Perks of Loving You

Perks of Loving You 2

The Perks of Loving You

Chapter 2

I woke up to the sound of a cell phone ringing. It just kept on sounding, why won't it shut up? I opened my eyes to realize that there was girl drooling all over my chest.

"Mel," I whispered trying to see if she was awake.

"Mel," I repeated a little louder.

Nope, still won't wake up. I thought girls were supposed to be sensitive and fragile. But not Mel, she's like a guy when it comes to sleep. She kicks you, pushes you, and even lies on top of you not caring who you are. Oh well, that's why I love her so much.

I jumped off the bed knowing it's nearly impossible to wake her. I started to stretch forcing myself to wake up and then I realized that I was fully erect. Sigh. Morning wood and nothing I can do about it `cause Mel's right there.

She's a heavy sleeper soooo technically I can relieve myself and she probably won't wake up. BUT what if she wakes up and sees me jerking off? Wouldn't that be weird? Just imagine waking up and the first thing you see is me with a hard cock in my hand. But then again, I am easy on the eyes. It might not be that bad, hehehe.

So I stripped off all my clothing. If you're going to see, why not see it all? I grabbed my cock in my hand and started to stroke it up and down. God, it feels so good. I played with my foreskin moving it around the head of my cock. Oh yeah! Oh yeah! I increased the frequency of the strokes. The pleasure was intense and at that moment I wasn't really thinking about anyone. I just wanted to enjoy the feeling of it. I looked down at my cock and was turned on by it. It's a beautiful cock that proudly stands 8 inches. It feels so hot in my hand, especially as more blood rushes to it making it as hard as steel.

I continued to stroke until I was ready to cum. I felt the pressure in the bottom of my shaft building up. Yeah, I'm cumming!!! I groaned as white ropes start spurting, coating my stomach. I let out a deep breath. That was really awesome!

"Nice show you put on. Is that how you wake up all your guests?" Mel said interrupting me from my thoughts and making me turn to look at her.

"Well, only for my VIPs." I giggled.

"You're so full of it." She laughed.

"So how's the princess this morning?" I asked her as I cleaned off the mess I had made.

"Heavenly and you?"

"Very satisfied," I responded with a smirk.

"Perv!" She smiled and threw a pillow at me. "So what are we doing today?"

"I don't know. It's Saturday so we have the whole day to spend."

"Yeah, and it's nice outside," she mentioned as she got off the bed.

"Well, I have to go run now. Got to keep this killer body in shape. So you can shower and do all the stuff that girls do while I'm gone. When I come back, we'll have breakfast together," I told her.

"Yeah, go running. I'm sure I'll find something to do," she said still yawning.

I went into my closet to look for my running gear. I searched through my drawers for some jocks. I put on a t-shirt, shorts, socks, and running shoes. I went into the bathroom to look at myself in the mirror, and brushed my teeth and washed my face. You never know who you'll meet, that's what I always say.

"See you later, Mel," I told her as I left the room and headed outside.

I did my stretches and as soon as I was warmed up, I started my run towards the beach. I enjoy running, it's something that I do to relax and be just by myself. After running about ten minutes, I came to an intersection. If I turn left I'll end up in Walnut Beach and if I turn right I'll end up in Jennings Beach.

"Which way?" I said to myself. Which one comes first in the alphabet? Jennings. I'll go there then. I decided and then quickly turned right. After I finished the turn, I was distracted by a dog running after a squirrel. "Dogs are so stupid," I thought.

Thump. I slammed into someone at full-speed. We both started to fall as a result of the collision and I managed to turn myself enough so that I didn't fall face flat on the ground. They had also managed to turn and I ended up lying on top of them with my back on their stomach.  It didn't hurt that much since I landed on someone. I started to regain my composure, but I was still lying on top of someone.

"Get off me!!!" they yelled causing me to stand up quickly.

"I'm soooo..." I started to say and stopped as soon as I realized who it was.

"Luca!" I said surprised at who it was, causing him to look up at me.

"Hmph, it figures..." he said and began to stand up. "...who else would tackle me to the ground for no apparent reason?"

"I didn't tackle you!" I responded.

"Then what was that!"

"I was running and I bumped into you."

"You were running and you bumped into me. That's your excuse!"

"It's not an excuse; besides it was your fault too!!!"

"My fault!!! Are you kidding me!"

"No, I'm not! If you weren't in my way, then I wouldn't have crashed into you. You know I always run on the beach."

