Human Alarm Clock

Once I have been at the office beyond about the 15 hour mark, another 5 - 15 minutes to get home is really no big deal. I don't race out the office door (when I get up to walk, it is slowly; let's face it, I'm tired) or curse if my cab hits a red light (it is just an extra minute I have to think of how amazing my bed will feel). No matter what, I have missed my quality sleep time. I will be tired the next day. I am just grateful to be leaving at all.

Last night however, when 4 AM rolled around and the end of the night was finally formalizing as an eventual reality, with every extra minute it took for me to get out the door, I sensed fate's strenthening conviction to spite me.

Resolved to the fact that we would not actually spend the evening together, I had promised to wake Edward at 5AM and I had my heart set on doing it with kisses rather a call.

So I was short with word processing as I dropped off a job for them to work on while I was home and I nearly jogged out the front doors of my building onto Lexington Avenue. Standing in the middle of the avenue, and waving frantically for a cab, an empty on duty taxi wooshed right by me - the only free cab in sight. I could hear the first rumblings of fate's victory laugh.

I muttered about the driver's stupidity and crossed the street, as if maybe being just that much farther from the office would help. (After being awake for 22 hours, this seems logical.) Perhaps in fact it did help, as a cab suddenly appeared, swooping from the eastern side of the street over to the western side to meet me.

Fate, this time, was a blessed friend. The lights on Lexington Avenue were green for the entire 20 block trip downtown. I entered the cab at 4:49 and arrived on my doorstep at 4:51. I was in the apartment by 4:54 - time enough to take out my contacts, put Edward's dishes in the sink and throw on my pajamas. Just as the clock reached 5 AM, I lay down beside Edward and kissed him softly on the cheek. I didn't have the heart to tell him just yet that it was time to get up.