Twofer One

Well, no time-stamp on this one, it was written in longhand (in the middle of a staff meeting :D), so it was sort of on and off writing...anywho, I got bored when I finished the first one, and just wrote another shorty that you guys can have as well :).

Have fun with it!



2/12/10

Prompt: "He would have said it was all Greek to him, except he understood Greek..." (NaNo)

He would have said it was all Greek to him, except he understood Greek, so it would kind of defeat the purpose. In fact, he not only understood Greek, he could speak and write it fluently--along with Spanish, Russian, Arabic, and a smattering of several others. But these writings in front of him...these numbers...they were completely foreign to him.

He sighed, running his fingers through his thick black hair. God, he hated numbers. Words, languages, he excelled at, but numbers...numbers were enough to make him break out in a cold sweat. Even growing up, in high school for example, he made it through the basic math classes, barely, yet ended up with four years' worth of classes in three different languages. In college, he'd taken the minimun amount of math and science, while bulking up on languages and histories.

He sighed again, turning his attention back to the numbers scrolling across the computer screen. He shook his head and winced. There was no way he'd be able to figure it out on time. With a groan of defeat, he picked up the phone and dialed quickly. It rang twice before a perky female voice answered.

"Hey babe, how's it goin'?"

He couldn't resist a smile when he heard her voice, but couldn't help the note of embarrassment that crept into his voice as he replied. "Um...numbers, me...not great."

She laughed, the sound floating across the phone lines like a burbling brook. "Okay, I'll be right over. Love you!"

He hung up the phone and sighed in relief. A quick glance at the clock showed that there was enough time to run to the store and pick up some chocolate before she got there. Maybe there'd even be time to catch a movie or something when they were done.

He smiled as he grabbed his jacket. Looks like today was shaping up to be a wonderful day.

Word Count: 317



!!!BONUS!!!

She sighed softly, staring out the window, her palm gently cupping her chin. It was a beautiful spring day, with birds singing among the cherry blossoms, but she didn't notice. Although her eyes were fixed on the window, her mind was focused elsewhere, an elsewhere so very far away.

In this elsewhere, she was walking barefoot down a beach, with the warm salt water lapping at her toes. A bouquet of wildflowers dangled loosely in her fingers; her other hand was clasped warmly in Travis's calloused one. How she missed him! It had been two months since he'd left, and she missed him more and more every day. She couldn't imagine how she'd feel if he was a soldier or translator shipped off to Iraq or something--she was blessed to have a fiance who was overseas for other reasons, business reasons. He was in England, only for three months, to work with his advertising firm on a major deal. He'd offered to take her with him, but she couldn't leave school and work for that amount of time. But still, when he'd left, he'd taken a piece of her heart with him, and she felt the loss every day he was gone.

They talked every night, not always on the phone, sometimes they could only manage a chat on Facebook or something, but if they got lucky, they were able to chat on a webcam. Those were the best conversations, but they still didn't replace face-to-face interaction.

The doorbell rang, and she sighed as she walked down the stairs. It was probably the landscapers, they were scheduled to do the garden and lawn this afternoon. She checked the peephole, then squealed in shock and delight. The door couldn't open fast enough, then she threw herself into Travis' arms.

"You're back! You're back!" She kissed him, then hugged him even tighter. "How! Oh my god, I can't believe you're back!"

He laughed and twirled her around. "We finished the job early, they said I could come home. I missed you, sweetie," he grinned. "Did you miss me?"

She kissed him again. "Of course I did! By the way, you are not allowed to leave for that long again, not unless you take me."

"Hey, I offered..."

They both laughed, and walked inside, arm in arm, both overwhelmed with joy. Love was such a wonderful thing, and surprises, especially ones like this, were the things that made life delicious. The birds still sang outside, but somehow, their songs became clearer. The sun shone brighter, the cherry blossoms smelled sweeter, and life in general, smiled a little more.

Word Count: 436


And so goes the beginning of my 'Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!' weekend :). Enjoy!