ICanBeAnyone

Lottery Winner

Aliyah curled more into him letting her arm rest across his hips as he talked. "I'm kind of glad you are the one who has to deal with that mess not me." She said with a small laugh. "It sounds about as entertaining as watching paint dry."

She gave his knee a little squeeze as he mentioned feeling a little guilty about taking her away from what had really become her home. "Don't feel too bad. When I told everyone why I was leaving, they pretty much told me that if I hadn't agreed to go they would have hog tied me and sent me anyway" She told him with a little laugh.

"I'm glad at least ONE of us is organized about this traveling thing. I am used to just grabbing what I can and walking out the door." She admitted. "We don't have to worry about packing up any of the furniture at my place. None of it is worth storing. We can set it out by the dumpster and it will have a new home in minutes." She said. "I don't have a whole lot left to do. A few boxes to run to Goodwill, and the sewing machines to store, other than that there isn't a whole lot I plan to keep."

She turned her head to kiss his cheek as he mentioned that he liked waking up next to her. "I liked it too, and if it isn't a problem Your bed is certainly more comfortable than mine." She said with a smile.

She slid from the booth taking Gary up on the offer to drop her off at home. Before she slid from the limo she kissed Duncan again softly. "I will probably have my head phones in while cleaning. Just use your key to let yourself in when you get home."

Lottery Winner

This morning was hard for Aliyah. Not waking up next to Duncan, or anything at home. What was hard was taking a minute before opening to talk to her manager. She had decided that today was the day she was going to give notice. It was definately a change for her. One she wasn't sure how she felt about.

She and her manager talked for a while, and it was decided that since the new schedule hadn't been put up yet, that she would just work the next few days. It was a very emotional day as she informed her coworkers that she would be leaving.

She was very glad to see Duncan when he and Gary arrived shortly after opening. She gave them coffee, finished up with a few other tables and headed back to take their order. She laughed and playfully tapped Duncan on the shoulder with a menu as he placed his order. He was certainly in a good mood. The morning went well, and passed fairly quickly. As she got off work there were lots of hugs, and even some tears from coworkers who wouldn't be working with her again before she left.

She made her way back to Duncan's table untying her apron with one hand and wiping away a few tears with the other. "Never realized how much I was going to miss this place." She said. "I threatened to quit at least once a week, but now that I am..." She sighed softly.

She slid in the booth next to Duncan and rested her hand lightly on his knee resting her head on his shoulder for a minute. "Whatcha got going on today?" She asked. "I've got some more packing and sorting to do, so I'll be home all day."

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She turned her attention to him pleasantly surprised he took an interest in her hobby. "Not so much on the needlework, some of the more elaborate stitches are difficult for me, but then I haven't had a lot of time to practice. Cross stitch for me is easy, since Aida cloth is marked with equal spaces." She grinned. "I do create a lot of my own patterns on paper when necessary because well as you can see I do much more modern pieces than are really commercially available."

She shifted on the couch a little so she could look at him easier when they talked. "I have never been good at latch hook, it takes too much patience for me. But the cool thing is that any squared pattern be it cross stitch, latch hook, plastic canvas, or even the graphgan crochet patterns can all be interchangeable. I had thought about doing more pattern work and opening an online shop for them, there seems to be a decent market for it, but doing it by hand is a giant pain."

He mentioned moving or keeping her place for a while and shrugged. "Eh, nothing really keeping me here. It's really just a place to crash. I don't keep much in the the way of stuff. I had too many times as a kid where we packed up and left with nothing more than the clothes I was wearing. The only thing I really care about keeping these days are my machines." She gestured to a small desk on the other side of the room which held two vintage sewing machines, one was an electric Singer 99, and the other absolutely identical 99 that had been converted to a handcrank machine.

She laughed at his enthusiasum for pizza. "I have never been one for big chains, If you ask me Pizza hut has a very chemical aftertaste. I don't know why, but it does. And Papa John's? Pizza should never be that sweet. I had a friend who worked there and told me they use a five pound bag of sugar in their sauce."

