Wait

The same afternoon as the previous entry:


"I must say that I'm surprised to see you here Sofia."



Sofia sat on the bench next to Cherry Smith. It was close to five in the evening; the sun would be setting soon. There was a tingle in her belly that reminded her of when she was a little girl waiting on the front porch for the newspaper to be delivered just so she could talk with the teen delivering it.

"I decided that I needed some time away. To think."

Cherry stood. "Well you're welcome to stay as long as you like. It's only $200 a day I ask. Meals will be cooked by me, and I can clean your room when you're out if you'd like. Let me show you the room."

There was a seething undercurrent to Cherry's chipper attitude that Sofia had been able to feel all the way in her own home just up the street a few miles. Sofia didn't know much about Cherry but that she had been a townie who had taken advantage of a situation (much like Sofia had often done herself). In the end, Cherry was the step mother of the city Mayor and yet she lived here on the edge of town running a "bed and breakfast" out of her home.



Cherry smiled at Sofia as she waved proudly to the rest of the room. It was decorated simply, much like a hotel room but with a homey feel to it. Sofia could easily spend the rest of the day relaxing and waiting.

"Well, thank you. I would appreciate privacy if you wouldn't mind."

Cherry nodded, though Sofia was sure that the woman was inwardly fuming at Sofia's power over her. "Well, we'll both be upstairs. See me if you need anything. There are some left overs from dinner in the fridge if you get hungry."

************

Sofia spent the rest of the evening in her room. Upstairs she could hear the tromping of Cherry's little brat, Jason, as he ran back and forth. Surprisingly, at eight the noise stopped.

"I'll arrive once all the lights are out and everyone is asleep," his note had said.

Was eight their bedtime? It would make sense for someone like Cherry to let her child do whatever it pleases and then force it to sleep at a certain hour.



Sofia smoothed her silky red night gown then sat on the edge of the freshly made bed. She would wait. She did not want to turn out her light too early, just in case he was out there watching now. So she would wait and make him wait as well. If he were feeling as anxious as she, then he could continue to feel so until she turned off her own light to signal him in.