The Cubicle Ch. 05

Beyond them was a man in jeans and a baseball cap, concentrating on his pancake-and-eggs dinner. I caught him glancing my way.

A man in his early to mid twenties was my waiter – Zach, he said his name was as he brought my ice water. He was cute. He had dark, disheveled hair, a little goatee and a smirky, coy grin. I ordered baked fish and broccoli, with a caffeine-free Diet Coke, looking him directly in the eyes when I handed him my menu, letting my gaze linger a moment past the traditional point to look away. He cleared his throat nervously and his voice got tight as he told me he'd be right back with my drink.

"Careful, Lisa, you don't want to give him the wrong idea," I said to myself. I was tired from the day's drive and the heat, and I knew that my weariness was causing me to let my guard down a bit. I was also emotionally very tired, I realized, still being on a high from the events of the last almost 24 hours, but I didn't want to come off of it. Doing so would require some self-discipline, remembering, after all, that I still had a full two weeks ahead of me. No sense in being impatient.

Still, that didn't mean I couldn't have a little fun. I crossed my legs and pulled up the hem of my dress to show more thigh for Zach when he returned with my drink. I watched his eyes as he set it down. Yep, he looked. I smiled warmly at him. After my meal came, he checked on me often. I stretched for him a couple of times, telling him how tired I was from my traveling. He drank me in. When Zach brought the check, the man in the baseball cap was still there, stealing glances my way. I'd heard him say earlier, flirting with his waitress, that he had four more hours to go tonight. I hoped I'd given him something to think about while the miles passed by.

I said goodnight to Zach and got my two small bags out of the car, as well as the little one from Under Armour. I rode the elevator to the fourth floor and found my room. I had in mind to go for a lazy swim before going to bed, so I pulled out the bra and shorts, which I figured would have to do for a bathing suit. I was about to pull off my dress to put them on when I remembered my pact: Any new outfit I had to put on for the first time someplace public, and leave the old clothes there! I sat down to think, in a real dilemma. Changing into the workout clothes wasn't my issue – I welcomed the new opportunity to repeat what I'd experienced early in the day. I wasn't even overly concerned about going down to the little weight room in the morning to work out. My dilemma was whether I would attract too much attention wearing them tomorrow as I shopped for another outfit. It would be highly unusual to go shopping in workout clothes without at least pulling on a t-shirt and decent shorts overtop.

I decided to play it safe. It was too early yet in my adventure to bite off more than I could chew. So I opted for a long, cool shower instead. Thinking about my dilemma, I realized that I'd have to make one exception with my workout clothes: I'd still change into them for the first time someplace public, but I have to give myself permission to change back into regular clothes to go shopping.Otherwise, I'd never avoid the dilemma! After my shower, I toweled dry, slipped into bed, the cool sheets feeling good against my skin, and flipped through the channels on TV, not really seeing or hearing anything. I turned off the TV, clicked the light off and rolled over to my stomach with a contented sigh.

It had been an excellent first day of my two weeks of reverie and freedom.

To be continued ...