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Craig handed a stack of bills over the counter to the salesperson and then slipped what he'd bought into his pocket and left the store with a smile on his face. He couldn't wait to give it to her and at the same time he was hesitant. What if she didn't like it? What if she laughed at him? She had been acting funny these last few weeks, always tired and not wanting to do very much. She hadn't even gone to any of his concerts lately ... He'd come home to find her sound asleep. At least Mandie's libido wasn't affected. He was glad of that ... He headed down the block to his truck. There was a cold sleeting rain coming down and once he got in and fired up the engine he turned on the heat and sat there a moment, warming. He pulled away from the curb and headed towards the radio station. He wanted to say 'hi' to Mandie. She was sitting at her desk, her assistant was with her. He stood in the doorway leaning to one side, one arm planted on the door jam, the other on his waist. She looked up and smiled at him. Her assistant, Robin, smiled too.
"Hey Craig! Good to see you." Robin said picking up a bunch of papers that were strewn across Mandie's desk. "What brings you here?" She headed towards him. He walked into the room in order to let her past.
"Just saying hi." He said and held up his hand. "Hi." She giggled at the joke. Mandie sighed, rolled her eyes and shook her head. Robin had always had a slight crush on Craig and Craig knew it. That's why he was so friendly to Robin. Robin ate it up. "You look nice today Robin. Did you do your hair differently?" He said walking over to Mandie, leaning down and kissing her lips lightly. Robin blushed a little and looked down at the floor then back up at Craig who was now sitting in a chair in front of Mandie's messy desk.
"I did, I added a little red to it. Do you like it?" Craig nodded.
"I do. The color suits you." She turned to go and muttered a 'thanks' before closing the door behind her. Greg felt the bulge in his coat pocket and shifted uncomfortably. "You feeling okay today Mandie?" He asked. She had bags under her eyes. She rubbed her face and then took a sip of Caffeine Free Diet Coke.
"Yeah, I feel better today. What are you doing out and about this afternoon? I thought you were meeting with some recording guy?" He almost felt ashamed that he had lied to her just for an excuse to be downtown picking up what he'd bought for her. He shrugged at the question.
"You know, I waited at that restaurant for half an hour before I got a call that he had to reschedule." She clicked her tongue and shook her head.
"People can be so damned ignorant." She said.
"I guess so." He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. She flipped through some papers and the phone rang. He watched her - she hollered for Robin to pick it up.
"Did he reschedule?" She asked.
"Oh yeah, this Friday at 1." She smiled at him.
"Good, maybe your band can really get going now. And we can think about a future ..." She sighed. He looked down at his hands. He felt really stupid that his band hadn't taken off and his little brother's band was selling out all over the country. He couldn't really provide too much for Mandie; her paycheck was getting them through, paying the bills and the rent. He had snuck a little away from each concert they did to buy what he had in his pocket for her. He looked back up at her, so pretty sitting there ... She had an important job at a popular radio station and what was he? He looked past her out the window. He felt like a loser. He thought about Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin ... Craig was Charlie Brown trick-or-treating in that movie -- everyone else got a candy bar and Charlie Brown -- he got a bag full of rocks! He sighed. Mandie came out from behind her desk and sat herself on his lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck and looked into his eyes. "I'm sorry if I said something wrong." She said sincerely. "I know you have been trying Craig. You'll get there someday. You know, you don't want to be like Brent." He looked at her quizzically.
"Why? He's popular, he's making money ..." She made a face.
"Yeah, and he's gonna fizzle out too if he doesn't clean up his act." Craig once again, tried to reassure Mandie that Brent was cleaned up and on the right track. She just nodded. "We'll see." She pulled his head forward and kissed him. She sucked on his lip and then swirled her tongue in his mouth. He felt himself growing at all this attention and was helpless to stop it.
"Mmmm ..." He moaned and pulled away. "Is there someplace private we can go?" She giggled.
"No! We can't have sex here at the radio station!!" She pulled her arms from around his neck and smacked him in the back of the head. He jumped and then shifted the goods between his legs to make himself more comfortable once she was seated back at her desk. How the hell was he going to get out of here with a huge stiffy between his legs? He shook his head. Mandie had a way of doing that to him and it somewhat made him angry. She could turn him on with the flick of a switch and turning him back off ... Well, she didn't always let him have relief. And it was usually in public when this happened ...
"Will you be home around five?" He asked and cleared his throat. She busied herself with the mess on her desk, pretty much dismissing him.
"Yep. Want to go out for dinner?" She asked, not even looking up. He hated it when she did that. He felt ignored.
"No, I will make something." He didn't want to waste money on restaurant food! Probably because she had a regular income she didn't think twice about wasting money on dumb things like that ... She looked up at him.
"I love you Craig." She said and rested her chin on her hands that were laced together and resting on her elbows on the desk. Craig stood up and leaned over the desk and kissed her on the nose.
"I love you too Mandie. See you later." He said and then left, feeling self-conscious that people would notice the bulge by his zipper.
He made it out without any stares and headed back to the apartment. He paced around the place a while picking up tiny little messes left by Mandie and then sat down at the table with a beer and a cookbook trying to decide what to make for dinner. He loved to cook. His Mom had gone to great pains to teach him to cook when he was young. She never bothered with Brent, he was too busy trying to get his ass kicked! He was a feisty little kid and Craig sometimes just watched him and laughed. Brent spent a lot of time being punished in his room. Craig spent a lot of time with Mom in the kitchen. He found a recipe for Chicken Picatta and pulled out a few chicken breasts from the freezer. He gathered up the other ingredients, noticing he needed a fresh lemon, and then waited while the chicken thawed. He went and got the little burgundy velvet box out of his coat pocket and opened it up to look at what was inside. He smiled. He was going to ask Mandie to marry him. Now the next hurdle was where and when to ask her. He wanted it to be just the right time and the right place. He found a hiding place for the box, slipped on his coat and took a walk up to the local convenience store for a lemon.
