Morning Person

Don't mind me, just another quick bonus :)  The next post will still happen on Wednesday.
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I went home after work on Monday for the first time in a few days.  Lauren and I still planned to do our Monday roomie night, and I needed to tell her I was moving out.  Brody was clearly still nervous about Cassie, but he just asked if he could come late and spend the night.  I agreed to that, even though I still though his worry was unfounded.

Lauren was already home when I got there, and Cassie was nowhere to be found.  "Hi," Lauren greeted me.  "It's good to be back, huh?" We both laughed, and she handed me an envelope.  "It was in the mailbox."  It just said "Olivia" on the back, and I recognized Cassie's handwriting.  I opened it curiously and read.

"Liv, 
I know you're pissed at me, and I don't blame you.  I'd be pissed at me too if I were in your shoes.  I just wanted to let you know that I'm not going to bother you. I'll stay out of your way (and Brody's, and Lauren's too), but if you ever want to talk again, let me know.
Cassie"

I rolled my eyes and handed it to Lauren.  She read it quickly then snorted.  "Yeah, if you ever want to talk about how she accused your boyfriend of running a dirty business, she'd be delighted!"   I laughed, but I was glad to have the letter.  I hoped it would help Brody relax a little bit.

I couldn't help but be a little curious.  Even though I trusted Brody fully and didn't believe for a second that he was doing anything he shouldn't be, I wondered what kind of information Cassie had and where she had gotten it.  The whole situation was really strange and confusing, but I wasn't curious enough to pursue getting any more information.

Once we were settled on the couch with our Thai (changing it from pizza this week) and wine, Lauren asked, "So how's the house hunting going?"

"Not so well," I admitted.  "And actually, we decided to hold off, and I'm going to just move in with him."

Lauren coughed, then looked at me.  "Really?" she said, surprised.  "When?"

I shrugged.  "Yes, really, and I don't know.  I guess I'm just going to start moving stuff as I pack.  Depending on how things go with Brody's job this week, we're hoping to take a vacation near the end of the month, so it would be nice to moved before that."

Lauren looked impressed.  "You know, I didn't think you'd go through with it.  I thought you'd drag it out, not commit to a house, and just stay here for a few more months."  I glared at her.  "What?" she asked.  "Come on, Liv.  It was not that long ago that you were horrified by the idea of moving in with him."

She had a point, and I acknowledged that.  "But everything changed after his dad died, I guess.  It just made me look at it differently."

Lauren nodded, then grinned.  "It will be nice to have my own place again, then.  Though it was nice to live with you for awhile, once we adjusted, at least."

I laughed.  "Yes, definitely once we adjusted.  Once we adjusted and once you stopped destroying the kitchen!"

"Had to keep you on your toes," she shot back, also laughing.  We enjoyed the rest of our night, and Lauren promised to help me pack and move, since I had helped her.  I reminded her that she still had to move her furniture over, and she grimaced and said she was hiring movers because she wasn't dealing with Alex's attitude again, plus moving furniture.  I laughed and agreed that was a good idea.  I had been planning on the same for moving my furniture.

Brody arrived a little before 10 and greeted us.  "Can I shower?" he asked, after kissing me.

"Of course," I replied.  He headed upstairs while Lauren and I cleaned up our dishes and takeout trash.  I snuck into the bathroom and brushed my teeth while Brody was in the shower, and was already in bed by the time he came out.

He climbed into bed and I scooted over to him, curling up against him with my head on his chest.  "How was your day?" I asked, running my fingers aimlessly across the lean muscles of his chest and stomach.

"Fine," he replied.  "Pete and I spent most of the day getting things ready for the auditor to come tomorrow.  I'm looking forward to getting that out of the way.  How was yours?"

I told him about the letter from Cassie, which he seemed to find interesting.  "I guess I can probably leave you here unsupervised now," he joked.  "Did you decide where we're going yet?"

Brody had insisted on paying for our trip, but I had refused to divulge any of the information I had collected on Sunday while I researched.  I told him I'd narrow it down and let him choose, since he was paying, but he had decided that he liked the idea of a surprise destination and told me he didn't want to know.

