[Brigit's Flame] Decisions under Sothis
This week's brigits_flame topic is dog days.
For this prompt, I decided to go back to a couple of characters I'd first written about for another BF entry from about a year and a half ago, Alex and Anna. You can read the backstory for them here ( Stolen Moments), but I'm not sure it's really necessary to do so before reading this story.
Decisions under Sothis
“If I stay in the sun much longer, I’m going to be the same color as your trunks, you know.” Anna mock-scowled at Alex, her blond hair nearly escaping the sticks she had it pinned up with as she tossed a quick glance down at the bright red swimming trunks Alex was wearing. “Honestly love, I think you could be an extra on Baywatch with those things.”
“Oh, really?” Alex smirked and grabbed Anna, pulling her into his lap on the poolside chair he was resting on. “I think I’m about 12 years too late for that, but thanks for the compliment anyway.”
“I wasn’t-” Before Anna could do more than begin another smart-ass remark, Alex preempted her comments with finding just the right spots at the base of her neck and top her hips that never failed to send her into helpless giggles.
“What was that, love?” Alex laughed along with Anna. “I can’t quite hear you through the noise.”
Gasping from the laughter, Anna swatted Alex lightly across the upper arm. “You brute. It’s not exactly fair, you know - you can hold me down and tickle me without any effort at all!”
“Nah, I think it’s totally fair. You can talk logic circles around me, so I need an advantage somewhere. I may not be able to talk to computers and get them to talk back to me in quite the same way you do, but I can still hold down combative patients on the psych floor if I need to.” Alex grinned and kissed Anna’s arm.
“Hmph. That’s only because if you could understand what a computer was saying when it was talking to you, I think you’d probably decide it was a combative patient, probably one that needed a nice, restful stay on that same psychiatric ward.” Anna winked and ruffled Alex’s hair. “All the same, I’m glad you aren’t a floor nurse anymore. We wouldn’t have nearly the time together we get now if you were.”
Alex smiled again and shifted, sliding Anna down onto the lounge chair next to him where he could keep his arm wrapped around her. “That’s true. Our respective work schedules do at least allow us the time to see each other with some degree of regularity. And since we’ve been doing so well for our companies for so long, we can get enough vacation time to actually, I dunno, have a vacation.”
“Mhmm.” Anna made a soft sound of agreement but said nothing else as she snuggled back against Alex’s chest. She was not as fond of the heat as he was, and he was practically a walking mini-sun himself, as much heat as he radiated, but she was absolutely unwilling to give this up. It had taken them months of planning to get a solid block of 15 days off together - 20 days of vacation, altogether - without work demands on either of their time. Nothing to do but enjoy each other’s company in whatever ways they saw fit. It ended up being the last week of July and the first two weeks of August that Anna’s company could give her, and they were both lucky that Alex’s company was able to accommodate those dates for them. But then, given the contract nature of Alex’s career, his work was more flexible on timing than hers. Even now, Anna wasn’t quite off the leash; if her boss happened to call with an emergency, Anna was required to call back within a reasonable amount of time. That is, if she still wanted to have a job, she was required to call back even if she was on vacation.
“Hmm, you’re right.” Alex’s voice broke softly into Anna’s reverie as his hands lightly brushed over her hot shoulders.
“Oh?” Anna tipped her head back to look up at Alex, squinting against the bright sun.
“You’re burning. I can see your skin changing color, I swear. And I know you have SPF60 on, since I’m the one that put it on you.” Alex frowned a little. He had a darker complexion than she had, and loved the sun and the heat - that was why he picked this little spot outside of Savannah, Georgia when Anna gave him free reign to pick their vacation spot. Now he was wondering if maybe he should have picked some place further north, perhaps some place where they could hike in the woods or something - some activity that wouldn’t involve constant exposure to the sun and heat like this. “Between your light hair, light eyes, and the fact you spend most of your time inside server rooms, it’s a wonder you aren’t translucent. But I don’t want you getting burned worse, so let’s go inside.”
