Five Fifteen to Long Branch

"I can," I told him and kissed him goodbye. He then pulled me into him and surprisingly we kissed again. I ended up walking him to his car.

Olga stayed over, she and Matt left the party over an hour before. He kissed me before he left and gave me a wink. I could tell it was his way of saying his job was done. Dorothy was going to stay with us, I could tell Loni wasn't too happy about it, but we had an extra bedroom and it would be a great excuse to make breakfast tomorrow morning and drink even more coffee. I might even invite Rita over too. They could stay all day if they wanted to.

Soon the elevator made one last trip, everyone went back into their apartments, and I lay alone on the couch, basking in the afterglow of the end of another successful party.

***

Life was pretty great and there were so many interesting developments lately. The top three were:

3: I started dating Antonio, and also, Owen, a man I met over the counter at Nordstrom's.

2: Olga and Matthew come back to Long Branch every weekend.

1: I own 50% of the Chapel Brewery

***

Every Saturday I take a walk, it's about thirty minutes, it is the only time I wear sneakers. I travel to the other side of the Boulevard, where there are families, churches, little grocery stores, and big backyards. I never take the same way twice. Sometimes I even get lost.

Then I turn down a wide driveway, I see him right away on the other side of the fence. By the time I get to the gate, he is right in front of me.

"Arf, Arf."

"Coco, I am so glad you are always happy to see me." One of the kids is next. Then the mom and dad. I usually hand them something from the brewery or cake from one of the small deli's.

"Wendy, perfect timing, are you staying for breakfast."

"Of course."

***

The End

***