Never Go To Bed Angry By Julia M.

Reilly sat at the kitchen table, sipping the last of her wine. Her husband, Blake, had forgotten about their anniversary celebration and was still at the office. She stood to put her glass in the dishwasher, shut off the lights, and went upstairs. As she was washing her face she heard the front door open as Blake snuck in quietly, as if that would change the fact that he was late. Reilly sighed as she climbed into bed and waited for Blake to find her.

Before long, he came rushing in with apologizes:

“I’m so sorry I’m late. There was a problem with one of the cases and I couldn’t leave until we solved it.”

Reilly had heard this story many times before. She gave him a blank look.

He pulled out a small box from the pocked inside his jacket. “I got you something.” He said.

“You missed our anniversary dinner and you think a necklace will make up for that?”

“Just open it, please?”

“Blake, if this was the first time you got caught up in your work then I would be more forgiving. But this has been happening a lot lately. It’s your law firm and you shouldn’t have to supervise every decision they make.”

She watched at he pursed his lips together to form a straight line.

“I told you Reilly, I couldn’t leave and I’m sorry. Can’t you forgive me and we can celebrate our anniversary together tomorrow? I’ll even take the day off. It’s not good to go to bed angry you know.” He said teasingly trying to lighten the mood.

Reilly shook her head as she crawled back into bed. She wasn’t in the mood anymore. She listened as Blake went into the bathroom to brush his teeth and strip down to his boxers. He set the loose change from his pant pockets on the dresser and then crawled into bed besides her trying to snuggle close. Reilly refused to let him. She was mad at him and she wasn’t going to let him off the hook that easy. Instead of wrapping her arms around him like she usually did, she put her book down and shut the light off. She knew Blake could take a hint as she felt his body turn away. She shut her eyes and was asleep in seconds.

L L L

Reilly’s alarm interrupted her dreams. She awoke and remembered her first class didn’t begin until nine. She glanced at the glowing red lights; 6:50, it read. It was no use going back to sleep now that she was up. She walked sleepily over to her closet to pick out an outfit of old sweats and a lacrosse shirt her team had won at a jamboree last year. Then she sauntered into the bathroom and turned on the shower. Below her, taxi’s whizzed by on the already busy streets. The first semester was almost over but Reilly was still getting used to the college life. In August she had packed up her belongings and left her cozy home in the suburbs for Boston. She had been accepted early and decided right away that she would attend Harvard Law School in the fall.

She turned off the shower and got dressed. She threw her beautiful long brown hair up in a ponytail, applied some mascara to the tops of her eyelashes, dabbed on some of the watermelon lip gloss her sister had gotten her and she was good to go. She walked through the doors of her off campus apartment. She could feel the eyes of the sweating construction workers watching her as she turned up the street to the library. She was used to seeing heads turn as she walked down the street although she had no idea why. Reilly liked to think of herself as plain and simple. She never paid too much attention to her reflection as she brushed her hair in the mornings or thought about what others would think as she chose her clothes. Instead she dressed in whatever it was that she felt most comfortable in and usually tied her hair back with rubber bands she often found in the bottom of her bag.

She ignored the horny workers and zipped up her jacked to shield her from the cold winds. A burst of air blew her bangs back as she opened the old library doors. She took a seat at the abandoned table in the far left corner and opened her history book to study for the exam today. She was reviewing the vocabulary when she felt the presence of someone sit down across from her. She glanced up. A boy with shaggy brown hair that covered his deep brown eyes glanced back at her. She couldn’t help but notice how cute she looked in his grey sweater and blue red sox hat.

“I’m sorry, do you mind if I join you?”

“Oh no, not at all.” She answered a little surprised.

He smiled, and she noticed his perfectly straight white teeth, “I’m Blake, I’m a junior here, I’ve seen you around before, this is your first year right?”

“Yeah.” She said, shocked that he knew so much about her when she hardly knew anything about him.

He fumbled around his bag for a moment before pulling out a notebook. He opened it and began writing. Reilly turned her attention back to her book.

A few minutes passed and Reilly was making no process. She could feel him looking at her but she kept her eyes on the words in front of her. Before long, her curiosity got the best of her and she decided she wanted to know more about Blake. He was so mysterious and she had never seen him around before although he had obviously seen her. She looked up at him. He had put his notebook away and was sitting patiently waiting for her to finish reading. She closed her book

“What time does your next class start?” he asked.

“Nine,” she responded and glanced up at the old clock on the wall, she had over an hour.

“Perfect.” He said happily, “How about we go for a walk and get some coffee, I know a great place just around the corner.”

Reilly took a minute to answer. Blake was a perfect stranger but he was talking to her like they’d known each other forever. “Sounds great.”

They walked out of the library and down the street. “So how do you like the dorms?” he asked

“Actually I live off campus. I have a small apartment to myself a little ways away. What about you? How’s it like having a roommate?” she wondered.

“Oh it’s great. I love it. Me and Tim go way back.” He said as he held the door open for her. He told Reilly the story of how he and Tim met up again after he moved away in high school.

“Sounds like the both of you got very lucky.” She said.

“Yeah, we did. What about you? Don’t you get lonely in an apartment all by yourself?”

“No, I love having it all to myself. My sister and I both had our own rooms. I’ve never had to share a room with anyone before. I was really glad when I found out that I could afford that apartment.”

“You have a sister? Older or younger?”

“Younger, she started high school this year.” She said.

“Sounds like you guys are pretty tight. I’m an only child so I love having someone to hang around with everyday.”

The waiter brought there coffee’s and the sat sipping them quietly. Reilly wondered again how this boy knew her.

“So how’d you know this was my first year?”

He glanced down at the table and rubbed his fingers over the small crook someone had left in it. “Actually I’ve seen you around a lot, and when I saw you in the library this morning I thought I’d take a chance and introduce myself to you.”

“Well, I have to admit, I’ve never seen you around.”

“Well, hopefully we can change that.” He said and then flashed her the most adorable smile she had ever seen.

She heard the chorus of her favorite Taylor Swift song coming from inside her bag. She had set her phone alarm this morning to remind her to get to class. They said goodbye with promises to get together again soon.

J J J

A strong smell of a gourmet breakfast brought Reilly back from her dreams. She put her robe on and followed the delicious smell downstairs. She stopped at the doorway to the kitchen and took in everything she saw. Blake was wearing the same adorable sweater from her dream, the first time they met. He was standing over the stove flipping French toast. A plate of bacon, sausage, and ham sat in the center of the table, which was set for two. She went over to her seat and noticed the small box sitting on her plate. It was Blake’s present that she had refused to open the night before. Reilly remembered their horrible fight. She walked over to the stove. She absolutely hated fighting with him.

“Good morning” he said with a kiss on the cheek.

She smiled, “Good morning.”

He brought the plate of French toast over to the table and sat down. French toast was her favorite food and she loved how thoughtful he was to make it for her today.

“Happy anniversary.” He told her as he began eating.

She smiled and took a bit, yummm! “I had the most amazing dream last night.” She said.

“Oh really?” he asked waiting for more.

“Mhmmm, about the first day we met. Do you remember?”

“Of course, at that old library on the Harvard campus.”

Reilly smiled to herself as she remembered the dream. “I’m sorry I was being stubborn last night.”

“I’m sorry I missed our dinner.”

This was Reilly’s favorite part of fighting with Blake. He got up and walked over to her, wrapping his strong arms around her waist and kissing her tenderly.

“If we could do anything today, what would you want to do?”

A mischievous smile spread across Reilly’s face, “I’ve got a few things in mind.” she said as she took his hand and led him out of the kitchen.