Page 44 of Ra
“I need to get up! Move!”
Ra was sleeping with his face pressed into the soft skin of her belly, his arms circling under her thighs, then back up and around her hips. Instead of getting up, or even letting go, he just adjusted his grip, turned his head to face the other way and seemed to be trying to go back to sleep.
Her phone rang again from somewhere far enough away that she now realized she’d have to go search for it. “I have to get up! I have to go answer my phone!”
“I’m trying to sleep!” he finally said exasperatedly.
“I’m trying to get up!”
“Fine! But don’t think I’m going to cuddle you when you come back.” He let her go, getting up on his knees and crawling toward the other end of the sofa.
Azi hurried to get up and rush toward the sound of her phone, looking back as she stumbled over two empty wine bottles. “Ohhh!” she groaned, remembering why she felt so foggy headed and out of sorts. In the distance her phone began ringing again and she picked up the pace as she searched it out.
“What is that infernal noise?!” Ra yelled.
“It’s my boss, Dr. Weaver, calling!”
“How do you know it’s her? You could just be rushing for someone who is calling you by mistake! Waking us up for no reason at all.”
“It’s her song! I set it for her ring tone so I’d always know it’s her,” Azi called back. “I found it!” she shouted triumphantly as she located the phone in the sun room, right where she’d left it when Ra had carried her to the sofa. “Hello? Hello? Are you there?” she said anxiously into the phone.
“How nice of you to respond to my call,” Dr. Weaver said drolly.
“I’m so very sorry to keep you waiting. We… I, was up late and overslept. My apologies. How can I help you, Dr. Weaver?” Azi said.
“It is I who have helped you.”
“Oh?” Azi asked.
“The throne is here and waiting for you to supervise its packaging and transport to the university.”
“Oh! Oh, how wonderful! I’m so excited, and grateful, Dr. Weaver. Very, very grateful!”
“I assumed so. Can you be here in thirty minutes?”
“I can make it in about forty five minutes.”
“Make it in thirty five.”
“Yes, ma’am! I’ll do my best! Goodb…” the sound of the line disconnecting, had Azi stopping mid-word. “Alrighty, then.” She turned, expecting to sprint back through the kitchen and upstairs to throw some clothes on as quickly as she could and get to the Department of Antiquities clear across town. But instead, she found Ra hovering just behind her.
“Why do you bow to her definitively?”
“I don’t bow to her. I respect her.”
“You bow to her.”
“She’s in a position of power. Not only that, she’s very, very good at her job, and she’s the one who can decide whether or not I get approval for the digs I have scheduled. So, I’m sure to let her know how much I respect her position.”
“You bow to her,” he repeated.
“Fine. What does it hurt? If you ever meet her, you’ll bow, too. It’s just something about her that makes you want to duck your head and obey. Do you know what I mean?”
“No, not at all. Do we have time to eat first?”
“You can eat. I don’t have time.”
“If I have time, you have time.”
