Today's prompt is stutter. The week before Sebastian had awaken Tonya with puppy kisses and she inadverently announced to the neighborhood her lack of a love life. It's still morning, let's join Tonya.





What else could happen? After filling Sebastian bowls, she turned the radio on. Strains of a soft rock ballad filled the kitchen. The tune had her waltzing around the kitchen imagining Will holding in his arms and singing softy in her ears. The man would be a wonderful dancer. Unlike so many men who refused to dance, he’d take every opportunity to dance with her.

Sure, she was making up her own little fantasy, but wasn’t why they were called fantasies. The song ended and a perky deejay came on. “Rise and shine, if you’re heading to work you’re already be late. It’s nine ‘o’clock.”

 The cold cola she’d just opened dropped out of her hand hitting her big toe. Cursing, she scooped up the rolling drink can. “God, what else?” Her hand slapped over her mouth before she could even finished the statement. Nothing else please. Sebastian licked up the sticky trail of soda left behind. “N, no, no, don’t do that. “ Her stuttered words on no impact on her pooch. “Go ahead; I don’t have time to clean.”

Breakfast forgotten, Tonya rushed through dressing. With any luck, she’d park in the rear lot, sneak in the backdoor and slip up to her office. No one would see her and if anyone did, she’d claim car trouble.

 Her usual work standby clothes were at the cleaners or dirty. Didn’t have the time or energy to create any new outfits from what was clean. Instead, she donned the black dress hanging in the back of her closet. It was her funeral, graduation, or other boring occasion that being a relative made it necessary to attend. The plain dress made her feel somewhat like a pilgrim. It’s only redeeming grace was that it would serve as a constant reminder to go by the dry cleaners for her regular clothes.

On her way through the kitchen, she grabbed a new cola and a granola bar for breakfast. Already late and no time left to fix her lunch either. She pushed another soda and granola bar into her oversized purse. Not very healthy or delicious for that matter, she included a bottle of water. Just call her Miss Nutrition.

 Dark clouds loomed overhead. Of course, it would rain, especially since she couldn’t remember the location of her umbrella. With any luck, she’d arrive before the storm if the person in front of her would try to drive at the posted speed. The urge to pass was strong. The shape and size of the sedan shouted undercover cop. It might not be, but no reason to press her luck.

 Tonya replayed the night before reliving each moment including the delicious dinner. Too bad, she acted like a pig and ate everything. It could have been lunch today if she’d showed some restraint. Easing up on the alcohol, might have helped her make a better impression too. Still, couldn’t help she had no real tolerance for alcohol. Will, strangely liked her, despite her offensive remarks. What did that say about the two of them?

 An odd smell crinkled her nose. What was it? The sedan in front of her turned, but the smell remained, which made her nervous. Any information she knew about cars came from a radio auto talk show that featured more jokes about the brothers’ lives than useful car tips. Could be the stale smell of dog? A couple of weeks ago, she hauled Sebastian to the dog wash. The place allowed ten minutes at the self-wash, which was never enough time to dry her pooch appropriately. Sure, she spent time, shampooing twice and conditioning.

 Didn’t have the damp wool smell of wet dog. It was more of a hot smell. Her eyes dropped to the thermostat whose needle hovered over the red. Damn it. Seriously. Tonya signaled and pulled over to the shoulder of the road.

 Smoke snaked out from under her hood. Never a good sign. Her auto expertise consisted of pulling over whenever anything appeared wrong. Her father had drilled that one bit after she continued to drive the family car without oil and it seized up. In her defense, how would she’d have known it was out of oil? Of course, her father pointed out the lights and warning sounds the car emitted. The ones she managed to overlook by turning up the radio. Car care was an area in which she didn’t excel. Why did the car pick today to die an inopportune death?

 

Hello friends,  
Our prompt today is ruthless. See if you can find it.



