Hidden Desires

Hidden Desires

C
AYDEN RILEY HESITANTLY peeked through her left eye at her alarm clock. With a relieved sigh, she turned over onto her side and snuggled down deeper into her feather bed. She had fifteen more minutes left until the alarm went off and she wanted to use all fifteen of them productively. Preferably snoring, but she'd take what she could get.

Moments later, an enormous cat, La La Bird, came trotting into the room and jumped onto the bed. Cayden rolled her eyes behind closed lids. She knew he was sitting there... staring at her, willing her eyes to open and see him, as if she didn't notice the mild earthquake he created by jumping up next to her.

The tall, sleepy brunette started a countdown in her head. Any second, her roommate, Wade, alerted by the cat galloping from his vigil by the food bowl, would poke his head into her room and wake her up.
10... 9... 8...7...

Cayden often wondered how La La knew she was awake. She hardly even moved and she certainly didn't make any noise, but every morning, the very moment that she rose to wakefulness, the cat was waddling into her room.
3... 2... 1.

"Good morning, Sweetie! Rise and shine!"

Cayden groaned and burrowed her face into the pillow.

"Who's the wooshkie-smooshkie, beautiful princess?"

Cayden cringed. She hated that. "Sic 'em La La," she said, moving only her arm to point in Wade's direction.

The cat simply blinked.

"Thanks, buddy." She mumbled, after hearing no screams for mercy.

"Come one, Sweetikins, let's greet the day with a big, bright smile." Wade shouted gleefully.

"Bite me, Mary Sunshine. I still have 7 minutes."

"Awww... does Um's need some coffee?" he asked with slight pity.

"Um's would like to be left alone for 6 minutes and 42 seconds... and take that thing with you." she pointed at the cat.

"So bitchy in the morning." Wade grumbled. "You need to get laid, Cayden." he said with a snort and left the room.

"You forgot something." Cayden groused, opening her startlingly blue eyes to stare at La La Bird's nose. "What?" she asked the gigantic cat.

"MAOW!" The cat blinked and licked his lips.

"Wade! He's looking at me like that again!" Cayden complained.

"Here, you big baby."

Wade suddenly appeared in her line of vision with a steaming mug of coffee. Cayden sat straight up. "Have I told you lately that I love you?"

"Hmmm, Ms. Cranky Pants, are you sure you want this now?" he held up the coffee. "You still have 4 minutes and 12 seconds."

Sleepy blue eyes narrowed and Cayden sneered.

"Ok, ok! No need to get all butch on me."

Cayden took the coffee and swallowed a big gulp. "Ohhh yeahhhh...." she groaned blissfully.

"See, now that's why I think you need to get laid, Honey. That kind of pleasure shouldn't come from a cup of caffeine."

"Says you." The tall brunette mumbled into the steaming cup.

Wade sat himself down on the bed and hoisted La La onto his lap. "So there's this chick..."

Cayden held up her hand and shook her head. "NO! N...O. No more blind dates Wade." she said adamantly.

"But you haven't even heard what she looks like!" he pouted.

"No. I told you the last time, no more." Cayden swung her legs off the side of the bed and yawned.

"Honey, she's got the cutest ass, and I know how much you like a mean buttock." He said with a waggle of his eyebrows.

Cayden couldn't help but inquire. "Yeah?" She put her coffee down on the nightstand and stood up, stretching her back.

"Oh yeah. She's about an inch or two shorter than you, which might I add, is a rarity, and she's got the cutest dimples."

The tall woman pursed her lips in thought.
Taller than my belly button huh? A nice ass? Hmmm.

Wade grew excited, seeing Cayden considering the idea. After the last blind date disaster, he thought she would never accept another. The woman turned out to be a real fruitcake and once she had a little wine, jumped up on the table and began singing nursery rhymes with a German accent. Wade knew he had to throw the nice looking tush in there or she wouldn't even consider.

"You haven't really told me anything. What does she do, what color is her hair, is she 300 lbs? Does she like big purple dinosaurs?"

"Oh my, so shallow."

Cayden sat back down on the bed and stared at her roommate. "Spill it."

"She's a cable guy, she has brown hair and she's not 300 pounds." he said, looking slightly guilty.

Cayden made a claw with her hand and aimed it at the cat. "Talk to me, or La La bites it."