"I always run on the beach too!!! And I always run this way!"

"So it's not like you own the street, I run this way too!"

"You know what, I'm not arguing with you, Casey, 'cause you're too stupid to understand," he said with a tone of superiority and then continued running.

"What!!! Me stupid???" I yelled, blood rushing to my head, but he had already run off.

"Fuck you, Luca!" I screamed as I watched him leave.

Who does he think he is! I hate him so much! Just look at him with his professional sports "apparel". He has to wear UnderArmour shirts and especially made compression shorts under running shorts. According to him, "You have to wear the best if you want to be the best."ARRRGH! Cocky asshole! Whatever. I continued my run. I wasn't going to let him get to me; besides, he got hit the hardest.

The rest of my run was pretty uneventful because I was way too angry to notice anything. I finished on schedule, only took me one hour and a half despite the run in with Luca. I reached my house and sat on the porch to cool down.

After a while, I started to get cold. Damn it, it's only March. Why does it have to be so cold? I think it was 56 degrees when I left home and since I was running I didn't notice it, but now I was starting to. I hate the cold. I wish I could live in Florida where it's sunny and warm. I can just imagine the beach; warm waves hitting the sand, hot bodies walking around, me just sitting there enjoying the sun. That would be sooooooo cool, but I'm stuck here in cold New England where the water's freezing.

After cooling down, I entered my house through the front door and was overwhelmed by the smell of bacon. I immediately went into the kitchen, my stomach growling. When I entered, I saw that Mel was cooking us breakfast and my mom was sitting in the kitchen reading a fashion magazine. I should've known it was Mel since my mom never cooks.

"How was your run?" Mel asked as she finished our breakfast.

"I don't want to talk about it," I responded putting a few pancakes into my plate.

"Aww, Casey doesn't want to talk about it. Must have been bad," my mom added still looking at her magazine.

"So what, I have the right to not tell you," I responded slightly annoyed.

"Yep, it was definitely bad," Mel said causing my mom and her to giggle.

I stuck my tongue out at them, which only made them giggle more.

"What are we doing today?" I said trying to take the attention from me.

"New York," my mom added.

"What are we doing in New York?"

"Mel and I decided that we're going to the Museum of Modern Art."

"You agreed to it?" I asked Mel and she nodded.

"Do I have to go?" I whined hoping to get out of it.

"Yes, you do because after it we'll go shopping," my mom responded.

"Shopping??? You know I hate shopping with you, Mom."

"Stop whining, Casey, you're going with me and your mom to New York," Mel said with confidence, knowing all too well that I would cave in.

"Fine, but I get the window seat on the train," I finally conceded.

I got dressed in a plain t-shirt with faded jeans. I looked into the mirror in my room, making sure to look presentable. I came downstairs to find that I was the only one done.

"Ladies, are you done?" I said loudly so that they could hear me upstairs.

"No, Love, not yet," I heard my mom say.

Since they weren't done, I watched some TV for about 45 minutes. When they finally came down, they were all dressed up with their hair done. They were both really beautiful.

"You girls look amazing," I said standing up from the couch and heading toward them.

"Well, when you're beautiful how can you ever look ugly?" my mom said as she turned showing her dress.

"You're going like that?" she asked as soon as she was finished showing off.

"Why? What's wrong with my..." I tried to say but she gave me a dirty look."...fine, I'll change."

I went into my closet and chose a new pair of Abercrombie jeans with a tight fitting t-shirt under a Hollister collared shirt. Wow, I look so preppy, hehehe.

After they approved of my clothing, we got into my BMW and headed to the train station. We waited for ten minutes for the next train to New York. It arrived and we took our seat. I had the window seat of course. My mom and Mel talked about girl stuff while I just looked outside. I watched as the various stations passed by; it was just so boring.

I thought about my encounter with Luca. Why is he such a jerk? Calling me stupid? He thinks he's so great but he's not! Why did I have to turn right and bump into him? Well, at least I was prevented from getting hurt by his body. His body felt so hard when I lay on top of him. His stomach and chest were so muscled, yet they were comfortable and smooth at the same time.

This day sucks!!! First I get turned on by my own cock and now I'm admiring Luca's hard sexy body. WHAT! Did I just use SEXY to describe Luca!!!!

"Casey, we're here," Mel said interrupting my train of thought.

We exited the train and made our way out of Grand Central Terminal. We caught a cab and told him to drive us to MOMA.

