"That's it?" she asked. "See you tomorrow?" Michelle couldn't believe that after everything that had happend today, Tony had nothing more to say to her than "See you tomorrow".
"No...that's not it..." Tony said, moving from behind his desk. "There's one more thing," he said as he approached her.
"What's that?"
"This," he said, as he took her face in his hands and lowered is lips to hers. A small yelp of surprise escaped from Michelle's throat, but she recovered quickly and put her hands behind his head to pull him closer. Michelle's head spun as Tony used his tongue to part her lips. In spite of the fact that she was fully aware that they were visible to everyone in the office, she found herself unable to break away from him.
She opened her eyes and glanced sidewards. She could see random analysts down on the floor staring at them and whispering. Still, she was unable to fend off Tony's advances. Against her own wishes, her fingers were now tangled in his hair and her tongue was madly circling his. Was he crazy! At least when she'd kissed him, she'd done it in a less conspicuous spot. He was practically putting them on display, and if he kept it up, they were both going to get fired.
Tony's hands had moved from her face to her wasit and Michelle could now see several people standing outside his office watching them. "Why won't he stop!" she thought frantically, though she seemed unable to do so herself. "Who are all these people? And don't they have anything better to do than stand around gawking at us?"
Michelle was almost in a panic and still unable to stop herself from returning Tony's kiss as urgently as he was delivering it. A woman Michelle did not recognize was standing in Tony's office doorway as if waiting patiently for them to finish so she could conduct whatever business she had with him.
"Oh God...and now his phone is ringing! It's probably Chapelle wanting an explanation for what he must surely be viewing on his monitor. My God...why doesn't he answer it?"
Even as Tony ignored the phone and continued his assault on her senses, Michelle coudl sense him slipping away from her. She tried to focus on him, but it was as if he were disintigrating.
Michelle closed her eyes tightly and then opened them again. She was in her bed. And the phone was ringing. "Uggh...such a bonehead," she muttered, cursing herself for forgetting to shut the ringer off. She fumbled for the receiver. "Dessler" she rasped into the mouthpiece.
"Michelle? Did I wake you? I'm so sorry.."
"Tony? Is something wrong? What's happened?"
"No - nothing's wrong. I just wanted to call and check on you, since we didn't really get a chance to talk before you left. I should have waited. I didn't mean to wake you. I'm sorry. I'll let you go back to sleep."
"No, it's all right. What time is it?"
"It's four. In the afternoon."
"Four! I've been asleep for 6 whole hours after being awake for 30 straight! How could I be so lazy?"
Tony laughed. "Ok...point taken. I should have known better. Really - we can talk later. I'll let you go if you want."
"No - I don't want. I'm glad you called. Did you get any sleep?"
"About as much as you, I think. Apparently, only one of us is able to handle a 24-hour shift without slipping into a coma afterwards."
"Uh huh...must be all your spy training," she said as her eyes drooped closed again.
"Right. Actually, they trained us to stay awake for obnoxiously long periods of time in the Marines."
"Mmmm...sounds fun," Michelle answered, starting to drift off again.
Tony knew he was going to have to make this a quick conversation. "Hey," he said, "I was thinking...if you think you'll be up for it, would you like to go and grab something to eat later? I mean...if I give you a few more hours to sleep?"
"Actually, I would," she said, noticing for the first time the twisted pangs of hunger in her stomach. "I don't even remember when I last ate."
"Ok - pick you up at 8?"
"8:30."
"Perfect. Go back to sleep."
Michelle set her alarm for 7 and rolled back over, hoping to be able to pick up that dream where it left off. Only without the spectators.
