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All the rest of that night Sara had thought about her supper and subsequent strolling with Dr. Sal. It was the first time in a long time that she'd felt comfortable with a person that was nearly completely foreign to her. Dr. Dellacona was, as it seemed, a decent man. He was certainly chivalrous and outwardly, the perfect gentleman. However, Sara had seen men like that before. In the beginning they were perfect, holding doors and pulling out chairs and such, but after a while their true colours began to show, exposing their true selves, however they were. Some became indifferent, some distant and some flat out bastardly. However, Sara didn't get the impression that this new man was like all the others she'd spent time with. His actions, pure and simply, were, or appeared to be those of a man that was brought up right. He was respectful, attentive and seemed to show a genuine interest in what Sara had to say, regardless of the topic in question.
By the time she had arrived at home, at Jim's, she was actually tired. She actually felt as though she could sleep. Jim was not there, she didn't know where he was, so she just slipped into her flannel jammie pants and crawled into bed and cocooned herself in the warm flannel sheets and goose down comforter. It wasn't long after her head hit the pillow that she went out like a light, her soft nose whistle and the sound of the ceiling fan filling the room with the sounds of someone sleeping soundly.
Around 02:00hrs Jim came home to see Sara's car in the drive and parked beside her so as not to block her in, need she have to go anywhere the following morning. Kicking off his shoes by the front door, he shuffled, in his stocking feet, down the hall to the bedroom to find Sara bundled up like some sort of large human burrito. In the master bathroom, he disrobed and threw the stench and filth of the day in the hamper. Closing the door completely, he took a long, hot shower and wrapped round' the waist with a towel, he padded into the bedroom for something clean and warm to wear to bed. Finding a pair of sweats and FOP t-shirt, he put on a pair of Thor-Lo's and gently tried to unwrap Sara from her self, sleep induced bundling. Just as he'd un-tucked one corner of the sheets she woke, gave a sloppy, sleep filled smile and shifted the covers his way. He slid under the sheets and spooned up behind Sara, whispering his good-night.
The following morning Sara woke with a feeling she'd not had in the longest time; completely and totally rested. At present she had her head on Jim's chest, his arm draped around her shoulder the same way Dr. Sal had done the previous night. She carefully slipped from his protective grasp and oozed out of bed, kneeling on the floor. She found the socks that he'd taken off during the night and put them on, tip toeing into the kitchen for some coffee and to forage for food. Coffee in one hand and a bag of Original flavour Sun Chips in the other, she plopped down on the couch and turned on the tellie but kept it low so as not to wake Jim. It would be several hours yet before he'd wake up on his own. On his hands and knees, he looked for his socks and not being able to find them, he pulled another pair from his sock drawer and joined Sara on the couch with coffee of his own, holding out a hand for the bag of chips.
For the better part of the day they sat there like that, just lounging and watching the tellie until it was time to go in to work. Letting Sara have the first shower afforded Jim the time to take care of a few last things before going in for the evening and as she stepped from the bathroom, wrapped only in a towel, he smiled.
"Hey, they're gone. There's not even a trace"
"Yeah, semi back to normal"
"So, what'd you do last night?" he asked while heading for the shower, himself
"Oh, I had dinner, went for a walk. Normal stuff, you know." she replied
"That's good. Its good you're getting out instead of staying in all the time; its not healthy."
As Jim showered, Sara dressed and made another pot of coffee for them to take in to work. Jim was a fast shower taker. He could take a full shower, getting everything, in right around three minutes. By the time Sara had slipped her shirt over her head Jim was just coming out in his towel and rooting through his drawers looking for a suitable pair of shorts to wear. In one hand he held a pair of blue cotton boxers and in the other he held a pair of olive drab green ones. Turning round' to see Sara, he held them up as she pointed to the blue ones.
"They accentuate your eyes." she said jokingly
"Maybe so, but who, other than you, knows I'll be wearing them"
"It'll be our little secret."
Sliding them on under his towel, he let the damp cotton cloth fall to the floor in a heap and picked it up, hanging it over the bathroom door. From there, he put on a pair of khaki pants and his FOP polo shirt and for footwear he selected a pair of comfortable hiking boots, rarely used for hiking, but more for their comfort while on the job.
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Sitting at his desk, Dr. Dellacona had been thinking of Sara all week and had wanted to call her the day after their meeting but didn't want to seem over eager, so he waited until Friday morning to call her. Picking up his desk phone, he dialed and took a very deep breath while the phone rang.