The taxi driver was crazy, that's all I can say. He was an old guy with white hair and a gray beard, who only talked about aliens and UFOs. He kept on telling us jokes and stories about being abducted and we pretended to laugh. When we arrived at MOMA, he gave us a business card that said, "Al's Extraterrestrial Investigator".  My mom paid him and thanked him for the ride.

"Ok, next time we're walking," I said.

"Love, that was part of the experience. It wouldn't have been the same if we didn't meet a crazy taxi driver."

"I would rather not experience it, then," I said and crossed my arms.

"Casey, lighten up! You've been grumpy ever since your run," Mel added.

"I'm just not in a happy mood today," I said and that was the end of that conversation.

The museum was good, I guess. I really didn't pay any attention to the paintings. There was, however, this one painting with two guys kissing and there was also a pig somewhere and an explosion. It was the only thing that really caught my eye; aside from that it was same old same old.

After the museum, we went shopping down Fifth Ave. I bought a few shirts and jeans, the normal stuff. I did buy this one shirt that said "Me Loves Pussy" with pictures of kittens on it for Eric. I can just see the look on his face when he sees it. He's never going to wear it, he's way too shy.

Mom and Mel had five bags each when they told me that they were going to the post office.

"Why there?" I asked.

"So we can mail them to ourselves, silly," my mom said.

"Why?"

"So we can continue shopping," Mel added.

"Yeah...that makes perfect sense," I said with sarcasm in my voice.

"If you're going to be pissy than leave us alone. Mel and I will have a wonderful time without you," my mom said as we stuffed all their purchases into USPS boxes.

"Fine. Call me when you are ready to head back," I said.

"Bye, Casey," Mel said but she was too busy stuffing her box to look at me.

I decided to go to the Apple store to mess with all the Macs. It was packed full as always but I got to use one of the new Macs. I have to convince my dad to buy me one of those.

After the Apple store, I went to Times Square and sat on the red stairs. I just sat there looking at the signs and video screens.

My phone rang and I answered it.

"Hello?" I said.

"Is this Ca...Casey?" a girl nervously asked.

"Yes, this is him. Do I know you?" I asked not caring how I sounded.

"Yes..this is Kate. Kate Morgan, we met at a party, I'm a friend of Eric. You gave me your phone number."

"Kate. I remember you. You were the cute brunet I had the pleasure to meet," I said even though I didn't remember her. The name Kate just sounded like a brunet.

"Yeah," she managed to say in between giggles.

"Um...I just wanted to see...if you...were...free tomorrow?" She was so nervous that you could practically see her shaking through the phone

She's asking me out. I really don't feel like it, but I have nothing else to do. But I don't know who she is...she might be...ugly. Sigh. Why not? I have nothing to lose, she sounds like a nice girl. I'll do it.

"Yes, lovely, for you I'm completely free tomorrow," I said smoothly trying to ease her nervousness. She giggled in return.

"I was wondering...if you would want...to...go on a date with me?" she asked in a high pitched voice. It almost sounded as if she was squealing. I really wanted to laugh but I knew that would crush her.

"Of course I will. I would love to go on a date with a pretty girl such as yourself," I told her.

"Thanks, Casey," she said in a more relaxed tone.

"So what did you have in mind?" I asked, not really wanting to know.

"It's actually a double date with my best friend. Is that okay with you?" she asked with a bit of hesitation.

This is getting interesting. A double date with a girl I don't even remember. A double blind date!

"That's fine with me. The more the merrier," I reassured her.

"That's good," she said and I swear I heard her sigh in relief.

"So who's the other couple?" I asked a bit curious.

"My friend Linda and her new boyfriend. I don't know his name, but he seems pretty popular," she said.

"That's okay; I guess it's better for it to be a surprise," I said. Truthfully, I had already lost my interest.

"By the way, Casey, we're going to one of those fancy restaurants. I hope you don't mind."

"No, not at all. I'll pick you up at...?" I asked, not really that enthusiastic anymore.

"At seven," she said.

She then gave me her address and the name of the restaurant. It was a seafood restaurant called Pasque. Great! I hate seafood. Oh well, I did agree to go with her. We said our goodbyes and then I hung up.

Fuck! Why is what Luca said getting to me? He's always saying stupid stuff so why is this still stuck in my head? I need some cheesecake. That'll make me feel better.

Around 7:30 my mom and Mel were finally done. They had shipped all of their purchases already and were still in a good mood laughing with each other.

