Deep, restful sleep was elusive for Blanche prior to her meeting with Beverly. She twisted in the sheets, trying to get comfortable, thoughts passing in and out of her fitful dreams making it impossible to reach that peaceful state her mind craved. She desperately needed just a few hours of rest and a reprieve from the never- ending stream of thoughts and ideas. The clock on the end table, glaring at her, was a constant reminder of the few hours available to her for some sleep, it seemed to mock her and gave her brain just one more thing to think about.
When morning finally did come, she felt more exhausted than she had the night before. With her body yelling 'no' she literally rolled from bed, first landing on her knees, then placed her hands on the bed for support, she pushed herself to a standing position. If there was a joint or muscle that was not stiff or sore she didn't know where it was. She managed a quick, very hot shower, which did little to wake her up but did make her aching body less obstinate.
'Been too long since I've run,' she thought as she toweled herself off, hoping that she could find time in the near future to get a workout routine going again.
Blanche wrapped the towel around her head and returned to her room but within minutes the humidity brought a fine mist of moisture to the surface of her skin. The towel was used one more time, extended between her hands, she used it like a shoeshine rag, buffing her skin and bringing it to a pink hue. Once completed, she dressed in something a bit less conservative than usual and prepared for the day.
The guests were already enjoying their homemade biscuits and gravy by the time Blanche made her appearance.
'Good morning,' everyone said in unison.
Blanche looked around and noted that Mr. 'Wonder' was not among the seated guests.
'What happened to 'Clueless'?” she asked, more out of surprise than care.
Ms. Carmichael jumped in, 'He was suddenly called away to Washington on some very important, hush-hush business.'
'Or so he said,' included Mrs. Muir, continuing to sop her toast in the white gravy. 'What's a guy like that doing with connections in Washington?” pausing only momentarily then continued, “I guess it shouldn't come as any great surprise though, I mean just look at the mentality of most of our elected officials.'
'Still kind of rubs me wrong, the way he lit out of here with not so much as a good day or thank you,' said Caroline.
'What was it he said he did?' the young librarian asked.
'Oh, he said he was in marketing or something like that, never really clarified what he was doing here, always changed the subject when asked directly. Seems more weird now than it did at the time,' said Mrs. Muir.
Blanche joined the group and covered her plate with one biscuit, no gravy, a round of sausage and a cup of fruit. Everyone at the table watched as she readied her breakfast before continuing.
'Looks like you had a rough night sweetie,' her landlady perceived. 'Wasn't our newlyweds was it?'
'No, just too much on my mind, had a hard time getting to sleep,' Blanche informed her breakfast companions.
For the next few minutes everyone sat in silence and concentrated on finishing their meal. Blanche was trying to remember what she'd done with the list of condos she'd prepared the afternoon before at the local Internet cafe, when she heard footsteps coming down the stairs.
“Good morning everyone,” came a voice from behind her. It sounded somewhat familiar and then it dawned on her. It was the voice she’d heard coming through the wall the past few days. She pivoted in her chair to get a better view of the young couple. They appeared a little different this time around, less shock and surprise on their faces and much less skin showing.
The young bride was even more attractive than Blanche remembered her from the bathroom incident, her black hair framing her face and accentuating her cheekbones and full lips. She was petite but curvy in all the right places and her behind, though very round, looked like you could bounce quarters off of it. Blanche watched her wiggle her bottom around the table and into a chair opposing her own. Her husband was stout and looked like he could pick his wife up with one arm and pack their entire luggage with the other. Not really attractive from Blanche’s perspective but he was fit with a manly, commanding voice.
Hellos were exchanged and introductions made for those that hadn’t had the pleasure. Blanche tried not to meet their eyes, just too embarrassed, knowing what she did about their ‘activities’. As irritated as she was with them, and the impact they had on her sleep the past few days, she had to admit that they looked extremely happy and excited about starting their life together. She was more than a little jealous, the easy smiles back and forth, the hands on the knees under the table, the knowing looks exchanged even with all these people in the room. Ever the hopeless romantic, it still was driving Blanche crazy that they had each other and she had nothing but her books and her dreams of ‘
Mrs. Muir was the only one brave enough to put forth a challenging question, “So, you two just look so happy. You must be having a great time. What do you think of our little town?”
The young wife just about choked on her sausage but managed to say, looking down into her lap, blushing slightly with her response, “Well, to tell you the truth, we really haven’t seen much of your beautiful little city but we are still finding things to do and we’re having a great time.”
“You don’t have to tell me that,” thought Blanche, sarcastically rolling her eyes and hoping that nobody noticed.
Caroline, wanting to clarify their reservation, jumped in, “Have you decided how much longer you’ll be staying?”
The husband took a drink of his juice before answering, “Looks like we’ll need to get going later today. We’re so close to the Okefenokee Swamp that we decided to head over to Waycross and see what’s going on over there, but we have enjoyed our stay with ya’ll.”
“I don’t think there’s any question of that,” Blanche almost said aloud, but what did come out of her mouth was most likely worse, “Yes, young love can be so exciting, learning all the ins and outs can be trying but worth the sacrifice, if you know what I mean.”
With nothing further to say and no retort from the guests, Blanche excused herself and left for her room. As an afterthought she said, while climbing the staircase, “By the way, really enjoyed sharing the bathroom and the ambiance with you.”
Her meeting with Beverly was to be at 10:00 a.m. so she tidied up her room and spent a few more minutes looking over the list of condos she wanted to look at that day. When she’d talked with Bev earlier in the week the house hunting didn’t sound very promising. There were a lot available but nothing that really fit her needs or budget. She had to remind herself that she was still early in the hunt and not to get discouraged, surely something would come along that would be well suited for her. The trick was not to get too impatient and settle for something less than desirable. The units that Mrs. Carmichael had mentioned to her looked promising but there wouldn’t be enough time today to drive out to look at them hopefully next week.
With her room in order and nothing else to do for a couple of hours she lay back on the bed and picked up her book. Before long she was back in the ‘Old South’, the words on the page going in and out of focus, she placed the book upon her abdomen, closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
She awoke with a jolt, her eyes searched for the clock and the time alarmed her, 9:45 a.m. in bright red, illuminated numbers. Blanche scrambled to get the few things together that she needed for the day, checked her looks quickly in the mirror, adjusted herself in her bra, and dashed from the room, down the stairs and out the front door, nearly knocking Mrs. Muir over in the process.
“Well, I never!” she exclaimed, looking on as Blanche ran down the street toward the bus.
The stop was about two blocks from the B amp;B, normally a pleasant, peaceful walk along azalea-fronted homes, but not today. She could see the bus moving down the street. Lifting her feet a little more quickly she raced for the stop, waving her hands and trying to grab the attention of the driver in hopes that he would wait for her, but it was to no avail. She arrived at the bench in time to see the bus turn the next corner and it was gone.
“Just frickin’ great!” she said, slamming her things down on the bench and placing her hands on her hips, walking in circles trying to catch her breath. Rifling through her purse she retrieved her cell phone and placed a call to Beverly at her office. Ring, ring, ring…, no answer.
“What else is going to go wrong today!”
