chapter 115

word count: 1535

hank bowers had awoken the morning following his encounter with stephanie feeling as if he could conquer the world..  there was a lilt in his step and an air of confidence about him that he had thought had long ago abandoned him.. amazing the difference a day could make!!

ordinarily his morning ritual would have dictated that he stumble to the kitchen, set the coffee to brewing, head back to the bathroom to take care of his intrinsic bodily functions,, return to the kitchen, procure himself the first of his required three cups of coffee, and then settle into his lazy boy to drink his coffee and watch the morning news before he could even think seriously about the day ahead..

but none of that held true today.. 

he woke up feeling rested and refreshed at precisely six am and despite the fact that he had only had four hours of sleep as opposed to the usual eight,, he had awakened feeling  invigorated and full of life,, even before he swilled down his usual three cups of coffee.. 

instead of spending the morning after a late night cursing the fact that he had not had what he deemed his required amount of sleep,, he woke up plotting and planning  just when it would be appropriate for him to give stephanie a call.. would this morning be too soon?? maybe this afternoon.. but would that make him seem to eager?? would she think he was desperate?? or would it serve to prove to her that he had taken a genuine liking to her and sincerely wanted to spend yet another evening in her company??

truth be told,, it had been so long since he had romanced a woman,, he approached it with the trepidation of a school boy,, exalting in the possibilities,, and yet scared to death of rejection.. 

he set the coffee to brewing and then made his way to the bathroom,, where instead of taking his morning constitutional,, he chose to gaze at himself in the mirror.. the face that stared back at him looked younger somehow.. the puffiness and dark circles that he had come to expect when he didn’t get his perfunctory eight hours of sleep were nowhere to be seen.. in fact had he seen himself on the street this particular morning,, he would have sworn there was a glow about him.. a sparkle in his eyes,, that he hadn’t seen since well before his beloved wife, patricia, had been diagnosed with cancer,, which seemed like forever and a day ago,, but had really only been just over three years.. 

the last two years he and patricia had spent together a gray cloud of mourning had taken over hanks usual ‘devil may care’ demeanor.. watching her waste away as she did,, being her sole source of care, trying to put on a brave face for both patricia  and lisa,, all the while knowing in his heart that the end was inevitable,, had taken its toll.. as a matter of fact,, until this morning,, he had thought that the happy go lucky hank he had once been, was long dead.. he would have sworn to the fact that he would never see this hank,, the old hank,, staring back at him from the bathroom mirror again.. 

despite the day old beard,, he recognized his old self peering back at him,, and it was with open arms,, and a genuine feeling of gratitude that he welcomed himself back into the realm of the living..

“you are one lucky guy,, hank bowers!” he admonished his reflection with a smile that came from somewhere deep inside himself.. 

“one lucky guy!!”

***

gil woke up wondering just how he was going to get his arm out from under chrissy’s (that was her name wasn’t it??) shoulders without waking her.. the unfamiliar digital clock that sat on the unfamiliar dresser in this unfamiliar room erased any doubt he might have had as to whether or not he had made it home last night.. 

6:45.. he had like an hour to get home,, shower, get dressed,, and head back out the door in order to show up at the precinct on time... 

‘fuck!’ he silently bemoaned his situation, as he tried to slip his arm ever so gently out from underneath his still sleeping bedfellow.. 

“hey you,” chrissy purred sleepily. “where do ya think you’re going?”

“i gotta go, baby.” gil answered in a tone of voice he hoped would lull her back to sleep.. he really didn’t feel like having a conversation with a woman that he couldn’t even be sure he remembered her name correctly, let alone what might or might not have transpired between them the night before.. 

“i need to be in the office at 8:00.. you just sleep.. i’ll call ya later..” he whispered as he sat on the edge of the bed,, trying to jump into his clothes as quickly as possible without her noticing his sense of urgency.. 

“what time is it?” chrissy asked,, as if she couldn’t just open her eyes and look for herself.. 

‘ugh!’ gil thought to himself. ‘she’s not gonna make this easy on me..’

“about 10 to 7.. i really gotta go,, i’m gonna be  late as it is.. i’ll call ya later and we’ll see what we can do about hooking up again real soon.”

chrissy bolted upright in the bed.. 

“hooking up??” she queried in a noticeably irritated tone. “is that what this was to you?? just a fucking hook up?”

“no . no , baby,, really,, i just gotta go.. my case load is overwhelming right now.. really,, i promise,, i’ll call ya later.” gil slipped into his shoes and tried to make it to the bedroom door before she had a chance to engage him in further argument.. 

“well fine then!!” chrissy shouted after him. “you just fucking go!! just get out!!and don’t even frickin’ bother calling me later, ‘cause i won’t answer!!”

with that she picked up the closest thing she could find, which just so happened to be half a left over beer from the night before,, and hurled it at him,, smashing it to smithereens against the hardwood frame of the door.. 

“stupid fucking asshole!” she reprimanded herself aloud,, “you know better than to ever trust a fucking cop!” 

gil made it safely out the door,, down the stairs, and into the parking lot before he realized he had no idea where he had parked the car.. 

“this is fricking ridicules!” he said to himself as his eyes scanned the parking lot looking for the white crown vic  which belonged to the department, and he had had no business driving as drunk as he apparently was last night.. 

“ah!” he heaved a visible sigh of relief as it finally came into view.. 

“just fricking get me out of here!” he said as he fell in behind the wheel, revved the engine and threw it in reverse.. 

once out of the apartment complex,, he grabbed his cell,, powered it up and checked his messages.. two missed calls from hank already this morning.. but no messages?? he hit the number 2,, hanks speed dial,, and was pleasantly surprised to hear an uncharacteristically  chipper,, “good morning!!” greet him when hank picked up..

“wow!! sounds like somebody got lucky!!” he chuckled into the phone..

“lucky yes,, by your standards, no.”

“so what’s that supposed to mean?” gil puzzled.

“i had the most extraordinary night spent in the company of a most amazing woman!! i tell you gil,, i feel like a new man.” hank  nearly sang into the phone.. 

“we talked, we drank, we talked some more,, we even went out for coffee after the bar closed!! i cannot even remember when i have had a more perfect evening!!”

“no nookie??” gil laughed back at him.

“no nookie!!” hank declared. “but that didn’t stop it from being a most memorable evening. how about you?? did you and that blonde number hit it off or what?”

“that my friend,, will have to remain unanswered until i am not driving!!” gil advised him as he successfully stifled a bewildering moan. 

“so what’s up?? you called twice..”

“well i could say i was just touching  base. but the truth of the matter is i just wanted to tell someone what an awesome night i had!! it was unbelievable how much stephanie and i had in common!! i mean, ugh, i don’t even know what i mean.. i just woke up feeling like a new man, gil! i tell you a new man!!”

“well fan-fucking-tastic!!” gil exclaimed.. not only because he was genuinely happy to hear hank had finally found someone,, but it seemed as though the rift between them that simone had created had at last become so much water under the bridge..

“well, i am just pulling into my place now,, i gotta run buddy,, but i’ll be dying to hear the rest of the story as soon as we hit the office..” gil said as he swung the crown vic into his waiting parking spot just outside his apartment door.. 

“oh,” gil interjected almost as an afterthought. “wadda ya here from buzz?”

“nothin’” hank replied a little uneasily. 

“mick said he called you!!”