Late Night Wonderings

It is the year 2014. A 27 year-old woman, Annalee, sits at her computer at 1 in the morning racking her brain for something, anything, to type. Her now live-in boyfriend of 3 years, John Doe, is dozing on the couch behind her. Every so often she glances over at the clock. She has to be at the office in 8 hours. Though she doesn't really like her secretarial position, it puts money on the table in between the off and on theatre productions she is involved in. Over the years she has expanded her expertise in the Theatrical craft and is knowledgeable in most any subject, she even went onstage for a production or three. With a sigh, she turns away from her writing dreams, and slumps down in the chair. Her little old cat, Lisa, jumps into her lap. Annalee pets the cat absent-mindedly and glances at the picture of her dearly departed Dalmatian, Jazzie. The thought of the loyal old-puppy still chokes her up, Jazzie and Lisa had been great companions, and now the poor, old, kitty was all alone with the distressed woman. Annalee shakes the sad thoughts out of her head as John snorts slightly in between REM stages.

With a yawn, Annalee stretches out, forcing the cat out of the comfort of her lap. Smirking down at the ruffled cat, Annalee glimpses the exposed bit of flesh on her stomach. It is the first time in years she is comfortable with showing any of that skin, and it only took two years of harsh work-out schedules and a mostly vegetarian diet. Still, it is an end product to be proud of, and that she most certainly is. John's eyes peep open and he raises an eyebrow. "Why are you still awake?" he yawns. "Get to bed, I left you the bedroom for once." Annalee walks over and kisses his forehead before slumping into the bedroom of the large condo. As she slips between the sheets, she gazes up out of the skylight and smiles slightly as she sees a shooting-star go by. Tonight she has no wishes, she is content, and as Lisa curls up next to her face, Annalee drifts into sleep.

A few hours later Annalee is awoken by the smells of freshly steeped tea, and bacon. John, she is happy to note, on occasion can be a complete sweetheart. Lisa is already in the kitchen waiting for any bits of bacon that might befall a horrible death to the floor. Annalee glances at her watch and groans. She flies back into her room and pulls on the cleanest clothes she can find, happy that the office still has casual Fridays. After a quick pat-down, she slides into the kitchen and almost falls on the slick tiling. With a swift peck on John's cheek she gratefully takes the offered baggie of bacon and toast, and her travel mug of tea. "Love ya, John. I'll do dinner tonight." she calls on her way out the door. "And I'm leaving my car if you need it." Once in the hall, shoes in hand, she does a quick once over to make sure she has everything in her purse. Cell phone; check, wallet; check, keys; check, little bits of make-up; check. The elevator door opens and she rushes in, glad to have missed the early morning rush of commuters as the elevator flies down the 10 stories. Leaning against the back wall, she tugs on her little black mules just in time for the doors to slide open again. Her cell phone rings as she starts jogging out of the building. "Yes, John?" she asks, rushing towards the approaching bus. "I'll pick you up after work and you can take me out to dinner." "Sounds good, I'll call you a little before my shift ends."

Annalee barely makes the bus, but arrives at work with half an hour to spare. She'd gotten in the habit of early arrival sometime in High School, and while she cherished her sleep, always better early than late. She slinks into her cubicle and starts up the computer. Her boss smiles on his way past. After the computer finally starts-up, she takes the twenty minutes she still has before she has to start work to check her e-mail. This is one of the few times in the course of the day that she has to keep in contact with friends, family and acquaintances. Her mailbox is filled to overflowing with letters. She reads the ones from family first in case something has happened with her father, he is 71 now, and hasn't been in the greatest health. No news. The next e-mail she opens is from her long-time friend Irene, her sister, Zoe, is engaged. That inspires quite a bit of shock, but then, Zoe, after they lost their mother to the diabetes she had been fighting all her life, had always been looking for a new beam to support her, and her father was too heartbroken to supply her with it. Still, Zoe is only 20, that's a bit young. Annalee types out a quick response then has to close down so she can begin work. She looks over at the pile in her 'in box' and sighs as she picks up the first sheet.

