“Hey, Hannah.  Aren’t you excited about seeing Richard again?  We’ll be hanging out together, just like old times.  Don’t you think?  Hannah?”  Nick looked to the passenger seat of the car as he drove down the road.  He couldn’t help but smile as he saw his girlfriend, in all her grand, tall stature, sitting with the chair lay back, sleeping like a baby.  None of his words had even reached her.  She just held her arms against the pink blouse she’d put on and let her chest rise and fall with every sleepy breath she took.  “Oh, Hannah…” said Nick, slowly using his right hand to push a few strands of hair from her face.

If there was one thing to learn about Hannah, it was that she required a lot to be awake in the morning.  She wasn’t like most people, though.  If she’s tired and you throw coffee or sugar into her, it won’t have any effect.  If she’s nodding off and you give her a cup of coffee, her head will be on the table, out like a light, halfway through the cup.  No, Hannah required activity, conversation, something to keep her brain going, rather than something to keep her body going.

Getting that girl ready to go was no easy task for Nick.  She tried to go back to sleep at least a dozen times as they got themselves prepared.  She’d used the fact that her bags were already packed as justification that she could go back to sleep.  She’d even gone out of the way to try to skip breakfast and getting dressed because of it.  He kept her going by constantly debating the idea of sleeping with her.  He kept her talking, acting as if he would allow her to go back to sleep if she gave him a good enough reason.  Before she knew it, it was time to go. 

He had simply used her habit of getting involved in debates, especially when sleep was involved as a reward for winning said debate, against her.  She had gotten so absorbed into trying to justify that she needed to get more sleep that he’d tricked her into helping him get his own stuff ready.  This wasn’t exactly the first time he’d done it, either.  He did this to her at least once a week.  It was a great way to get her talking and to make her wake up for the day.  The only problem with it was that she would eventually catch onto it and it wouldn’t work anymore.

This trick had been picked up by Richard, actually.  Not long before she and Nick had started dating, he had many problems with getting the girl up in the morning.  He begged and begged and begged, but she would never budge an inch, just give him excuses.  Realizing that she’d been at Richard’s house before, he asked him what he thought he should do.  Richard, being the knowledgeable person he was, told him the trick of making her brain move while leading her along with the reward of being able to sleep.  He tried this the next day and, miraculously, it worked!

Nick had been doing this to the girl for years and, most of the time, it worked out very well.  There would be an occasion where the girl would sneak back to bed when he wasn’t looking, but a lot of the time, it worked well.  Assuming it wasn’t early morning like today, Hannah would normally be so awake that she wasn’t even thinking about going back to sleep when all was said and done.  This made Nick’s job in the morning a whole lot easier.  He could wake her up and get the morning chores done at the same time. 

Coming back to reality, Nick realized that this was one of those special occasions.  The girl had resisted him the entire morning, but he did manage to get everything done, even if he had to put the blouse on her body himself.  Honestly, he liked to be able to put clothes on Hannah.  She was lazy, but anytime where he would be able to come close and touch her, especially her bare skin, it was a blessing to him.  She was so much taller than him, and with that height, came a lot of body heat.  Nick had been born with a hereditary habit of being cold.  His body got chilly a lot, so the more he came near the heat she gave off, the better.

For this very reason, he kept his hand by Hannah’s body.  His arms were starting to get chilly in the car, with the vent and heater not turned up.  He wanted to turn them on, but he didn’t at the same time.  Hannah couldn’t take much heat, so he always made a habit of only turning it on when she asked for it.  She’d gotten sick when they had been working outside the previous summer.  It didn’t make any sense when it happened.  She’d been hydrating herself regularly, but after a few hours, her face had overheated and she rushed inside.  He found her in the bathroom, throwing up.  Ever since, he’d kept it cooler in the house and car than he did before, ensuring he would never have to see that sick look on her face again.

He ran his fingers down from the girl’s hair, and softly grazing her shoulder.  The soft material of the blouse was silky, and comforting.  Coming down further, his fingers brushed along her upper-arms once he’d reached the end of the 3-inch sleeve of the blouse.  Her soft, warm skin was lovely as his hand traveled down, past her elbow.  It finally stopped at the crossed hands on her chest.  Once reaching there, he let his hand rest on top of hers.  He could feel the warm heat from her body filling up his hand. 

Nick took a deep breath as he took in her body heat, even if it was just from her hand to his.  As they drove, he could see a forest ahead of them.  He smiled, knowing they were getting close to their destination.  He looked over for a second and leaned next to her ear.  “Don’t worry, darling.  We’re almost there.  Then, you can rest on a nice, comfy bed, until Richard and Cindy arrive.” 

He looked back and smiled.  She would, indeed, be getting a lot of sleep.  If there’s anything he knew, it was that Richard was often late to events, as was Cindy.  They were set to arrive at the cabin about an hour before they were supposed to, in the guess that Nick thought Hannah would need some extra sleep time.  It appears that his thinking was correct as he glanced over at that sleeping beauty of a woman next to him.