"Hi, this is Dr. Dellacona. Is this Sara? Good. I was wondering if you'd like to have dinner again. If we can coordinate our schedules, maybe we can work something out. Yeah? Cool. Ok, what time? Sure thing. See you then."
"That went well." he thought to himself as he looked in a small hand held mirror, smiling
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It was the end of the week and everyone was looking forward to well deserved time off from the scum and freakiness of Las Vegas. For her part, Sara was on her way home, her home, when her cell went off. Fishing through her pockets, she pulled it out and answered it.
"Sidle. Oh, hi. How've you been? Is that so? Well, I'm off this morning, tomorrow and the following day. What did you have in mind? Sounds good. Yeah? My address is 8942 Sycamore Lane, apartment 525. I should be there in half an hour or so. Give me an hour to freshen up."
She pulled into her spot and took the stairs two at a time, and unlocking her door, she jumped out of her clothes on the way to the shower. It was a quick shower and as she stepped from the bathroom she collected her clothing from the hallway and threw it in the hamper before dressing. She found something fairly casual but slightly dressy; a nice pair of wool slacks, a silk blouse that wasn't too girlie and some comfortable shoes in case they went walking again. By the time she was fully dressed and ready to go, the doorbell went off and she answered it. There, in front of her, stood Dr. Sal dressed in black slacks, a white button down shirt with no tie and black loafers. His hair was as beautiful as it ever was and from behind his back he pulled a single white rose, smiling.
"A beautiful bud for a beautiful woman."
Blushing, she took the rose and grabbed her house and car keys, slipping them into her pocket. In the drive was Dr. Sal's 2004 BMW 7 series and Sara loved it. It was black and beautiful. As he opened the door for her and she slid in, he closed the door after her and climbed in behind the wheel, smiling. Turning to her, he smiled wider.
"So, where to?" he asked
"You're driving, so its your decision. Just so you know, I'm a vegetarian"
"I know."
Wondering how he knew, Sara was curious but chose to keep her mouth shut and let Dr. Dellacona handle things. They ended up on main street and pulled up in front of the Luxor, where he gave his keys to the valet and escorted her from the car and into the hotel.
All in all it was a perfect day; the food was excellent, the company was stimulating, intellectually as well as spiritually and the after meal activity was very relaxing. As I said; perfect. Dr. Sal was, as ever, the perfect gentleman. As much as his curiosity kept begging that he ask about particulars of some of the cases that Sara had worked, the silent understanding that they had established prevented him doing so. Instead, at Sara's enquiries, he answered every question she asked, however morbid or detailed they were.
When all was said and done, he returned her home around 14:00hrs and, again, as he had done at the lot with her car, waited until she was safely in her apartment before he drove off. In her bedroom she dropped her clothing to the floor and crawled, as she was, under the covers. It wasn't until late in the afternoon that a knock came at the front door and went unanswered. Moments later Sara's cell went off and in her half asleep state she flipped it open and mumbled into it.
"Sidle. Oh, hey. Yeah, sure. Just use your key."
It was Jim calling to check up on her, as he'd started doing since she'd been spending more time at her place. Within seconds, the front door opened and Jim came in, groceries in hand. Stowing them properly in the fridge and cabinets, he moved to the bedroom where he could see Sara sleeping. From under the covers came a low, sleepy voice.
"Well, crawl in if you're gonna." she said, lifting the covers for him
Stripping down to his underclothes, Jim slid in, in front of her as she spooned up behind him. This had to be Jim's favourite position for sleeping; the way Sara felt, her chest rising and falling, pressed against his back and her arm around his waist, his hand covering hers. Things had become more serious between she and Jim in past weeks, as they'd spent more time together, got to know each other better and told each other some of their secrets. She liked Dr. Sal well enough, but she had more in common with Jim, as she knew him better and had known him longer. However, she was still struggling internally between her best friend and this new stranger that had made her laugh when she needed it most.
It wasn't until dark when Sara woke to find that she was trapped, not only in the firm grasp of his arms, but under his leg as well. They were still spooned, but sometime during the afternoon he had fully lifted his leg so that it snaked around and lay in front of hers. With her left hand, she gently lifted his leg, slid hers out from under it and set it back down. Next, she carefully made her way out of bed and to the bathroom for a greatly needed pee.
After washing her hands she returned to the bedroom to see Jim on the flat of his back, arms stretched outward like he was making a snow angel. God, he was cute when he slept. She had spend many moments in recent weeks watching him sleep. His Angelic appearance while sleeping was a far cry from the hard-nosed, no bullshit Jim Brass that she saw at work. She definitely liked this one better.