When I approached them, my mom asked, "How's Mr. Sourpuss?" as though she was talking to a baby.

"I'm fine, Helen. Can we go now?"

"Yes."

We boarded the train and I sat in the window seat, again. It was dark outside so I really couldn't see anything and we got home around nine. I drove Mel home and thanked her for her help. Before she went inside, she asked me what I was doing the following day.

"I have a date tomorrow," I said with a smile.

"A date? With who? Do I know her?" she asked, her curiosity piqued.

"Yes a date. No you don't know her and neither do I. Her name is Kate."

"A blind date?"

"Double blind date, actually," I corrected her.

"Wait a sec. When did you set up a double blind date?"

"Today while you were off shopping with Helen."

"What???" She sounded dumbfounded.

"She called me, said she was a friend of Eric and wanted to go on a date with me. I agreed and she told me it was a double date and I said it was ok with me," I explained.

"You're such a stud! Even when you're grumpy girls are still falling for you."

"Not my fault I'm such a hottie," I said.

"Ego, ego, ego...good luck though," she said.

"I don't need luck, Mel," I said with a cocky grin on my face.

She laughed and then gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"Bye, Mel. Thanks for everything and sorry if I was a prick today."

"No problem. I had a good time with your mom today. Bye, Casey."

After that I drove home and went straight to sleep.

 I slowly opened my eyes to see my alarm clock ringing. Those bright red lines screaming 8:00. I slam the snooze button. It rings again exactly at 8:09 and I press it again.

It's Sunday and mass starts at 9:30. I don't feel like going today. I'm a catholic and I really enjoy going to church, but the bed is calling me. It's saying, "Hey stud, want to spend some more time with me? I really know how to soothe away your fatigue." Hmmm, my boy JC or the bed, which one?

Anyway, the bed had such a sexy voice that I decided to not get up; I'll just tell my mom that I overslept. Besides, I have enough Jesus in my diet already.

I woke up an hour later, mom still asleep. I did some laps in the backyard heated pool, some stretches, some plyometrics, and then I had my favorite food, aside from cheesecake, for breakfast.

COCO PUFFS. They're my favorite cereal, especially with whole milk, not that wimpy nonfat milk. I just love the texture of them in my mouth. I chew down and they're crunchy and chocolaty. YUM.  After I finished eating breakfast, I poured my mom a bowl of Special K and brought it up to her room. She was just waking up when I came in.

"Good morning, Love," she yawned.

"Good morning, pretty lady."

"You brought me breakfast, how sweet. I guess your grumpiness is gone."

"Yeah, sorry about that. I had a bad day yesterday," I said handing her the bowl of cereal.

"Want to tell me about it?" she asked me as she dove into her meal.

"I guess. I went running like I always do, but I ran into Luca. I mean, I literally ran into him and slammed him to the ground."

She laughed and asked me, "Now why would you do that?"

"I didn't do it on purpose, I swear! I was just distracted by this dog chasing a squirrel and I thought about how dumb the dog was. And then all of a sudden, I slammed into Luca causing us to fall to the ground with me landing on top of him."

She laughed through a mouthful of cereal. "Was that all?"

"No, momy," I said and moved closer to her. "He told me that I was stupid. That jerk."

"Now, why would sweet Lucas call you that?"

"We were having an argument and I told him it was his fault because if he wasn't in my way, I wouldn't have bumped into him. He just told me it wasn't his fault and that I was too stupid to understand that..." I stopped and breathed, "...and he's not sweet, mom, he's bitter" I finished, stressing the word bitter.

She pulled me closer, hugged me and tousled my hair.

"It's not your fault, Love. It was the squirrel's fault for being so darn cute," she said in a motherly voice.

"Mommm!"

"Casey, what did you want me to tell you? Did you want me to tell you that you're right and it's all his fault? Sorry, but I can't do that. It's your fault and I think you owe Lucas an apology."

"Apology??? I'm not going to apologize to him!"

"Love, I don't care if you apologize to him or not. I'm only telling you the truth. You're 17 and you can make your own decisions."

Sigh. "Why can't you be like the other moms and tell your son that he's right and that the other boy's really mean?"

"Because I'm not like the other moms," she said while she gave me a kiss on the forehead. "And that would make me...ordinary," she said stressing her disgust at the very end.  "Now go 'cause mommy has to change."

"Ok," I said and then left the room.

