Afterboom - Chapter 26

Janet was up at the crack of dawn the following Sunday morning. Of course, you'd actually have to get sleep to be up, she thought anxiety overwhelming her. She scrubbed the dishes with a piece of steel wool until it was worn out. She dismissively chucked it in the trash and walked over to the cleaning agent cabinet to get out a new piece. Just as she did so, her phone rang.

Ugh! Doesn't anybody sleep anymore? What happened to the good ole days when Sunday was considered the Day of Rest? She thought irritably walking over to the phone and answering it.

"What?" she barked.

"Whoa! You're in a good mood this morning." Eddie commented chuckling. But when he realised she wasn't responding he continued to babble, "I was thinking of coming over if you wanted to hang out today. Have you had any breakfast? I could bring some over. Do you feel like pancakes or--"

"No." She said abruptly. She noticed some interference on his end of the line.

"No to what? The pancakes?" he asked surprised at the tone she took. Janet rarely spoke to him like that and when she did, he knew he was the cause of it.

"The pancakes, coming over, hanging out, all of it. Just, no." she said.

"How come? Are you sick of me already?" he teased giving it the old college try to change her mood.

Her tears were surfacing as she spoke this time, "I can't talk right now. I have to go."

"Wait, Janet!" he yelled into the phone but it was too late, she clicked it off and set it back on the cradle. Just then, there was a knock at the door.

"Who is it?" she called out frustrated, walking towards the door as she wiped her tears away. When she answered the door, she was taken aback. Eddie stood there with two cups of coffee and a 'Bagels in a Bag' paper bag, "Top f the mornin' to ya!" he said brightly. When he took one look at her, worry clouded his face.

"What's wrong Jem?" he always called her that when he felt emotional. He came in uninvited and set the food down on the dining table. Then turning to her, he pulled her in for a huge bear hug. He held her tight and she began to cry. He leaned his chin on top of her head and rubbed her back. "Shh...Don't worry, whatever the problem is, we'll figure it out okay?" he said pulling her back enough to look at her.

"It's nothing, really. I'm fine." She said pulling away from him. "Do you want some eggs?"

"Janet!" he exclaimed looking at her wide-eyed. "Do you have a 'Jekyll and Hyde' complex or something?"

She laughed uncomfortably, "No it's just. I had a hard day at work last night is all and I barely got any sleep so... Sorry I was so grumpy. What do you want to eat?"

He looked at her for a second and with a knowing take-charge smile, he walked over to her, took the skillet out of her hand, and set it on the sink. "C'mon. You're coming with me." he said grabbing her hand and leading her to her bedroom.

"Eddie what are you doing? I'm not in the mood today, maybe tomorrow. Or next week." She said dejectedly.

"Janet is that all you think about?" he teased her with a surprised expression. He started taking off his shoes and then he discarded his jeans and t-shirt as well. Pretty soon, he was in his boxers and looking at her expectantly.

"And I suppose we're still not talking about sex?" she raised her eyebrows with her hands on her hips. He grinned and walked over to her and slowly began to undress her. Not in a seductive way, no, this was more tender than it was erotic. The way he got when she had the flu before they started dating and he came over with chicken soup, claiming that Hannah sent it over. Soon enough she was stripped down to her rosebud house socks. He walked over to the drawer she gave him for his clothes and pulled out a large hockey jersey.

Tossing it to her, he said, "Here. Wear that so you don't catch a cold. We're expecting cold fronts today." Then he climbed into her bed and watched her pull over the jersey. The look of her in his old jersey was starting to grow on him. She looked...sexy. He patted down the spot next to him, motioning for her to come sit next to him. Reluctantly she complied and sat down.

"Now what?" she asked.

"Now, we sleep."

"Hello sailor, take me now." She said sarcastically rolling her eyes.

He just laughed, "Look as much as I would like to do other things..." he let his voice trail off for emphasis, "... today, I think you need your rest. I don't think I want Grumpy Janet with me tonight."

By now, Janet was already snuggled up under the covers and was drifting off to sleep, "Oh yeah? Where are we going?" she asked sleepily.

"We're going out to dinner. Just you and I. Oh but we're preparing for all contingencies so wear a sweater with whatever you're wearing." He added.

"Dinner? Where?" she asked absentmindedly.

"Chez Fleur. That French restaurant at the Flats. Owen is taking Alison there next Friday so he asked if we could go check it out. Apparently he and Alison are back together and stronger than ever and—" his meandering was interrupted by Janet's snoring.

"Good thing I didn't start telling her about Phil and Pizza Girl's marble game or she'd be in a coma!" he said pulling the covers over himself. He scooted closer to Janet and gently pulled her into his arms and she laid her head on his chest and draped an arm and a leg over his body. He smiled with satisfaction before him too, fell asleep.