See You In the Morning, Part 1

Here's a story for you involving the paranormal I think you might like. It will be a series within this series so you can read it on the go. It's called See You In The Morning.    

     The sound of rain pelting the glass of the bedroom windows can bring the sleeper to the edge of consciousness without actually awakening him.  It insinuates itself into the dream.  In this case, David was dreaming that he was in the intensive care unit of Tulane University Hospital standing next to the bed of his comatose lover, Charles.  The rhythm of the rain became the beeping of the various monitors and life support machines.

    “Charles Dupres, if you leave me now―” he was whispering in his sleep as he became aware of the rain.  Instead of rousing him to check open windows, Charles only snuggled into his bed more deeply and pulled the covers tighter under his chin.  As he reached across the bed for Charles there was the crash of french doors either blowing open in the wind or slamming shut.  He didn’t know which, but the sound combined with Charles’ absence to shock David awake with a shout, “Charles!”  as he sat straight up.

    “I’m right here, Babe.  The storm blew the doors open and I got up to close them.  It’s alright, but I had thought these doors were locked.  Anyway, it’s time to get up and get moving.  We still have a lot of packing to do.”

     David only laid back down and murmured, “Ten more minutes.  Come back to bed,” and started to dose off.

    “There’s no time for that now, David.  Don’t you know it’s already noon?” Charles asked impatiently.

    “It can’t be that late.  It’s still dark outside, so come back to bed,” David pleaded.                                Listen, Sleeping Beauty, do you hear that?  It’s rain.  There’s a storm outside.  That’s why it’s dark.  Now c’mon. You slept through breakfast and nearly through brunch.  It’s your turn to cook and I’m starving,” Charles complained.

     ‘You’re always hungry, Charles.  Come back to bed.  If I’m Sleeping Beauty then you must be the Prince who kisses me awake,” David counters.  Then in a voice that a parent would use to entice a child or a puppy into doing something he added, “ I have something for you to nibble on right here and it won’t make you fat.”

     “Only because I’m not a girl,” Charles retorted.  “Otherwise, you’d use that thing to keep me barefoot, chained to a stove and getting bigger by the day!  Now get up and get dressed so we can pack up the rest of the things going to the new house.  This was all your idea, so get moving.  Pronto!”

     “You’re not coming back to bed, are you?” David pouted.

     “Wow, David!  We should get you on Jeopardy!  You’d win a bloody fortune!  No, I’m not coming to bed and you’re not staying in it,” Charles reiterated as he pulled all the covers completely off the bed  and tossed them into a laundry basket.

     “Oh, alright,” David moaned as he turned over onto his back revealing his reason for wanting Charles to lay with him for a while.  “You see what you’re missing, don’t you?”

     “Yeah, yeah, yeah, one note Johnny.  I see it.  Take a cold shower and the swelling will go down and you’ll be right as rain.  We don’t have time for that.  We have things to do, and you have somewhere to go.”

     “Alright!  I’m up; I’m up!  You’re missing out on the chance of a lifetime.”

     “Work first, play later.  Isn’t that what you always told me?”

     “At times like this, Charles Dupres, I could really hate you.  Can you at least make some coffee?”

     “You know I can’t to that, David.”

     “Why not?”

     “Because you gave Ella the day off, remember?”

     “What does that have to do with you making coffee?”

     “Ella is how I’ve always done it.  If you want coffee, you’ll have to make a phone call somewhere that has someone to bring us some.”

     “Oh, you want coffee now, too?” David asked with an edge of feigned irritation.

     “Well, if you’re going to ask someone to bring some over, we might as well make it worth the trip, don’t you think?  But, if you want to have someone go to all the trouble of fetching a single cup of coffee, then I’ll be content to take a sip of yours.”

     David pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and started to walk out of the room.  When Charles asked him where he was going, David replied, “Well, one of us has to brew some coffee, so I guess that means I’m going to the kitchen.  Anything else, m’lord?” he asked with a flourish and a bow.

     Charles grinned and said, “I don’t suppose there might be some Eggs Benedict to be had, would there?”

