Dorsai - Taxi

I moved my arm from around her waist, letting her know that I'd heard her, and waited patiently while she got out of bed and headed for the bathroom. She was back a few minutes later, and when she started to get into bed, I patted my lap to let her know I wanted her to sit on it. She smiled and did just that, facing me, only to be surprised when I brought my knees up so that my legs formed a backrest for her. A look at the clock while she was in the bathroom had let me know that it still wasn't very late, and I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to get to know her even more than I had over the previous couple of days. With little encouragement on my part, we spent the better part of the next couple of hours just talking; well, mostly with her talking and me listening as she told me about her plans, and what she wanted to do with her life. My contributions consisted mostly of asking leading questions, and offering an occasional observation or suggestion. As she started to wind down, I figured it was late enough that some sleep would probably be a good idea – and got a second on the unvoiced motion when she opened her mouth for a fierce yawn. When it was over, she looked a trifle embarrassed, and I just smiled and told her "Don't worry about it; I was starting to think it was bedtime, too."

She told me "It's been nice, resting here like this – but I am most definitely not ready to try taking a shower; even with you there, I'd probably fall asleep or something. So if you'll hand me that stuff" – she gestured to the towel and washcloth I hadn't used – "I'll just give everything a quick once-over, and hope that we don't get stuck together tonight!"

Once I'd handed the things to her, she raised up and unconcernedly used the washcloth to wipe herself down, from belly button to halfway down her thighs, front and back. After she'd taken care of herself, she did much the same for me; except that she limited her attentions to my pelvis.

When she was done, she started to move with the obvious intent of taking them to the bathroom. I gently stopped her and said "Don't worry about it; that stuff will be all right on the night table tonight."

She looked at me uncertainly, and I just nodded in affirmation. With a slight shrug of her shoulders, she set the towel on the night table and the still-damp washcloth on top of it before moving off of me. I scooted down the bed far enough that I could lie down, and Jenny soon had herself next to me, lying on her side so that her head was on my shoulder and an arm and leg draped across me. I had my arm around her, and gave her a gentle hug and kissed the top of her head before reaching over to turn out the lights. I doubt either one of us had any trouble falling asleep.

Unsurprisingly, I was the first one to wake up the next morning. Still sorry for all that I'd put her through the night before, I made sure not to disturb her as I first made a Priority 1 visit to the bathroom (taking the towel and washcloth with me), then headed for the kitchen to get some coffee started. Once I'd gotten a cup into my system, I was able to give some thought to the idea of breakfast. Before that, though, I went in to check on Jenny – and found that she'd apparently just woken up: she was looking around as if wondering where I might have gotten off to.

When she saw me, she gave me an absolutely radiant smile before stretching hard enough that I could hear her muscles creak even where I was. Afterwards, she told me "Thanks for letting me sleep a little longer. How long have you been up? Is that coffee I smell?"

Grinning at her, I answered "No problem. I've only been up a little while, and yes, that's coffee." She started to get up, and I quickly told her "No, just lie there and take it easy; I'll bring you some before I start breakfast – which will be in bed."

She looked pleased at the prospect (of resting some more, or breakfast in bed, I'm not sure), and told me "Sounds wonderful – thank you."

As promised, I was back in short order with a large cup of coffee for her; she seemed to perk up some after her first sip. Satisfied that her immediate needs were taken care of, I left her alone to take care of anything that she needed to do while I got things going in the kitchen.

When I got back to the bedroom with our breakfast, she was sitting up against the headboard with her coffeecup in her hand. Setting our breakfast tray on the table, I quickly topped off her cup before moving to sit next to her and then setting the tray on my lap. I hadn't had any interest (or the energy, to tell the truth) in making anything too elaborate for breakfast, so what we had was a dish each of scrambled eggs, crisp bacon, and Southern-style hashbrowns (the small, cubed kind). Off to the side was a stack of warm flour tortillas, and smaller dishes with some shredded cheddar and American cheese, and some salsa. She followed my example of taking a tortilla and filling it with her preferred proportions of eggs, bacon, and potato, garnished with cheese and salsa. I'd made plenty, and both of us went through a couple of breakfast burritos each. Along the way, my cat Demosthenes showed up to sit and watch us. He'd learned not to get too close to any food people had, but that didn't stop him from sitting there as though telling us "I'm not begging, you understand, but I certainly wouldn't object if you wanted to share some of that delicious smelling food…"

Demosthenes and Jenny had taken to each other easily enough that first day, so Jenny was perfectly willing – after I told her I didn't mind – to give him an occasional nibble: scrambled egg was acceptable, potato was a no-go, and bits of bacon as the preferred treat. The act he put on was even enough to convince me to give him a little bit.

When we'd finished demolishing the food, I set the tray aside while Jenny and I kept our coffee cups. I topped off both, and we sat there simply content to BE with each other.

Jenny finished her coffee before I did, and after setting the empty cup on the tray, moved to sit on my lap. Discovering that my cup was nearly empty, too, she took it and set it next to hers before leaning forward to rest against my chest. I happily put my arms around her, and held her. Several minutes went by before I heard her say "Jim, I've had one hell of a time, being here with you. I came here with the idea that I could, well, use you to help me get over my boyfriend dumping me for that strip club bimbo. But what happened was that I got a whole lot more than I bargained for. I don't know if you were trying to do it on purpose or not, and I really don't care; but while I've been here with you, I've learned a lot more than I ever expected I would – or could, for that matter. You've shown me what it's like to really care for somebody, and what it's like to have someone care that much for me. As much as you've made me happy here in bed – and boy, have you ever made me happy! – it's how happy you've made me feel out of bed that matters to me the most, now. While we were talking last night, I realized what kind of person I've been, and how I could, and should, be living my life better. Until I met you, I never really thought much about other people; I mean, as far as trying to look at things from their perspective. And until last night, when I was on your lap, I never really thought about what I wanted to do with my life: where I wanted to go, and what I wanted to do with it, and all that. But this morning, while you were fixing breakfast for us, I did start thinking about it; and now I'm starting to get an idea of what it is that I really want."

I gave her a hug, but before I could say anything, she went on "Thanks to what you've said to me, and done for me, while I've been here, I know that there are things that I need to change – about myself, and my life. It's not that I think I was really a bad person, either; it's just that I know now that I could be a lot better person. And because of the example you've set for me while I've been here, I know that I can and will be that better person. I don't think it's going to happen quickly or easily, but I'm determined that it will happen. I'm going to change my life, and change it for the better. So what I'm trying to tell you is that the self-centered spoiled little girl that came here is staying here; the person that's going back to San Francisco today is an adult woman with her head on straight – and I know that I have YOU to thank for it."