Page 150 of Old Habits

I turn on the light and I pause, noticing the small stack of clothing sitting out on the counter. One of my white blouses lays on top of a black skirt, along with a clean bra and underwear rolled up inside.

“Will?” I ask. “Did you lay out clothes for me?”

“Eighteen and a half minutes!”

Oh, my God.

My instincts flick toward the bathroom window, desperate to escape from whatever the hell Will has planned but it doesn’t last for more than a second. That’s life with Will for you. I can always trust that he has my best interests at heart — no matter how strange or unusual his methods may be.

Still a little unsettling, though…

I give up all of my second thoughts and hop into the shower for a quick rinse off before getting dressed. Naturally, I go over his fixed time limit but he doesn’t seem to mind me taking a few extra minutes to dry and fix my hair.

I step out into the hallway in my assigned clothes and Will stands there with a pair of my white sandals dangling from his fingers.

I stare into his wicked eyes. “Are you going to tell me what’s going on?” I ask.

He nods. “Of course.”

I wait for him to go on but he says nothing more. “And?”

He drops the sandals into my open hands. “Time to go.”

I grab his hand as he twists away. “Wait. Hold on.” He turns back and I pull him down for a kiss. “You look nice,” I tell him as I admire his clothes.

“So do you,” he says, glancing down to my bare ankles.

“Why do we look nice?” I ask.

He pecks my lips once and steps away. “Let’s go. Pip pip.”

“Pip pip?” I repeat as I lean over to slip my sandals on. “When did you become a tiny, English school boy?”

“Come on, Jovie.”

I follow him to the living room where he stands by the door with one hand on the knob. “I’m just saying, I’ve known you since infancy and I’m ninety-nine percent sure I’ve never heard you say pip pip.”

He sighs with loving impatience. “Jove…”

I stop in front of him. “What’s really going on?”

He lays a hand on my hip and drifts forward. “I’ll tell you soon,” he says as he leans over. His lips press harder into mine as he pulls me against him. I let my arms wrap loosely around his neck and he embraces me back for another kiss.

“Will?” I ask.

“Yes?”

“Why do I feel like there’s a nice man outside in a white lab coat ready to take me to my new, padded-walled home?”

He chuckles and twists the doorknob. “Because you’re crazy.”

“Oh, right.” I nod.

He moves to the side to let me walk out first. When I do, my eyes instantly rise to the sky as several white wisps catch my attention above our heads. There must be at least one hundred of them, all dangling from the tall tree branches in both directions up and down the street.

It’s toilet paper.

I laugh out loud. “Uh-oh. Someone Jovied First Street.”

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