Anna made a sound that was probably a cross between a laugh and an indignant ‘harumph’, but ended up sounding simply rude and altogether unladylike as she twisted around to face Alex. “As you wish, my dear. You’re the sun-lover here, remember. I prefer my interactions with the daystar to be from the other side of a nice large window, where I can see the beauty of the world bathed in sunlight, but not have to experience it for myself.” Anna leaned over to kiss Alex, softening her sarcastic barbs with a kiss that held an entirely different heat. “But I do agree. Let’s go inside for now…” Anna let her words trail off as she dropped her gaze from Alex’s eyes to his chest.
“Excuse me, Ms. Bain?” A voice from several feet away intruded, and Anna jerked upright.
“Yes?” Anna turned, all playfulness gone and in its place, the eminently professional face the rest of the world habitually saw.
“My apologies for intruding, but there is a phone call for you at the front desk. Would you like me to transfer it to one of the conference rooms for you?” The hotel employee looked genuinely reluctant to bring this news, but maintained a professional demeanor.
Anna sighed quietly. “Yes, please do. I’ll be there in a moment.” As the hotel employee nodded assent and turned to leave, Anna sighed again, more audibly. “I guess that’s what I get for turning off the electronic leash for an afternoon.” She turned to face Alex again. “I’ll try not to be too long, love. Why don’t you order us some dinner, and I’ll join you in the room when I’m done.”
“Of course, dear. And I’ll find some aloe for you - you aren’t quite the color of my trunks yet, but another 30 minutes or so and you would be.” Alex leaned forward to kiss Anna, a lingering reminder of just how precious this time together, alone, was.
~*~*~*~
“What?” Alex couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“They want me to fly up to the offices in DC for an emergency repair on a system. Apparently there was a major security breach and I’m the only one on my team who isn’t already on assignment elsewhere.” Anna looked impassive, her face all but unreadable. Or rather, unreadable to almost anyone else. Alex could see the pain she was trying to hard to hide in the particular set of her mouth and the tightening around her eyes that had been absent this past week and a half.
“Your vacation isn’t even half over, and they have to call you back now?” Alex couldn’t help himself; he was angry. He so seldom got the chance to have her to himself like this that any interruption such as this was a sure way to flare his temper.
“I know, but it should only be for a day or two at most. I have worked on that system so many times that I swear I could rebuild it in my sleep. Maybe I could go up tonight, work tonight and tomorrow, and see how quickly I can get through it. With luck, I could be back here the day after tomorrow and we could pick things up where we left off.” Anna’s voice was level, reasonable, calm. This was far from how she felt but she couldn’t let her emotions get in the way - they would only cloud her judgment.
It was Alex’s turn to sigh. “Do what you have to, I guess.” He turned away, crossed his arms across his still-bare chest and gazed out the 5th floor window, into the red-orange light as the sun began to set.
Anna reached a hand out toward Alex, but stopped, pulling her fingers back before she touched him. She knew he was angry, just as she knew he’d do his best not to show that anger to her. Both of them were devoted to their careers, and they’d made promises early on that they’d never ask the other to sacrifice such important dreams for each other. However, that didn’t mean this didn’t hurt them both. Instead, Anna turned and went to the phone on the desk, dialing the operator.
“Hello, this is Anna Bain in room 517. I need a cab to the airport in 30 minutes please. No, Mr. Dunn will be remaining here, and I will be returning in 2 days.” Anna paused. “Maybe 3. Yes, that’s fine. Thank you.”
Anna glanced over at Alex, who had still not moved from his position by the window. Silently, she began to gather enough things into her carry-on bag to see her through a two or three day stretch at the DC office. Heaven help anyone who gets in my way during this assignment, Anna thought to herself. They are stealing what precious little time I have with Alex away, and I am not pleased about it. I may need to do this, but it will be done as quickly as I can manage it, so that I can get back to him. He is so much more important than this. Anna stopped pushing items into her bag as that final thought crossed her mind, the weight of it impacting her like a kick to the chest. That moment of crystal clarity was all she needed to make a decision she hadn’t even realized was looming so closely on the horizon.
“Alex?”
Mutely, Alex turned his head slightly; not really looking at Anna, but indicating that he was listening.
“When I get back, we need to talk.” Anna walked the few feet between them, reached up to twine her fingers through hair that had grown shaggy over the course of vacation, and pulled Alex’s head down to meet hers. The kiss she gave him left his lips seared with the heat and promise held within it, but when she released him, she turned without another word, picked up her carry-on bag, and slipped quietly out the door of the hotel room.