Wet, sloppy kisses on her face gradually awakened Tonya. Her lips tilted up while her eyelids remained closed feigning sleep. With Will’s looks, a person would think he’d be a better kisser. At least have more experience. Maybe that was the real reason Marc fixed him up. A small sigh escaped her. It would be a difficult job, but she’d tutor him.

A thought tickled at the back of her mind. Today was a work day, she remembered that much. Didn’t make sense for Will to stay over. Carried away with the heat of the moment plus too much alcohol, and the desire to block out the reality of Clint did not equal a connection. Talk about a cold splash of water. Her eyelids popped open just in time for her right eyeball to get a thorough swipe from Sebastian’s tongue.

 “Ugh!” Grabbing the sheet, she wiped at her face. “Sebastian, how many times have I told you that is not the appropriate way to wake me up.”

 The overlarge adoring eyes and wagging tail prevented her from being mad at a creature who could be ruthless in his affections. “Okay, I get it. You want to go out.”

 Her arm served as a restraint to keep her pup’s kisses at a distance as she slid out of bed. Her flannel nightgown made her grimace. “Good thing, Will didn’t stay considering my sexy nightgown choice.”

 Sebastian danced in front of her and gave a yip as if agreeing. She shook her head at the coffeemaker as she passed it to open the back door. Steam wafted off the carafe of hot water. Didn’t do a person much good to have an expensive automatic coffee maker, when she failed to add the coffee. “Well, now, I guess that’s a sign of how my day’s going to be.”

Her brows lowered at her words. Didn’t she know any better? Hadn’t she heard on one of those talk shows that you spoke your day into existence? Her hand reached up to push her hair out of her eyes. She expected the worst and inevitably got it. Today would be different. What could she speak into existence? There was the possibility of becoming a millionaire, but it bordered on the greedy side even if she could use the money.

 Besides when you spoke things into existence, weren’t they supposed to be something that could happen? Tonya bit her lip while wrestling with options. Sebastian trotted toward the door after initiating as many flowerpots as he could. Normally, she’d yell at him, but this year she never even planted anything. Just empty pots were targets of Sebastian’s urinary effort.

 Her initial wish was for Clint to find someone else to obsess over, but she abandoned it as being too cruel to some unknown woman. She swung the door open while announcing her wish. “For a change, I’d like to have mind-blowing sex.”

 Tina, her neighbor, looked up from watering her glorious cascade of blossoms. “You and me, both.” She saluted with her right hand as her left clutched a leopard skin spotted watering can.

 She heard her. Tonya almost slammed the door before Sebastian reached it. The dog aware of the vagaries of his owner made a dart for the opening. Canine inside, she leaned against the door. Well, that was rude of her. Should have said good morning. Still, it was hard to find a follow up statement, after she announced to the neighborhood the state of her love life.
 

Wouldn't it be great if all surprises were golden and bubbly as our picture prompt today. Let's find out what's in store for Tonya. She just bid the delightful Will good night. Now, I skip ahead to their goodnight phone call on the same night.




“Yeah, it’s me. Surprise.” That sounded stupid. Help would be nice here. Could she look up on her computer a script for phone conversations for a man you’d like even though it might not be the wisest choice? There probably wouldn’t be any scripts. If there were, it wouldn’t include the word, surprise.

“Actually, it is a surprise. Wasn’t sure you’d call me back. I think I did almost everything wrong. My inactivity on the dating scene shows.”

‘Seriously. What did you do wrong?”

“Everything.”

“I think that’s my response. Explain. I couldn’t see anything.”  A low laugh teased her ear.

“You’re too kind. I suspected Marc might attempt to fix me up. He’s been more worried about my love life than I am. Even though I knew what was going down I still lingered at work. Could have went home and changed clothes to be more approachable. “

“You looked great. The loosed tie, and all, had the sexy lawyer look going for you.”

 A relaxed chuckle greeted her comment. “That’s another thing. I talked about work. There’s no bigger career turn-off than a divorce lawyer.”