Wade pulled the cat close to his chest. "OKAY! She's got a tattoo on her neck but really, you can hardly see it when she wears a turtle neck!"

"I knew it! I knew she was a freak!" Cayden threw her hands in the air. "No, no way, you can forget it." She said, pulling open a dresser drawer and yanking out a pair of panties.

"Just one little date? I promise she won't bite."

The tall woman grabbed a shirt from another drawer and shook her head. "You already told her I'd go didn't you?" she asked in alarm.

"Kinda." Wade admitted meekly. "I'll tell her to wear a turtle neck?" he tried.

"Wade Maxwell! It's 90 degrees out there!" Cayden pointed to the window. "Really now!"

Wade blushed. "It's just one night out of your life, Cayden. I swear, you really oughta try and get out and meet someone. It can't be healthy to sit around all night and watch HGTV. Someone has to help."

Cayden closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Did it occur to you that I like sitting around by myself and watching television?" She looked at his pathetic face and caved. "Oh alright. I'll go, but I swear this is the last time!" she said waving her arm in the air to make her point.

"YES!" Wade jumped up and danced around the room with the cat. "Thank you honey!" he ran over and kissed her cheek. "You never know, she may be the one." he said excitedly.

"Yeah, imagine that." Cayden said with a sigh. "Now go, unless you want to see me naked."

"Ack!" Wade held his cat tight and ran from the room.

Brooke Hewitt rolled over, and with a heavy sigh, painstakingly disentangled herself from her boyfriend, and crawled out of bed. With a wide yawn she scratched her head and dragged her feet to the bathroom. "Grant, you need to get up." she called out in a sleepy voice.

"Mmmph."

Closing the bathroom door, she turned on the water and yawned again.
I gotta do something about this insomnia
, she thought, letting the cold water run over her hands.
I can't function like this anymore
. The cold water shocked her considerably as she splashed it onto her face.
Brrrrr!!!
Brooke let the water dribble down her neck as she sat down to pee.

"I'm up." The male voice floated into the bathroom.

Brooke nodded at the door as she yawned again. "Coffee Grant... please." she whined.

"You got it, Honey."

Brooke smiled as she flushed the toilet. Grant was so good to her lately. Her sudden bout of sleeplessness was disturbing to him and he tried everything he could to help.
He's been so patient with me and I've been nothing but a bitch
, She thought guiltily.

Grant Huntington, a tall, handsome, well muscled young man, gathered the morning paper from the doormat and waited for Brooke to finish with her morning rituals. He couldn't help noticing that her insomnia started soon after she moved in with him and was trying hard not to bring the subject up. He didn't want her to leave, he wanted to eventually marry her. She was perfect. Pretty, smart, and accommodating, and she had a body worth showing off. He knew the moment he met her that she was the one. There had to be a way to fix the problem without alerting her to what he knew.

"Morning honey."

Grant looked up from the paper and smiled. "Well?" he asked in concern.

"About two hours straight. I think that's an improvement don't you?" Brooke answered with forced happiness, her green eyes dull and lifeless.

"Brooke, Baby, maybe you need to see a doctor. You know, Mother had the same problem and they gave her pills. She never had the problem again. You should think about it."

The short blonde gave it some thought. Maybe pills were an answer, she certainly couldn't go on like this much longer. "I'll think about it hon. Bathroom's all yours."

Grant poured a cup of coffee for his girlfriend and set it in front of her before he took the paper and left the room. Brooke plopped heavily into the chair and held the cup with both hands.
Pills. Maybe I should?

After several more yawns and two cups of coffee, Brooke began to get dressed for work. She frowned at her reflection in the mirror and poked at the bags under her eyes.
God, I look awful!
she thought as her eyes welled up with tears,
Why is this happening to me?

Grant came into the room to find Brooke wiping her eyes. He immediately felt his heart speed up as he ran to be by her side. "Don't cry honey. We'll figure this out."

"Grant, I feel miserable! I'm exhausted, my head is always hurting and my eyes look like Gramma Millie's! I can't do this any more!" She cried.

"Well, crying isn't going to help. Let's go to the doctor this weekend, okay?"

Brooke dried her eyes on Grant's sleep shirt. "Ok, we'll go." she said sadly.

"That's much better." he smiled in relief. "Now that that's taken care of, Terry and I are going golfing on Sunday. You wouldn't mind coming to keep Mary company would you?"