For this prompt, I decided to go back to a couple of characters I'd first written about for another BF entry from about a year and a half ago, Alex and Anna. You can read the backstory for them here ( Stolen Moments), but I'm not sure it's really necessary to do so before reading this story.
Decisions under Sothis
“If I stay in the sun much longer, I’m going to be the same color as your trunks, you know.” Anna mock-scowled at Alex, her blond hair nearly escaping the sticks she had it pinned up with as she tossed a quick glance down at the bright red swimming trunks Alex was wearing. “Honestly love, I think you could be an extra on Baywatch with those things.”
“Oh, really?” Alex smirked and grabbed Anna, pulling her into his lap on the poolside chair he was resting on. “I think I’m about 12 years too late for that, but thanks for the compliment anyway.”
“I wasn’t-” Before Anna could do more than begin another smart-ass remark, Alex preempted her comments with finding just the right spots at the base of her neck and top her hips that never failed to send her into helpless giggles.
“What was that, love?” Alex laughed along with Anna. “I can’t quite hear you through the noise.”
Gasping from the laughter, Anna swatted Alex lightly across the upper arm. “You brute. It’s not exactly fair, you know - you can hold me down and tickle me without any effort at all!”
“Nah, I think it’s totally fair. You can talk logic circles around me, so I need an advantage somewhere. I may not be able to talk to computers and get them to talk back to me in quite the same way you do, but I can still hold down combative patients on the psych floor if I need to.” Alex grinned and kissed Anna’s arm.
“Hmph. That’s only because if you could understand what a computer was saying when it was talking to you, I think you’d probably decide it was a combative patient, probably one that needed a nice, restful stay on that same psychiatric ward.” Anna winked and ruffled Alex’s hair. “All the same, I’m glad you aren’t a floor nurse anymore. We wouldn’t have nearly the time together we get now if you were.”
Alex smiled again and shifted, sliding Anna down onto the lounge chair next to him where he could keep his arm wrapped around her. “That’s true. Our respective work schedules do at least allow us the time to see each other with some degree of regularity. And since we’ve been doing so well for our companies for so long, we can get enough vacation time to actually, I dunno, have a vacation.”
“Mhmm.” Anna made a soft sound of agreement but said nothing else as she snuggled back against Alex’s chest. She was not as fond of the heat as he was, and he was practically a walking mini-sun himself, as much heat as he radiated, but she was absolutely unwilling to give this up. It had taken them months of planning to get a solid block of 15 days off together - 20 days of vacation, altogether - without work demands on either of their time. Nothing to do but enjoy each other’s company in whatever ways they saw fit. It ended up being the last week of July and the first two weeks of August that Anna’s company could give her, and they were both lucky that Alex’s company was able to accommodate those dates for them. But then, given the contract nature of Alex’s career, his work was more flexible on timing than hers. Even now, Anna wasn’t quite off the leash; if her boss happened to call with an emergency, Anna was required to call back within a reasonable amount of time. That is, if she still wanted to have a job, she was required to call back even if she was on vacation.
“Hmm, you’re right.” Alex’s voice broke softly into Anna’s reverie as his hands lightly brushed over her hot shoulders.
“Oh?” Anna tipped her head back to look up at Alex, squinting against the bright sun.
“You’re burning. I can see your skin changing color, I swear. And I know you have SPF60 on, since I’m the one that put it on you.” Alex frowned a little. He had a darker complexion than she had, and loved the sun and the heat - that was why he picked this little spot outside of Savannah, Georgia when Anna gave him free reign to pick their vacation spot. Now he was wondering if maybe he should have picked some place further north, perhaps some place where they could hike in the woods or something - some activity that wouldn’t involve constant exposure to the sun and heat like this. “Between your light hair, light eyes, and the fact you spend most of your time inside server rooms, it’s a wonder you aren’t translucent. But I don’t want you getting burned worse, so let’s go inside.”
Anna made a sound that was probably a cross between a laugh and an indignant ‘harumph’, but ended up sounding simply rude and altogether unladylike as she twisted around to face Alex. “As you wish, my dear. You’re the sun-lover here, remember. I prefer my interactions with the daystar to be from the other side of a nice large window, where I can see the beauty of the world bathed in sunlight, but not have to experience it for myself.” Anna leaned over to kiss Alex, softening her sarcastic barbs with a kiss that held an entirely different heat. “But I do agree. Let’s go inside for now…” Anna let her words trail off as she dropped her gaze from Alex’s eyes to his chest.