The rest of the day was uneventful - played Guitar hero, cleaned my room, did some homework, attempted to read a book and failed miserably, took a shower, normal stuff. I just waited around until it was time to go on my date with Kate.

Time just seemed to pass by so slowly, but finally it was 6. Time for me to get ready for my double blind date. Wonder what this girl's going to be like? I hope she's not perky and annoying. Well, besides the whole idea of a double date, I'm really not looking forward to it, especially since I have to eat seafood.

How am I going to be charming and smooth while I attempt to eat fish? I just really hope that I don't have to eat crab or lobster. I can stomach fish but not crab. The only thing that I could eat are scallops, that and canned tuna.

I put on a pair of brown khakis, a dress shirt, and a black blazer. She said it was a fancy place so I didn't want to look like a slob. I looked in the mirror, styled my hair, and put on my favorite necklace. I've had it for the longest time and it helps me focus and achieve my goals - the good ones, bad ones and even the naughty ones. And, I still think it looks nice even if it's a little dated.

I got the necklace when I was seven, a gift from David. It's basically a handmade pendant held with a string of leather. The face of the pendant has a gold lion carved into it...which for a seven year old was dumbfounding. Yet, the most significant part is the inscription on the back of it. It states, "Even though you're a pain, I love you very much - David".

I continued getting ready for my date. I did some final touches such as putting on some cologne. After that, I went downstairs to say goodbye to my mom. "Have fun, Love" was all she said.

I got in my car and drove over to Kate's house, which turned out to be about 30 minutes away. Darn, I didn't realize she lived so far away. I should have left earlier and now I'm going to be late. Why am I always late? I had the whole day to prepare and yet I'm still late. Bad Casey.

I arrived at her house at 7:10, ten minutes late. I parked my car in their driveway and headed to their door. I knocked as confidently as I could.

"Who is it?" a boy asked. He sounded like he was around 15 and that high pitched voice sounded familiar.

"Casey Lock. I'm here to pick up..." I said but was interrupted when the door slammed open.

"Casey, it's you. I didn't believe my sister when she told me she had a date with you.  But you're here!" he literally screamed in joy.

Shit. Shit. Shit. Chobey lives here...with Kate...and she's his sister. Please let her not be like Chobey. Please, oh, please.  I don't know if I can stand a whole date with someone like Chobey.

"Hi Chobey, nice to see you. Sooo, Kate's your sister. I didn't know that," I asked.

"Well, there are a lot of things that you don't know about me. But that's all going to change now that you're dating my sister," he said with excitement.

Wow, I'm going on a date with Chobey's sister. Never in a million years did I think that I would end up dating Chobey's sister. He is a good kid, but...he's still Chobey. Sigh. Now he really is going to follow me around like a puppy. And the thought of us being...related, just gives me goose bumps.

"So where are you guys going?" he said as he looked at me.

"We're going to some seafood restaurant," I told him and his eyes widened.

He's kind of cute, I guess. He has a small round face, soft silky brown hair. He has a small dusting of freckles that softens his face and makes his green eyes pop. He's only a freshman so he's still puny, but that only makes his babyish features even more beautiful. He's cute I guess...FOR A BOY. If only he took it easy on the sugar maybe people would be more interested in him.

"Casey??? Are you listening to me?" he asked me removing me from my observations.

"Yeah, Chobey. You know I always pay attention," I lied.

I swear, whenever he goes into one of his rants about religion, politics, animals, Pokémon, anything really all I hear is, "blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah... So what do you think Casey?" Followed by me saying, "Yeah Chobey, you're completely right." Followed by more blah, blah, blah.

Finally I heard someone coming down the stairs and I stood up to greet my date. She was nothing like her brother. Thank God. She was tall and thin and looked so petite in her dress. She had soft brown hair and amber eyes. From the way she walked down the stairs, one could tell that she was delicate and reserved. She had this fragile grace to her as if she was a leaf slowly gliding in the wind.

"Wow, you're gorgeous, Kate," I said I as took her hand and kissed it. I had to work my charm because she was definitely worth it.

"Thank you, Casey for your compliments," she blushed.

"Well, you deserve it, pretty lady." That only made her blush even more.

"You don't need to lie, Casey, she's just my sister. It's not like she's hot or anything," Chobey said.

Kate just looked at him with one of the scariest stares I have ever seen. She's going to beat his ass when she gets back. I tried really hard not to laugh. Chobey's too much sometimes.

