Something New

She was standing there without any clothes. Ian had no idea how long she had been there glaring at him as he sat on the sofa and read his magazine. Ordinarily, he would be pleasantly surprised to find his wife, Chrissy, standing naked in front of him. But the look on her face told him that he was in big trouble.

“Ian Stewart!” she said angrily, “I swear you could walk right past a burning building and not even notice it!”

He stared at her dumbfounded. His mind kicked into high gear trying to figure out what he had done to upset her so. Okay, she's naked and yelling about burning buildings... what the hell?! No! Not burning buildings! She's mad because you don't notice things. That's it! She changed something and you didn't notice. What is it? Her hair? No, she wouldn't be naked for her hair. Her eyes were flashing icy blue fire. He was on the verge of panic. A Tattoo! That's it, she got a new tattoo! But where? She already has, like... twenty. Oh, God! Look! Look!

“There!” he said, pointing at her thigh. “The rose! You did something to the rose!” Her look softened just a little and he knew he was right. He breathed a sigh of relief. For as long as he had known her she had had a tattoo of a long stemmed, red rose on her thigh. He now noticed that another rose had been added next to it. The stems were intertwined.

“Well, it's about time!” she said. “I had it done the week we got married and I've been waiting for you to notice.”

“Are they supposed to symbolize us?” he asked, getting up to come over and admire it. She nodded. “Chrissy! You did something... romantic!”

She looked a little disconcerted. “No I didn't. It's not romantic, it's... symbolic.”

“Yes it is! It's romantic!” he grinned. “I love it!”

She shrugged. “Okay, maybe a little romantic. Ian, you really drive me nuts sometimes! Why didn't you notice? Don't you look at me?”

“I'm sorry, Bittersweet. How can I make it up to you?”

“Well, for starters, we can go into the bedroom and you can commit all of my tattoos to memory by giving me a thorough examination,” she said with an impish grin.

“For starters?”

“Yup. Don't think you're getting out of this easily.” She started pushing him toward the bedroom. “You have a lot of making up to do.”

Author's Note

I wrote this one strictly for 'The First line is Mine, the Rest is Yours' contest.

Reviews

[C. Rose]

I still like the nickname bittersweet. This was a fun glimpse at their relationship. His internal monologue was amusing and I like that this prompt led to wittiness not crudity. I hadn't realized there was more of these characters to read outside of Intrigue.

Congratulations. You have bested me in "Short Short Stories, None longer than about 400 words". How cool would it be if it became common courtesy to review those who placed higher than you in a contest? If you have time, check out Escape!.

[Craig2591]

Thank you. Chrissy and Ian are my favorite characters to write about. I have more books featuring them.

You'll have to send me a link to 'Escape!', I can't find it.

[C. Rose]

Mmm. Sorry I don't remember who the author of Escape! was. I've lost energy for that complex idea. Perhaps staightforward reciprocation and random reviews are best.

[Craig2591]

I found it. I thought it was yours, that's what confused me.

[Jessica]

Interesting. I can almost feel his panic with him!

[Craig2591]

Thank you very much.

[SpeedyHobbit Armstrong]

Good pacing! It's funny that Chrissy is among those people who get mad when they change something and others don't notice. I'm more like the Ians of the world myself

[Craig2591]

Chrissy can be rather unpredictable. She keeps Ian on his toes. Thank you very much.

[Different Wings]

Relatable, kinky and fast-paced. Nice read. A contest-winner for sure.

[Craig2591]

Thank you very much.

[Samuel Dickens]

Poor Ian's in big trouble, but I'm not sure he deserves it. You done good, Craig. Very well-written.

[Barbara Walker]

You describe the panic Ian feels to a T! Okay, this happened to you, didn't it? LOL A great story. As always, a pleasure to read. Kudos!

[Craig2591]

Thanks for the review.

[Tina Kline]

A fun and entertaining chapter. I can feel Ian's panic as he tries to figure out what she wants him to notice.

[Tabitha t]

lol so like guys and girls. Girls think the men should notice something so every moment they dont the anger builds and builds. The man is sitting there like " omg what did i do....or not do?!" cute story and I hope you do well on the contest!

[Craig2591]

Thanks

[Bella Luna]

Haha this was great. I love Ian's panic attack as he's trying to figure out what she wants him to notice. :)

[Craig2591]

Thank you.

[Rhemaebel]

Aww.. :) The two roses are symbolic and not romantic. Chrissy Chrissy Chrissy