“Excuse me, Ms. Bain?” A voice from several feet away intruded, and Anna jerked upright.
“Yes?” Anna turned, all playfulness gone and in its place, the eminently professional face the rest of the world habitually saw.
“My apologies for intruding, but there is a phone call for you at the front desk. Would you like me to transfer it to one of the conference rooms for you?” The hotel employee looked genuinely reluctant to bring this news, but maintained a professional demeanor.
Anna sighed quietly. “Yes, please do. I’ll be there in a moment.” As the hotel employee nodded assent and turned to leave, Anna sighed again, more audibly. “I guess that’s what I get for turning off the electronic leash for an afternoon.” She turned to face Alex again. “I’ll try not to be too long, love. Why don’t you order us some dinner, and I’ll join you in the room when I’m done.”
“Of course, dear. And I’ll find some aloe for you - you aren’t quite the color of my trunks yet, but another 30 minutes or so and you would be.” Alex leaned forward to kiss Anna, a lingering reminder of just how precious this time together, alone, was.
~*~*~*~
“What?” Alex couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“They want me to fly up to the offices in DC for an emergency repair on a system. Apparently there was a major security breach and I’m the only one on my team who isn’t already on assignment elsewhere.” Anna looked impassive, her face all but unreadable. Or rather, unreadable to almost anyone else. Alex could see the pain she was trying to hard to hide in the particular set of her mouth and the tightening around her eyes that had been absent this past week and a half.
“Your vacation isn’t even half over, and they have to call you back now?” Alex couldn’t help himself; he was angry. He so seldom got the chance to have her to himself like this that any interruption such as this was a sure way to flare his temper.
“I know, but it should only be for a day or two at most. I have worked on that system so many times that I swear I could rebuild it in my sleep. Maybe I could go up tonight, work tonight and tomorrow, and see how quickly I can get through it. With luck, I could be back here the day after tomorrow and we could pick things up where we left off.” Anna’s voice was level, reasonable, calm. This was far from how she felt but she couldn’t let her emotions get in the way - they would only cloud her judgment.
It was Alex’s turn to sigh. “Do what you have to, I guess.” He turned away, crossed his arms across his still-bare chest and gazed out the 5th floor window, into the red-orange light as the sun began to set.
Anna reached a hand out toward Alex, but stopped, pulling her fingers back before she touched him. She knew he was angry, just as she knew he’d do his best not to show that anger to her. Both of them were devoted to their careers, and they’d made promises early on that they’d never ask the other to sacrifice such important dreams for each other. However, that didn’t mean this didn’t hurt them both. Instead, Anna turned and went to the phone on the desk, dialing the operator.
“Hello, this is Anna Bain in room 517. I need a cab to the airport in 30 minutes please. No, Mr. Dunn will be remaining here, and I will be returning in 2 days.” Anna paused. “Maybe 3. Yes, that’s fine. Thank you.”
Anna glanced over at Alex, who had still not moved from his position by the window. Silently, she began to gather enough things into her carry-on bag to see her through a two or three day stretch at the DC office. Heaven help anyone who gets in my way during this assignment, Anna thought to herself. They are stealing what precious little time I have with Alex away, and I am not pleased about it. I may need to do this, but it will be done as quickly as I can manage it, so that I can get back to him. He is so much more important than this. Anna stopped pushing items into her bag as that final thought crossed her mind, the weight of it impacting her like a kick to the chest. That moment of crystal clarity was all she needed to make a decision she hadn’t even realized was looming so closely on the horizon.
“Alex?”
Mutely, Alex turned his head slightly; not really looking at Anna, but indicating that he was listening.
“When I get back, we need to talk.” Anna walked the few feet between them, reached up to twine her fingers through hair that had grown shaggy over the course of vacation, and pulled Alex’s head down to meet hers. The kiss she gave him left his lips seared with the heat and promise held within it, but when she released him, she turned without another word, picked up her carry-on bag, and slipped quietly out the door of the hotel room.