     The look on David’s face told Charles to not hold his breath.  Coffee and maybe some toast was all the kitchen would provide this morning.  David made his way through boxes and rolls of bubble wrap, wardrobe cartons and piles of clothing and stuff and turned back to look at Charles when he reached the doorway.  “Since I’m playing Ella, why don’t you snap your fingers like Mary Poppins and make all this stuff disappear into their proper containers while I’m gone.

     “This is all yours, Dear Heart.  I’ll help of course, but you have to decide what to keep and what to get rid of.”

     “No, this can’t possibly be all mine!  You’re the fashionista in the house.”

     “Well, it all came out of your closet.”

     “Exactly which closet would that be, Lover Boy?”

     “The one right there,” Charles stated as he pointed to the walk-in closet in the bedroom they shared.

     “Honey, you moved me into the guest room closet years ago.  These things are all yours.”

     “David, let’s not get petty, dividing things up as mine or yours.  What’s the difference?  We wear the same size and we both wore it all,” Charles explained and then paused to survey the mess.  “Why did you ever allow me to buy all this?”

     David’s jaw dropped in utter amazement.  “Let you?” he inquired.  “Honey, I love you, but no one says no to you.  Besides, Camille, you were simply going to die if you didn’t have it.  So it made my life easier―”

     Charles cut him off saying, “You make me sound like some spoiled little monster!”

     David smiled and put his arm across his boyfriend’s shoulders.  “I’m all about making you happy, Honey.  I never called you a little monster.”

     Charles’ hands flew to his hips, “Oh, so you think I’m spoiled?  After all this time, truth raises its ugly―”

     “My God, you are the drama queen!  The only way I have ever said no to you was with a gasp of astonishment.”

     “What’s that suppose to mean?” Charles pressed.

     “Okay, for example: you come home from work in a foul mood.  I ask how was your day?  You respond by saying something like, ‘You’ll never believe what that bitch had me do today!’  And then you proceed to relive it.  I respond by gasping ‘No!’”

     Charles laughs and replies, “The Emmy for Best Ham Actor goes to―”

     David jumped in exclaiming, “Emmy?  I was better than anything on television.  I want a Tony!”

     Charles condescendingly agrees, “Of course you were better than television, Darling, until we got deluxe cable!”

     David picked up a Waterford vase and holding it like an award statuette, “In that case, I’d like to thank all my adoring fans.  All of the little people out there―”

     “Oh, my God, Norma Desmond lives!” Charles declares.     
     “Be quiet, you!  It’s my award and I get to give my speech.  Now where was I?  Oh, yes.  I was about to thank all of you out there in television-land  sitting in the dark, though I don’t know why you wouldn't turn on a light.  That’s hard on your eyes, people.  I’d especially like to thank my partner, Charles, without whom I wouldn't be sorting through all this shit!”

     “There you go again, Ricky Ricardo, blaming me for every little thing that went a little off plan.  Do you really blame me for―?”

     “Shut up about that!” David snapped.  “Just shut up about that.  I don’t blame you for everything and certainly not about that!” He paused to look at his lover’s hurt facial expression.  “I’m sorry, my love.  I shouldn't have snapped at you like that.  I’m sorry if you thought I held you responsible for everything, for anything at all.  Certainly, you have suffered enough without me adding to it.”

     “Thank you, David.  I will rest in peace tonight,” Charles joked as he spotted a really garish dress and held it up to Charles.  “You surely don’t expect me to believe this is part of my trousseau, do you?”

     “What is it?  Let me see what you’re talking about.”  David examined the garment in question and a broad smile rolled across his face.  “Yes, that is yours.  It’s what you were wearing the night we met.  I’m hurt you don’t remember it.”

      “David, we already handed out all the awards.”  

      “Don’t you remember, really?  That’s your Jeanette MacDonald drag.  Our first Halloween party together?  We met at Boops’ costume party!  I was dressed like Nelson Eddy as a Royal Canadian Mountie.  That rig has got to be here somewhere.”

     David disappears into the walk-in closet and emerges with the costume, offering it to Charles for inspection.  “Remember now?  Boops introduced us that night.”