Aliyah was very pleased with his new found skills. She just kissed him as he mentioned using YouTube to look things up. She was touched by his effort in making sure things were just as enjoyable for her as they were for him. Tonight did bring about one thing different for Aliyah. She actually asked him to stay. She confessed that she had never spent the entire night with someone before, but asked him to stay. She wanted to get comfortable with the idea, and doing it here, at her place seemed to be the most likely way to make that happen.

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The next morning Aliyah slid from the bed whispering quietly to the still sleeping Duncan. "Just getting ready for work. Gotta give my notice today." She said before heading to the shower. She got dressed and ready for work, slipping her feet into her shoes she grabbed her keys and worked off one of the two keys to her apartment. She walked quietly back into the bedroom and leaned over kissing Duncan softly. "I have to go to work Hon," She set the key on the nightstand with a soft clink. "I am leaving you a key. Make yourself at home. I'll see you in a few hours for breakfast."

With one final kiss she headed out the door to start her day.

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She laughed as he teased her about buring his face against her. She wouldn't mind at all. It would certainly be fun. She shook her head and laughed as he mentioned this morning.

"I was a little surprised this morning myself, but I like it." She told him. She was saved from more conversation by a knock on the door. She answered it and got the pizza. She closed the door behind her and brought the pizza back to the living room. She set them on the coffee table before heading to the small window that separated the living room from the kitchen and grabbed a roll of paper towels to use as napkins.

She sat down tearing off a few paper towels and handing them to him before reaching for her box of pizza. She didn't have much to say she was starving, and was enjoying the quiet time with him.

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Aliyah was glad he agreed to pizza. She had had a lot of fun going out with Duncan, but she needed food she could identify. She was a very basic girl, and the last two days were more than enough in the way of culinary adventure for a little while.

She called and ordered his supreme with the fried mushrooms and zuccini, and a plain pepperoni easy sauce for her. She read off her debit card number and disconnected when they assured her they would be there in 35-45 minutes.

She raised an eyebrow as Duncan said horror films could be mood killers. He obviously hadn't seen the right ones. "You obviously haven't watched the right scary movies, or not with the right person." She said with a grin. "Having a girl practically climb in your lap and hiding her face in your neck or chest during the scary parts..." She teased but flipped past that section to Romantic comedies. That would probably be the best choice.

She laughed as he looked at her and finally caught on that she had implied that they might not see the whole movie. She reached up and kissed his lips softly. "finally caught that did you?" She asked. "Although, I am not only after sex, no matter how good it was." It had occured to her that with his inexperience he had missed out on a lot, things like making out like a couple of teenagers.

She pressed play on "The Wedding Planner." It was cheesy, but it was a decent movie. Before too long though she had pulled him close to her again kissing his neck softly. "You know, I am enjoying spending time with you."

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She laughed and playfully tapped his arm as he teased about her great curves. She smiled as he talked about Gary. "Yeah he seems like a great guy, you got lucky with him thats for sure."

She stretched a little snuggling closer to Duncan, ignoring his comments about sleeping with anyone else. She didn't quite know what they were, as far as their relationship, so if he did or didn't at this point was his choice. She knew better than to tell him that thought.

"You said you didn't watch much in the way of TV or Movies as a kid either." She remembered. "hmmm that leaves a LOT in the way of choices." She flicked down to the Family Movies selection. "There are a lot of good movies that were awesome when I was a kid, or of course Drama, action, horror, and the always good Chick Flicks. I like them all actually. I am not a picky movie watcher. Mostly I put something on in the background to listen to while I do something else." She said with a shrug curling up tighter against him.

"Pizza cool for dinner tonight?" She asked leaning forward to grab a take out menu and pass it along to him. "There is something to be said for Pizza and a movie. Kind of a classic night in."

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She grinned as he mentioned getting her hooked up with ebooks, that was exactly her plan too. It would come in handy for long car rides and even longer flights. "That's not a half bad plan" she agreed.

She moved behind him as he sat down and lightly rested her hands on his shoulders while he talked. "Sounds like you had a busy day." She told him kissing the top of his head before moving away. She listened to him talk. It seemed that he had something on his mind, something he didn't want to come right out and say.

