Late..., Part 6

"Late...Part 6"
(`Early-'  Part 3) by love_2_smoke@hotmail.com

[Just a short part...it'll all be over soon...(hopefully it hasn't been too 
difficult...)]

   Jenny took time to have a cigarette when she woke up at 3 am.  And 6.  Upon 
waking up for good that morning, she lit up the cigar she'd left on her 
nightstand.  It was time to go outside, at least after work, and enter the 
world as a smoker again.
   As she walked around her house, drinking in the smoke from the cigar like a 
glass of water to a person dying of thirst, it began to occur to Jenny that 
it was going to be tough to smoke in a lot of places.
   When she was a kid, smoking had been allowed in grocery stores and shopping 
malls, but now that sort of thing was not only disallowed, it was also 
against the law.  Hmmm.
   Taking note of the fact that her throat was extremely raw from the marathon 
smoking day previous, Jenny grabbed a bag of her V*ck's citrus Vitamin C 
drops and popped one into her mouth around the cigar.  It made for a funny 
taste but didn't stop Jenny's work on the cigar.  The rest of the drops went 
into her purse.  Along with that went three packs of Tall 120s.
   Still puffing away on the cigar, Jenny sat down on the couch and looked 
lovingly at it.  She narrowed her field of vision and watched as the tip of 
it glowed as she took a drag.  Slowly, she let the smoke trickle out of her 
nostrils, watching it rise.  She smiled.  As silly as it seemed, she wished 
she had the 6 years of not smoking back, just to have the memories of the 
smoking.
   Jenny thought that maybe she'd be doing a lot more catalog shopping.  That 
way she wouldn't have to be in the malls as often, where she couldn't smoke. 
  Then there was the issue of groceries.  QFC, the local chain of grocery 
stores, offered a delivery service.  It would make bargain hunting a bit 
more difficult, but at least she would be able to continue smoking.
   The phone rang and drew Jenny out of her blissful planning.  She took a 
long draw on the cigar and picked up.

   "Hello?," Jenny said, her voice taking on a hollow quality as she spoke 
through the smoke she was exhaling.
   "Jenny?"
   "Yes?"
   "This is Lynette.  I was just calling to see if you were okay."
   "Mmm-hmm," Jenny said, taking another drag off of the cigar at the same 
time.
   "You gonna' be in on Monday?"
   "Oh, yeah.  I just had some things to take care of yesterday."
   "I hope everything went well."
   "It did.  I'm going to need to talk to you about some things though."
   "Oh really? What?"
   "Well, I'm not sure it's a discuss on the phone sort of thing."
   "You aren't quitting are you?"
   (`No, I just started again-' Jenny thought to herself.)
   Laughing softly, Jenny tapped off the ash at the end of the cigar.
   "No, I'm not quitting.  Hell no."
   "Good.  Before you came along we didn't have much in the way of 
technology."
   "Don't worry about it.  I'm staying.  However, I do have something I 
need-to make that a `for sure' thing."
   "Shoot."
   "I need an office I can smoke in."
   "Huh?"
   "I need an office where I can smoke."
   "I, uh, um-"
   "I know.  It's not something we can discuss over the phone really."
   "I guess you were right. But you don't, er didn't-"
   "Smoke?"
   "Yes.  At least as far as I knew."
   "I quit about 6 years ago.  And just started again."
   "I won't ask why but we can give you breaks for that, you know."
   "I know, but that isn't good enough."
   "Why?"
   "It's hard to explain," Jenny took a final large drag off of the cigar, put 
it out, and lit up a cigarette.
   "Well, we'll talk on Monday."
   "Fair enough.  I'll be dialed in here in about 10 minutes."
   "Okay, um, take care."
   "You too.  Talk to you Monday.
   "Kay'."

   Jenny worked a full day, smoking throughout.  It was very nearly her own 
paradise.  Of all the things she could have done, she was glad she went the 
way she did.
   When she cut out for the day at 5:30, she immediately went to her room and 
started getting ready for a night out.  She placed two cigarettes in the 
double holder and lit up.
   The hard part would be calling Mike, although it really didn't seem like 
that big of a deal after all.

   Looking at herself in the mirror, holder with two cigarettes dangling 
awkwardly yet expertly from her lips, grinning, Jenny tousled her hair.  If 
she couldn't get a hold of Mike, she was still going out.  It was time to 
celebrate.
   A few minutes later, after the preparations were done, she emerged from her 
bathroom, smoke from the double-holder drawing a line in the air behind her.
   She dug Mike's card out of her purse and dialed his number.  A glance at 
the clock indicated it was 7pm.  Again, the machine.  Whatever lack of 
confidence she'd been suffering from before was no longer a problem.  She 
took a deep drag, waited for the beep, and spoke on the exhale.
   "Mike, this is Jenny.  I'm calling to see if you wouldn't mind getting 
together with me sometime soon.  I've got some news which I think you'll be 
rather pleased to hear.  Anyway, call me back when you can.  I'll be out 
tonight for a bit of celebration so you won't be able to reach me at my home 
number.  You can page me though.  If you call my work number on the card I 
gave you, and follow the instructions it'll beep me.  For what it's worth, I 
know this seems kind of weird, me calling out of the blue like this but I 
really think you'll get a kick out of what I have to tell you.  Take care."
   She double-pumped the double-holder and hung up the phone.
   Time to go out.

More to come-

Previous part | Next part