Title: Wine

Title: Wine

Name: Joy       

Email: SleepingBeauty2@ziplip.com

Rating: PG-13

            OK Logan, calm down. It may be the end of the working world's day but that does not mean that Max will come over. Take a deep breath and go by the assumption she will need a few days to process. Get to work and life will be fine… Agh… I just want to know we're OK. I'm gonna die in anticipation.

            My buzzer just went off. "Yes"

            "Mr. Cale, there is a messenger who refuses to leave a package down here. May she come up?"

            Oh, yes… "Sure, send her up."

            I open the door and wait to see the elevator doors open. To my great surprise it's Cindy strolling toward me, not Max. "Hiya Cindy, what can I do for you?"

            "Original Cindy is here to deliver a package with very specific orders," she says with a hip out turned.

            "OK, I'll sign for it if that's what ya mean," I say. What is Max up to?

            "My instructions are to give you the package and get your signature once it has been fully inspected by the recipient," she says staring at her clipboard as if the instructions were written down.

            "And WHO gave you these instruction?"

            "If you that stupid, I'll keep your gift!" Trust Original Cindy to drive home the point. She hands me a package that looks like a tall rectangular box. I open the top to retrieve an old time wine bag with a wine bottle inside. The brown cardboard like bag is ornamented with my newest poem in Max's beautiful handwriting.

            Eyes Only

Eyes Only

What a joke?

Gorgeous cerulean blue pools

Drawing me in ever deeper

Hypnotizing me into his world

Too close

He gets too close

Ever deeper into my soul

If a man made creature can have one

How did he get that close?

Here I sit

Watching from above

Stalking his movements

Envying his clothes

To be that close

He is

An over grown boy scoot

A spoiled rich kid

The moral brigade commander

And the focus of my attention

Eyes Only

What a joke?

He is so much more than that title

In the end, he is

Mio cuore, mio anima custode

            I look at Cindy in confusion when I get to the end of the poem. "What does the last line say?" I ask anxiously waiting to find out what I am, in the end.

            "Mio cuore, mio anima custode- Sugar taught me to say that. Made me rehearse it a few time to. I love Italian… It means 'My heart, my soul's keeper'."

            I can't breathe. I can't believe she wrote that… I guess that's why it was written in Italian so I would have to ask Cindy… so I would have the confirmation that she wrote what she meant. Oh, god… I want to weep… This can't be real… I don't think I have swallowed or blinked since she said the words…

            "Damn Logan… Got a good impression of a dead man… I thought ya'd be happy bout this," she said with confusion.

            Speaking is what I need to do… If I don't say something soon, she's gonna tell Max I hated it. I swallow and say, "I just can't believe it… I can't seem to catch my breath."

            She smiles really big. I guess that was the right answer. "Original Cindy understands, Hun. Max did her freak out earlier today…but see roommates are good for shaking ya back to reality. Ya don't have one and Bling ain't coming back, so I'm gonna sit myself down until I'm sure you ain't gonna do somethin' stupid."

            "Like what?" What would she consider stupid?

            "How about calling her to come over and then pretending nothing's happened… Or maybe sending her on one of your little errands… Or purposing marriage… Who knows what you would do left to your own devices?" she says sitting on my couch.

            She just mentioned marriage… I am sure I am very red by now. I just need to breathe… Breathing is good… The fact that it's in front of the best friend of woman I am interested in shouldn't be too bad.

            "Cindy?"

            "Yeah?"

            "What should I do now?" I say in total panic.

            She smiles big again. "Give each of ya time to get used to this… Keep sending the poetry if you want…just not as intense as the last one."

            "I can do that… Cindy? Do ya think… I mean are we… Will we be…" Dammit! Why won't my tongue work? I don't even know what I was asking.

            Cindy wakes me from my personal tirade. "Logan, she was worried about the friend thing- not wanting to lose that. You two maybe slow but it may work cause ya are… Yeah, she worried about the commandos and the need to leave, but I think she's confident that if she has to jet that don't mean she won't be back… Original Cindy just had to remind her the serious vibe ya be throwing at her… And boy ya should consider runnin' with her…"

            Up till the last sentence I was happy. Despite the Cindy speak she pretty much nailed my fears. Max and I both don't want to lose what we have. We both are looking for a slow build up here, so we get it right. Realistically there will be Manticore complications, but separation doesn't mean forever… Me going with her- that'll be the day. Zack would sooner dismember me.

            "What's up roller boy? Why the long face?"

            "Are you kidding? I can't go with her… I'll get her caught or killed."

            "That chair don't have to mean that!" she says sternly.

            "Look maybe when I can walk again, till then I've got to let her go…"

            "You are as stubborn as a mule… Look, Original Cindy is not one to get involved in these matters, but damn are you two messed… Suck it up… Enjoy now…"

            "I will… Would you like to have a glass of wine with me? I have great plans for this bottle," I say to Cindy.

            "I will gladly have some wine… and don't tell me about the bottle. I want out of this little game ya got goin', K?" she says strolling into the kitchen.

           

            The bottle will wait… I have poetry to write.