She nodded a little as he talked about different places to go on dates. He was so sweet, and trying very hard. He was obviously wanting to find things they would both enjoy. "Those both sound like great ideas hon." She said as she sat next to him reaching for the remote to turn on Netflix so they could chose a movie.

She was about to start flipping through the selections when he got around to talking about what was really bothering him. She nodded knowingly. She could see how that could be concerning to him. "I can understand how that could be concerning for you." She said quietly. "Would it make you feel better to know I am on the pill and have been for years?" She asked turning a little so she could look at him. "If that is not your only concern, I would be glad to dig up the paperwork on my last STD screen. I tested negative for everything, and have not slept with anyone other than you since that was done." She said matter of factly.

"I'm sorry Duncan." She said. "I should have told you all of this BEFORE we were intimate." She took his hand in hers and smiled a little. "I should have realized that you would have had concerns." She said. "If there is anything else that is bothing you, please don't be worried about talking to me about it."

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Aliyah smiled and she shrugged. "I figured dinner in at my place would be a good plan. Dress casual, it's just us." She said. "We will probably order in." She told him. "Just a quiet night in if that works for you." She said.

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Aliyah hurried home after work. She showered again and dressed in another pair of leggings and over sized t-shirt. She packed up her laundry and headed to the laundry area in the apartment complex. Sure she could have had an apartment with a stackable washer and dryer, but it was cheaper not to. She tossed her clothes in several washers and headed back to her apartment. She called the cable company and upgraded her internet package to make streaming easier. Strangely enough it was actually cheaper this way. She logged onto to Amazon and used PRIME NOW, which promised delivery in two hours. Thanks to Duncans very generous tipping in the past she bought a low end TV and streaming device.

She usually just downloaded and watched movies on her tablet, but having company would probably make that harder. Having some time before she had to switch the laundry she started cleaning like a mad woman. Everything got a good scrub down, not that her place needed it, but it made her feel better.

She dashed down to the laundry room and tossed her stuff into the dryers and headed back to her apartment. She glanced down at her watch and realized she still had time. She should probably start packing and tossing. She sighed and started at her book shelf. She had taken the time to grab a few extra boxes from work. She had gotten one box packed, and had started a list of books to repurchase in ebook form, then ran down to get her laundry.

She had just finished folding and putting laundry away when she heard him knock on the door. She made a face, she had lost track of time and not changed. She hopped over a partially packed box, as a matter of fact, the reused box from the new TV and dashed toward the door. She opened the door and gave him a grin. "Come in!" She said brightly moving aside so he could enter. She closed the door and gave him a soft kiss. Excuse the mess. I WAS sorting and packing but completely lost track of time." She told him.

She moved away and over to the boxes and quickly scribbled "DONATE" on the outside and stacked them against the wall. "Did you have a good day?" She asked as she gestured for him to take a seat.

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Aliyah grinned and raised en eyebrow at his order this morning. She bit her lip and listened to Gary's order as well. She turned back to Duncan and smiled. "Good to see someone is perkier this morning than you were yesterday. I would hate to think that I failed to perform better than the hot tub and massage chair in helping you get good sleep." She teased before heading back to put in their order.

Aliyah went back to work still chuckling to herself over the change in Duncan this morning. It seemed last night had been good for both of them. She stacked their plates down her arms and carried them carefully back to their table. She set them down and glanced over the table to make sure they had everything they needed. She started to walk away, but stopped and turned a little to look at Duncan. "Dinner tonight?" She asked.

Her tone was casual, not like formally asking for a date, but more like the relaxed tone of someone asking a friend or long term partner. It was a tone that said they were pretty sure it was ok, but I am running it by you to make sure you didn't make other plans while we were apart for a few hours.

She had a few things she HAD to do today. She needed to do some laundry, and run to the grocery store, she was at the 'What can I make with green beens and cake mix' stage of needing groceries. Not that she cooked a lot, but sometimes it was nice to not have to think too hard when making something to eat.