Free Time to Control by Marie Pinkerton Page A

No one else called 911 for
the apartments being on fire.   Just
me.   It was too important to tweet
about it and post photos on Facebook.   And now...I don't even know where I'm sleeping tonight,” I confessed.
    “You can stay in my hotel room, but
I can't guarantee how much sleep you'd get,”he waggled his eyebrows and tweaked
a nipple.
    “I thought we were going to keep
our distance publicly – wait a few weeks before telling folk that we
eloped.”
    “I don't think we anticipated your apartment
going up in flames.”   He massaged
the breast whose nipple he tweaked.
    “No, we shouldn't.”   I thought through the amount of money in
my bank account, and the time frame the renter's insurance company had given me
this morning on payout.   “I can afford
a room for myself tonight, and if I can get tomorrow off, find a new
apartment.”
    “Money isn't a problem, Schroeder.”
    “Maybe not for you.”
    “ Wife , money is not a problem,” he repeated.  
    Oh
yeah.   He's a millionaire.   I felt weird taking his money, though.   “Eddie...”
    “Sweetheart, taking care of you is my job.   Let me do it, okay?”
    “We should probably save money when
possible, then.   Like just getting
one hotel room, instead of one.”
    “Yes, it would make good financial
sense.”   He nodded solemnly.   “Especially since the room is expensed.”
    Eddie looked to where his watch
would be, but it wasn't there.   “I
should get a pocket watch.   I can
probably wrap things up about two o'clock.   Do you want to go to the hotel room now, and wait for me there?   We can go shopping afterwards.”
    I shook my head.   “I don't have a laptop anymore,
remember?   I wouldn't have anything
to do in the room.   I'm not
accomplishing anything anyway; they can dock me a vacation day if they want,
but I'm just looking online for apartments this afternoon.   Making lists, too, of what all I need to
get.   'Everything' is a bit on the
broad side.”   I stood up, and began
to put my clothes back on.   The
bottom of my sweatpants were stained from the dirt and muck, but I scraped as
much off as possible.   Eddie's
clothes had mostly dried from his dip in the river, thanks to our lovemaking
activities.   We looked as decent as
we could, for returning to modern times.   But honestly, we had to find a better way to do this.

 
     
    Chapter Four
     
     
    Eddie kept hold of my hands when we
returned to modern times."What happened to your
hand?" He asked, only now noticing the bruises on the knuckles, rubbing
them gently with his thumb. "You didn't punch Alan and I missed it, did
you?"
    I pulled my hand from his before
anyone saw.   "I knocked a
little too vigorously on my neighbor's door to wake them. I'm fine."
    He frowned and looked like he
wanted to say something else, but the surroundings kept him from it.
    "I'll send you that document
right away," I told him for the benefit of the salesman who entered the
kitchen, and ducked under Eddie's arm and walked back towards my office.
    True to my word, I avoided work for
the next few hours, and instead checked out apartment complexes.   Ideally I would just move into a new
apartment in my current complex, but they told me earlier that morning they
were all full.   They were hesitant
to let me out of my lease without paying an early termination fee.   Instead of getting angry like I had in
the morning, I let it go.   I'd just
sic Eddie on them.   The lesson he
taught me earlier paid off, and still fresh in my mind; my chair was rather
uncomfortable.
    “Oh my God, have you seen the
consultant?”   Dylan, my best friend
at the office, came in and sat down.   “Wait, of course you have.   You were with him in New York.”   Dylan fanned herself with a folder.   “He is so hot!”
    I considered, then leaned over my
desk to stage whisper to my friend.   “Last week?   He was voted one
of the top eligible bachelors in New York.”   Course he's not a bachelor