The night before Lance had set a wake up call for nine and immediately regretted it the moment the phone began screeching. Disoriented, he grabbed for the phone and grumbled a thank you to the desk clerk. He tried to order breakfast and quickly learned that Days Inn didn�t have room service, only continental breakfasts� served in the lounge.
Probably with runny eggs, he thought distastefully.
He thanked the desk clerk and hung up. He glanced over at Marie and saw that she was still asleep. Quietly he got dressed and left, off in search for breakfast. When he returned later with a newspaper tucked under his arm, a Dunkin Donuts bag in one hand, and a cardboard holder with two steaming cups of coffee in the other, she was still sound asleep.
He opened the curtains a little bit, enough where he could read the newspaper and not disturb Marie, and took a sip of his coffee. The paper revealed that they were on the outskirts of the Pennsylvania and New York border. If he clocked it right, they�d make it to Cleveland by lunchtime, depending on traffic and how much Marie slept.
He took a bite out of his donut and looked over his shoulder at her.
She was curled up on her side in the middle of the bed, one hand curled under her chin with the other tucked under the pillow. She had kicked the blankets off to the side in the middle of the night to reveal Spongebob Squarepants jammies, which had bunched up under her knees from moving so much. Her hair was curly and wild, sticking up all over the place and fanned over the pillow.
Lance finally turned the chair so that he wasn�t straining his neck and watched more intently. She�d slept most of the drive the day before, exhausted from not having fallen asleep that night due to overexcitement, and he�d had a lot of time to observe her.
Her nose wrinkled in the cutest way whenever it itched and she�d rub at it until it was gone. Her mouth was always open, if only a tiny bit, but remarkably she didn�t drool. She mumbled a lot, babbling on about the dumbest things, which always made him smile. She snored, but not the big obnoxious ones that usually accompanied Joey and Chris, but little snuffles here and there, just small inhales of breath, really.
Marie shifted until she was on her back and stretched, groaning as her body slowly began to wake up. She held the full body stretch for a moment before letting herself fall back against the bed with a satisfied sigh. She rolled onto her side and opened her eyes to see Lance staring at her, grinning.
�G�mornin�,� she mumbled.
�Hey there,� he answered softly, �sleep well?�
�Yeah, I slept great. You?�
�Pretty good, surprisingly.�
�Not bad for us common folk, huh?� she joked. Lance frowned and looked away.
Marie swung her legs over the bed and put her glasses on. She stood up and stretched again, eyes closing as her hands reached for the ceiling. She walked over to the table and sat cross-legged in the other chair.
Lance pushed the bag across the table and she hastily grabbed for it. She pulled out a cinnamon twist donut and hummed in delight. She took a healthy bite and closed her eyes, groaning. �God, I love you.�
Lance laughed. �You only love me because I feed you.�
�Can�t forget that sparkling personality,� she mumbled around a mouthful.
�And my charming good looks,� he added, grinning cheekily.
�Nah, that�s still a work in progress.� Lance rolled his eyes and went back to reading the paper until she asked, �What time is it?�
Lance lifted his wrist. �About ten-thirty.�
�Shit!� she exclaimed. She quickly stood up and went to her bag, pulling clothes out. �Why didn�t you tell me?�
�You didn�t ask,� he replied cheekily. Marie narrowed her eyes and he chuckled. �Don�t worry about it, hon. We�re in no hurry to get there. Take your time�
She waved her hand in dismissal and disappeared, the slam of the bathroom door echoing throughout the room. Lance shook his head, smiling, and began to get his stuff together.
Marie confused him. No matter how long they�d talked to each other she still confused him, and it wasn�t because women confused men. Her personality, the confidence that she exuded, everything about her confused the hell out of him and yet intrigued him all at the same time.
She was unlike any girl he�d ever met. Most girls of her size were insecure; scared to be who they were for fear of rejection. Others were too brash, on guard and too unapproachable. They were always one extreme or the other, but not Marie. She fit into that small percentage that embraced who they were and had no reservations about who they had to be because the world told them otherwise.
He was shaken from his thoughts when Marie came bursting out of the bathroom, full of energy and ready to go. In a matter of minutes she had her stuff together and was standing next to the door, arms crossed and tapping her foot impatiently.
�Well, come on, Mr. Superstar, get your ass in gear.�
Lance smirked to himself and wiggled his rear end when he bent over to zip up his duffle bag. Marie tilted her head to the side and thought, damn. He stood up and looked over his shoulder, grinning evilly. �Y�know, it�s not nice to stare.�
Marie flushed and replied, �You should really charge admission to see that. That�s like the eighth wonder of the world.�
Lance shook his head and grabbed his stuff. They double-checked to make sure they didn�t forget anything before leaving. Lance loaded their things into the car while Marie turned in the key. When she returned to the car Lance was sitting behind the wheel, ready to go.
She walked up to the driver�s side and tapped on the window. He rolled the window down and grinned. �I�m sorry, but I don�t pick up hitch hikers.�
Marie rolled her eyes. �Let me drive.�
�But I wanna drive,� replied Lance, slightly pouting.
�You drove yesterday. Besides, it�s my car. Let me drive,� demanded Marie.
Lance shook his head petulantly and rolled the window back up. Marie�s mouth fell open and she knocked on the window. Lance looked at her innocently and she mouthed, �Open the window.� He shook his head. She made a frustrated noise and smacked her open palm on the window. �Lance, roll down the damn window.�
The window cracked just an inch and he said, �I told you, I don�t pick up hitch hikers.�
�Lance, get out of the car.�
�No.�
�Lance!�
�Marie!� he mimicked. She growled and he chuckled. �Just get in the car. I�ll let you drive tomorrow.�
She let out a frustrated huff of breath and walked over to the other side of the car. She yanked open the door and flopped down into the seat, closing the door with a slam. Lance pulled out of the parking lot and she hooked her seatbelt, sitting back in the seat with her arms crossed.
�You�re such an ass,� she grumbled.
�Well, I guess that makes me the eighth wonder of the world then, don�t it?� he replied, looking over and grinning cheekily. Marie made a face and he laughed heartily.