That evening, Annalee treats John to a dinner at a local Mediterranean Restaurant. She'd had the taste for falafels since seeing someone eat a pita at lunch. During desert, Annalee's phone rings, and smiling apologetically towards John takes the call. It is one of her friends, Marie, from college. They'd lost touch over the years, and Marie had just found Annalee's number as she was sorting through some old files. Annalee, though very happy to hear from her, asks if Marie could call back in another hour or two, or to simply call back and leave her number on the voice mail. Answering in the affirmative to the latter, Annalee hangs up and ignores the next ringing as she turns back to desert.

When the two get back home, Annalee makes the quick call to Marie's phone, and leaves a message on her voice mail, then they settle down on the couch and turn on the TV to watch Garden State. Lisa jumps up and settles on Annalee's lap as she and John cuddle up to watch. All three fall asleep during the end credits.

The next morning, Annalee gets a call from Tilda. She wants to know if Annalee is still able to get together for the little reunion she has planned. Annalee laughs, and asks where she should meet them. Tilda gives her directions to a Denny's in the next town over. Annalee gives the still drowsy John his cup of coffee and tells him she'll be back sometime later.

Annalee meets Tilda and a bunch of her other old friends from High School and a handful from college at the Denny's. The group tries to do this every couple months or so to catch-up. It is a welcome relief to see the faces around the table, and as she is the last to arrive Annalee gets to experience the most embarrassment as they all jump up to give her a huge group hug. She laughs off the embarrassment and sits down in the seat they move her towards. She still has trouble thinking that these are the same people she knew in High School and College, they're all so grown-up looking, and, despite the fact that they may still act like kids, there is a sophistication to their actions. Take Tilda for instance, the same girl who in High School dyed her hair purple for her senior picture just so she could look back at it and be like, wow, I was so weird, is now a Junior High English Teacher. She only dyes her hair a more vibrant brown to cover the gray that is slowly starting to seep in and to hide her dead mouse brown natural tones. But it doesn't really matter, she is still the same insane bi-sexual with a grandma purse with all imaginable necessities, which she proves when someone coughs. "Here, do you need a cough drop?" she asks as she pulls three different types from her bag. All around the table laugh, but the cougher takes all three cough drops with a smile of thanks.

After most of the group leaves, Annalee, Tilda, Emily, Sarah, Jeff, Devos, Selena, and Peter are left drinking coffee and reminiscing. Sarah is the only one in the group who didn't go to High School with the rest but she laughs along with the stories. Emily coughs and says she has an announcement to make. After dating Devos off and on since their junior year in High School, the two have finally decided to tie the knot. Emily asks Tilda to be her Maid of Honor and the rest of the girls to be Bride's Maids. Devos also asks Peter and Jeff to be his Groom's Men, but apologizes saying he has already asked Baylor to be his Best Man.

Annalee goes home with the happy news, and John says the next time he sees either Emily or Devos he will also convey his congratulations, but that it better not be a hint. Annalee laughs at the idea of marriage with John at this stage his life. John grins and gives her kiss, then says he has to go out and do some shopping. Annalee asks him to pick up a few things, then he leaves. Annalee grabs her cell phone and sits down on the couch. Lisa immediately curls up in her lap. Petting the cat absently, Annalee dials Irene's number. She picks up after two rings. The two discuss the engagement, and their concerns for three hours. (Their conversation varied from the topic, but it kept steering back towards Zoe.) Almost immediately after hanging up, Annalee gets a call from Marie and they reminisce for a good hour before Marie is called to arms by her now two year-old little girl, Tarrin.

Having hung up with Marie, Annalee takes the opportunity to call her sister, Trenna. Trenna is worried about both of their parents. Annalee tries to calm her fears, but she too is worried, more so about their father, their mother had always been one to take care of herself. The call ended when Trenna arrived at her rehearsal. All her phone calls complete; Annalee curls up on the couch, upsetting the cat's spot, and takes a nap.

She is awoken when John returns, slamming the door. With a bit of a start she sees he only has the bag of things she requested. "I thought you were the one who wanted to go shopping?" she sits up, once again upsetting the sleeping cat. John smiles and kneels down in front of her, taking a black velvet box from his jacket.{c}