Mentally Tonya agree, but wasn’t about to admit it. “Hit man?”

“No, there’s that extreme bad boy angle that many women would consider hot.”

Damn it, the man was right. “Ah, but you’re not the bad guy. You usually represent women to help them get what they deserve.”

“True. Sometimes. More than they deserve, although, that isn’t the way most women see it. I represent the breakup, the heartache, the worse time in a person’s life. “

“Yeah, you’re a regular grim reaper of relationships.”

“Hey!”

“Oops, sorry.” Her eyes rolled upward at her verbal stumble. “I didn’t say you were. I was kinda following your imagery and providing some of my own.”

“Alright. I guess it’s easy to pull lawyer metaphors out of the air.”

Today's prompt is Gray. Will is inside the house and Sebastian is attacking his pants legs.

Her words had no effect on the dog who continued to growl and pull at Will’s pants legs.  “Stop it, now. Bad dog.”

Outside of prying his mouth open, she didn’t know how she’d calm her dog. He’d been difficult in the past with visitors, but never this bad.

“Do you think he knows I’m a lawyer?” Will asked, looking mildly amused.

Instead of outrage that her dog was destroying an expensive suit, he looked more entertained. Well, at least, Will had a better attitude than could be expected. How could she get Sebastian to stop? “Sebastian,” she tried to put enthusiasm in her voice that she wasn’t feeling. “Do you want to go for a walk?”

The dog halted his assault and looked up expectantly. She moved toward the kitchen keeping her eyes on her dog unsure if he’d turn and go back to biting Will’s trousers. As she passed the key rack, she picked up his distinctive gray leash. Sebastian’s hopeful mien transformed into dog euphoria as he pranced right up to her, waiting for her.

Feeling guilty for tricking her dog, she snapped on the lead, led him to the garage and pushed him in the darkness that smelled like gasoline and slightly soured milk. By the time, she’d let Sebastian back in her garbage would probably be scattered over the garage.

The miscreant taken care of she leaned against the door for a few seconds buying time. Unfortunately, Will followed her through the dark kitchen.

“Does your dog object to all your dates?” His warm voice sounded mellow, not the least bit upset that her dog had made him into a chew toy.  The shadows made it hard to read his expression.

“Well, uhm,” she stalled, caught on the word date. Goodness, a date, most men would have ended the evening once her dog sunk his teeth into their pants leg. “It’s hard to say. True, he’s not a fan of men, but he’s a rescue and a man could have abandoned him.

“Maybe.” Will readily agreed, as he drew closer. “I’ll tell you what I think.”

Tonya watched his approach aware she needed to discourage him. It mystified her that despite her inappropriate questions and a minor mauling by her dog he acted as if he were attracted to her.  Not an ogre, but she hadn’t tried too hard to play up her good features tonight. His arms were around her before she could think of a suitable answer.  Her arms wrapped around his neck with her fingers tangling into his hair.

His lips on hers made her forget her objections, although none was that strong. His body touching hers felt right. This is the way it should be. His scent tantalized hers as she inhaled. Cologne, something line with a citrus note, laundry starch, a slight tang of sweat, with an after note of warm male. If Will were wine, she’d buy a case; no make that very bottle ever made.  A slight buzzing existed at the edge of her awareness, but it didn’t seem to fit into the scenario. Peculiar.

Will’s lips left hers allowing her enough time to answer his unspoken request. Instead, she stood on her tiptoes rubbing her check against his beard stubble.

A familiar voice came from the living room. ‘Tonya, I don’t think your doorbell is working? I tried it, but no one answered the door.”

 Marc, of course, he was coming to give Will a ride back to his car. How could she forget that? The buzzing was her doorbell.

Will cursed softly into her hair before loosening his embrace. “Don’t make the mistake of thinking this is the end. I found the only genuine woman in the city. I’ll be damned if I’ll let you slip through my fingers.”