"I have it narrowed down to a couple places.  I just need to read a few more reviews before I decide for sure," I replied.  We had talked about a general idea of what we wanted and had settled on finding an all-inclusive somewhere in Mexico or the Caribbean.  We didn't want to have to worry about anything that we didn't want to when we got there, and we wanted somewhere we wouldn't feel bad about just laying on the beach or by the pool and never leaving the resort, if that's what we decided.  Plus, Brody pointed out that leaving the country was an excuse for him to turn off his phone and leave it that way, and who could argue with that?  I had originally looked at a few places in Central America and South America, but decided to save those for a trip when we were feeling a little more adventurous. 

"Good.  After this week, we'll figure out when to go, then you can book it."  He had given me a general budget to work with, which was a whole lot more than I'd ever considered spending on a trip in my life.  I had quickly found that there were very cheap all-inclusive resorts, and really, really ridiculously expensive ones.  I was shooting for one in the middle where we could get an upgraded room without going over the budget.  I also had to find a resort that still had rooms available mere weeks in advance.

Our chatting tapered off and we shifted onto our sides and got comfortable again.  Brody kissed my shoulder lightly and said goodnight, and I drifted off to sleep.

Brody was already out of bed when my alarm went off in the morning.  I assumed he had left, and I showered and got ready quickly.  When I walked downstairs, I saw Brody in the kitchen and smelled breakfast.  "It doesn't suck to have a boyfriend that's a morning person," I said with a grin.

"Good morning to you, too," he said, kissing me and handing me a plate with eggs, sausage, and toast.

"Thank you," I said, kissing him a second time.

"Won't miss PDA bright and early in the morning," Lauren grumbled, coming down the stairs.  Brody handed her a plate and she quickly changed her tune.  "On second thought, maybe you could stay?  Liv can go, she doesn't make me breakfast."

"I'll remember that the next time I'm making dinner," I retorted.

"You ladies have a great day," Brody said.  "I need to get going."  He made his escape, leaving Lauren and I alone to our non-morning-people sleepy breakfast eating.

"I wish Alex made breakfast," Lauren griped.  She's even less of a morning person than I am.

"Doesn't he ever?" I asked.

She snorted.  "Sometimes, but never on a weekday."

"Well, at least he's usually home in time for dinner?" I suggested.

"Good point."

We finished our breakfasts and I put both plates in the dishwasher then went our separate ways to work.  I had a busy day with lots of clients, but it went quickly.  I was happy to get a text from Lauren that she was spending the night at Alex's.  Brody was planning on spending the night at home, and I was too.  As much as I loved both Lauren and Brody, I was excited for some alone time.  It had been awhile.

When I got home, I made myself dinner then decided to spend an hour or so packing up some stuff.  I'd had my books and some various other things in the second bedroom, so those were already packed, because I had shoved them in boxes to get them out of Lauren's way.  I focused on packing some other things that were not essential to my life for the next few weeks, like DVDs and decorative things.  I made a pretty good dent in it before calling it quits for the night.

Later, as I got ready for bed, I felt a little nervous about being in my house by myself.  I rolled my eyes at myself.  Clearly I'd been spending too much time around Brody.  But I hadn't spent a night by myself in awhile, and I still wasn't sure what Cassie was up to.  I pushed the thought out of my head and climbed into bed.

At first, the bed felt too big.  But then I shifted and stretched out and quickly began to enjoy the extra room.  I fell asleep a lot more easily than I thought I would.

I woke with a start, shivering and drenched in sweat, several hours later.  I sat up in bed and tried to slow my breathing.  "Fuck," I whispered, throwing the blankets off and getting up to go into the bathroom.

I splashed some cool water on my face while I reflected that it had been quite awhile since my last nightmare about Jordan.  But tonight, my subconscious had taken advantage of my slight anxiety about being home alone and Cassie's recent antics.

On my way back to my bed, I picked up my Kindle and settled into bed.  My mind was still racing and I knew I wouldn't fall back asleep if I tried.  I read for about 20 minutes before my brain quieted down and my eyelids got heavy again.  I set my Kindle aside and got comfortable.  I was nearly asleep when I heard someone banging heavily on my front door.