Cleaning Up

Now that's the better thing about not being in the city. I don't mean the stars and the beach at night, I don't mean the quiet and stillness. I mean the tremendously oversized tubs. The beach and the stars and the quiet are great, but you will freeze your butt off enjoying them.

A nice, warm bath is exactly the thing - unless the other person in it keeps trying to drown you. Though she is but little - and slippery, I might add - she is fierce.
"A television! You let your ex invade your house for a lousy TV?"
"I yield, I yield!" I hate getting splashed at. "It was going to be a really big television. She's always so sorry when she breaks things....and I've really been wanting one of those plasma widescreen deals..."

Some women have no appreciation for fine electronics.

"All right," I said,"No more taking "just because" as a reason for letting Kate run rampaging through things. But really, asking her for a reason is pretty out there. Besides, she's due to flee to the outer dark again, soon."
"Hmmm?"
"I don't know where. I try not to ask. She always tells me afterwards, like when she got hit by a bus in Hokkaido. I din't even know she was in Japan. She just mentioned it in passing five months later, when she was trying to get me to get her out of a ticket in Austin." I thought for a second. "You know, saying stuff like that out loud does make her seem kinda weird, doesn't it?"
"It kind of does, yes." Ah, Alex in sarcastic mode. Even wet, it burns.
"No drinking alone with her. Fine. Done. I just hope you have better plans for the fiftieth birthday, though. It was going to be epic."
"I think that might be arranged."
"Fifty. Euch. Talk about something sounding weird out loud. Where does the time go?" Something nagged at the back of my mind. "Hey. Hey! I get it!"
"What?"
"Aw, never mind that now. Wait 'til you're tired. It'll make more sense." It'd give me time to put it into words, anway. But she kept splashing - I hate that - so I had to try. "There's a theme in some legends - the Irish have Oisín and the Japanese have Urashima Taro, and there's all those poor folk who eat and drink in Faery and stay there longer than they'd meant. I never really got what the story's meaning was until right now. This is great!"
"Great? Mike, you get weirder by the second."
"No, here's what I mean. You think I've been paying so much attention to her that the time's gone by and I've been missing it all the while." She got quiet, so I knew I had something there. "Not quite, but that makes a lot of sense. Trust me, no. I don't think I've missed anything. Almost did, though. Good thing I had someone to speak up at the right moment."
(A quick drawing of the discreet curtain here, if you don't mind.)

"Anyhow, about Bobby Goren."
"What about him?" Uh-oh, time to tread carefully, or more splashing was imminent.
"Is he going to come knocking on your door at one am or later to talk? Because I'm not gonna put pants on just to make him feel less awkward. He shows up to steal you for a girls' chat, and he can just cope with seeing my boxers as I get a beer to compensate for losing my source of warmth. In fact, I feel he should be bringing me an apology beer or two..."
"And what makes you so sure you'll be at my place at one am?"
"Good point. He does NOT get a key to my place. You can have one, if you want." I sighed. "I'm kind of looking forward to getting my cave back. It'll need a thorough purge and a search for booby-traps. But maybe you could come there once in a while, if you can take being surrounded by "manstuff." Besides, I keep all the best toys there. And did I mention I might get a new TV?"

One more Alex-generated tidal wave later, we returned to delicate negotiations. Who stays where when, and all that jazz. The lines with Kate got laid down, and we outlined what Bobby is and is NOT supposed to hear, and the fact that if he makes ONE "unloaded gun" crack, there is gonna be trouble....But there was one more thing.

"Hey, Alex...if there's just some things Bobby just knows about you..."
"Yes?"
"Can he handle the Valentine's Day romance end? I'll take over at night, but I figure he can get the flowers, and the sensitive stuff, take you to lunch and discuss your feelings, and then you can come home, slip into the Wonder Woman costume, and I'll show you the weird german thing I found for you...I mean, you can take full advantage of the two guys system, and I may as well catch a break...Ow, watch the soap!"