, "Archer…what the hell?" Archer dialed the three digits and waited for it to ring. The stranger's eyes widened and he reached to unplug the phone, "Archer! Why the hell would you call the cops?" Archer darted away and ran into the living room to use the phone there, "How do you know my name?" The guy poked his head around the corner with a confused frown, "Because you're my wife?" Archer stopped dialing mid air and looked up at him, "What?" He walked into the living room slowly with his hands raised in defense, "Because we're married and it's been your name since we met in our freshmen year of college? What is this? Some sick test that Crowley put you up to?" Archer tilted her head at the name and a flash of images spun behind her eye lids. Her birthday was in two weeks and she would be 23. Her name was Archer Matthews and she had been married to Caleb for almost two years. She met all her friends, Crowley, Adam, Mina, Beth, Rowen and Caleb at college. She was an art teacher at the local high school where Adam taught history and tonight was date night. She blinked a few times as she remembered all these things and stared at the phone in her hand. Caleb took the phone from her hand and placed it back on the receiver quietly, "Are you okay?" Archer looked up at him and nodded, "Yeah…um…no. I forgot everything." Caleb looked at her in confusion, "What happened?" Archer thought about how classes had been cut short today due to teacher meetings and on her way home ran into a skinny red head in a black dress, "I pissed her off and she did something to me." "Who?" asked Caleb getting more and more confused. "One of Crowley's friends, Kate. You know…the witch? I accidently bumped into her today and she got all mad." Caleb raised a brow and sighed, "Oh…Kate. Yeah…you've got to be careful around her. You ok now?" Archer nodded and rubbed the back of her neck, "That was weird." Caleb chuckled and turned to walk to the bathroom, "I'm having a shower. We still on for date night tonight?" Archer mumbled a reply then grabbed her second bag of popcorn. She sighed and tossed it into the trash, not really in the mood for popcorn anymore.