"Well, to me she is," I said as I led her out of the house.

I did all chivalry. I opened and closed the car door for her, complimented her, and did everything to make her fall for me. She was a beautiful girl...but not that beautiful to make me fall head over heels for her. I just did all that stuff because I enjoy doing it and seeing the response it gets. So I really wasn't doing all of this for her, she just happened to enjoy it too.

We arrived at the restaurant with just a few minutes to spare. The place looked like a boat and on top of that was right next to a river. Ok so this is a fancy place, good thing I brought a blazer. I parked my car in one of the parking spaces and took a deep breath, gave Kate a small smile and then exited the car.

"Shall we go?" I asked Kate while I opened her door. I could tell she was really enjoying this. 

"Yeah," she said softly, getting out of the car. I led her to the restaurant, holding her hand of course and opening the door for her. I forgot pretending to be a gentleman could be so much fun.  

"We had a reservation for four. Our friends are already here and they should be expecting us," she told the hostess as we entered. The hostess asked for her name and Kate complied.

"Right this way," the hostess told us and we headed to the back of the restaurant.

This place is big and so nice. There are huge windows along the walls that give a view of the river flowing by where you can see all the cruising boaters. If this wasn't a seafood restaurant, I might come here more often. But it's not, so I don't like it. 

When we arrived at the table, there was only one person there, a girl. She was there all by herself, maybe she was stood up. That would just be hilarious. 

"Hi, Linda," Kate said as the other girl stood up.

"This is Casey," she told her.

Linda stretched out her hand and said, "So you're the famous Casey." 

"Pleasure to meet you, Linda," I said and kissed her hand. Well, we were being all formal and stuff, so I thought I might as well go all the way. She only giggled in response, not as sweet and innocent as Kate. Ok, I don't like her.  

"Sit down. My boyfriend is in the restroom, he should be back any moment now," she instructed us and we did as we were told. 

Linda was dressed in a small tight fitting dress. It was red - not a soft and delicate red but rather one that screams out, "You wish you had this body." There was something about her I just didn't like. The way she talked seemed fake and somewhat cheap. It's like she's pretending to be someone else. Unlike Kate who was naturally beautiful, Linda had makeup rubbed all over her face. Her lips were tinted with this bloody red which made them seem plump. She had big boobs and her nails were all glittery. 

If I could use one word to describe Linda, it would be SLUTTY. I admit I have no proof that she's a slut. But believe me; she had the word "easy" written all over her. Wonder who's the guy who's going to get lucky tonight?

We sat there waiting for Linda's boyfriend to arrive. About a minute into the wait, I felt the need to fix my package. Stupid boxers!!!  One of my balls was caught in one side of my boxers while the rest of the goods were stuck in the other side. Sigh. If I were somewhere else, I would just put my hand into my underwear and manually move my stuff around. How am I going to jiggle my package around to free one stray ball and not ruin my proper gentleman charade? 

 So I discreetly placed my hand into my pocket and started to pull on my underwear through the fabric. Damn it! I'm pulling, but lefty doesn't seem to want to play with righty and little Casey. So I wiggled in my seat and tugged on my underwear. Yes, the boys are together at last. But as I was done, I hear my cell phone fall out of my other pocket.

"Fuck!!! Just what I needed," I thought to myself. 

"Oops, seems my cell phone fell out," I told them and slouched down to look for it. And, as expected, it was all the way on the other side of the table. 

I lifted the table cloth and reached under the table, trying not to touch anyone's legs. As I was finally reaching my phone, I heard some commotion above. Someone was sitting down at the table, in front of my phone. As he sat down, he kicked it and it slid away from me and exited the table. 

God Damn it! Now it's out there where someone can step on it. Sigh. I moved toward this new person wishing I could stab a knife through his shoe. So I started to crawl out and as I was exiting, I brushed up against his legs causing him to jump slightly. He lifted the tablecloth to see what was happening underneath. 

"Casey???" he asked with a tone of utter shock. Still on all fours, I tilted my head to look at him. 

What I saw made me want to cry like a baby. Why me? Sigh. Why me? The person with that look of shock was Luca!!!

Ok, I think I owe Ken and Rush an arm and a leg for their editing. They've helped me so much and have made the writing process an enjoyable activity for which I look forward to. Whether it's through their jokes and comments, or whether it's by pointing out that "Oh Carp!" is not the same as "Oh Crap! They've made this so enjoyable. I THANK YOU BOTH!!!