Wednesday, August 18th 1999
I wake up as soon as the alarm clock goes off, a song pop song called "Genie in a Bottle" blasts at full volume. I quickly disable the alarm and turn my radio off. I find it funny that all these years bubblegum pop seems to still be a thing nowadays, even back when I was in school when bands like "The Archies" or "The Monkees" were dominating the airwaves.
I lay in bed for a minute, I didn't really get good sleep last night, waking up at about 1:00 in the morning and lying there wide awake for about 45 minutes, and then falling back asleep again. I rarely ever wake up in the middle of the night like I used to when I was married, so this was new to me.
"Y'know what, I'm not going to work today. I haven't took a vacation day in three years, hell maybe I can get the rest of this week off" I say, as I slowly grudge out of bed, I brush my teeth and take a leak, and walk out to the kitchen to call my boss and check with him first.
I pick up the phone and dial the number for my workplace, leaning on the wall next to my landline phone, I wait for about 10 seconds for the phone to pick up.
"Ben, is that you?" My boss says.
"Yeah (I say that with a little laugh at the end) it's been awhile since I've called" I say.
"No shit, last time you did you were still married" my boss says, laughing at the end of that sentence as if it was the funniest joke he's ever heard, he can really be a dick at times.
"Yeahh. But I'm requesting for some vacation days, like maybe all the way until, the twenty seventh" I say.
My boss goes quiet for a minute, I hear sounds of a TV in the background and his wife yelling at him about something.
"You're lucky you haven't took any off days since February of 1996" he says, I hear him flipping through some type of book.
"Paid vacation?" I ask him.
"You're really lucky you have so many years with this company, Mr. Warren" I hear him say, sounding like there's a smile on his face.
"Thank you sir, and don't worry, I'll still car-pool Tiffany all this week to work, don't you worry about that" I say.
"Have a nice vacation, Benjamin" he says, before he hangs up on me.
"Okay, now that's out of the way" I say, now dialing Tiffany's number, I look at the Kleenex still pinned on the wall near the phone, her ruby red lipstick really popping out.
"Hello" she says.
"Hey, I just wanted to tell you that I'm off work until the 27th. But I'll still drive you to work and everything for the rest of this week, so don't worry about that" I say into the phone.
"Oh, okay. Well, can you come over every night? I really wanna hang out more outside of work and you picking me up and dropping off" she says that with a little bit of a vocal fry at the end, and I'll admit, it's kinda sexy.
"I think I can get behind that, and also when do you think you'll be ready?" I say, meaning a double entendre with the first sentence.
"Give me about 15 minutes, see you then" she says, hanging up the phone. I put the phone back on it's hook.
I turn around, looking at my answering machine on the short table near my couch, I usually don't notice it, it being usually the last thing I see each day, but due to the fact I haven't really checked it in awhile, I start it up. I've had it for about seven years at this point, so I do have a history with it.
The first message is a robocall, something about applying for a timeshare in the Bahamas, I skip it, not even knowing where that one came from. The next one being a angry voicemail from a guy I sold a old Baseball bat to on eBay last week, him screaming and raving and cursing, saying "It broke as soon as I hit it against the brick wall beside my house" over and over again while ranting, this goes on for about 5 minutes or so, and I find it hilarious. And finally, I get to the last message.
"Hey, dad. It's me, Cindy. I hope you still remember me since mom took Brandon and I with her that day, so I thought I'd call and tell you something. Mom's letting me visit you for a day, I'm coming to Phoenix on August 18th, which is next Wednesday, I really do think about you sometimes dad, and I really hope you're okay. Mom gave me your number, since you and her exchanged numbers at one point again after the divorce. My flight is about 11:00 am when it lands I think. No reply needed. Love you dad" and then the machine ends.
I'm stopped dead in my tracks, hot tears just start flowing out of my eyes. I haven't heard my daughter's voice in ten years, let alone seen her. She sounds so mature and grown-up now, and it shocks me completely. I know she's sixteen now, but it doesn't feel like it.
I walk over to my kitchen and grab a paper towel and dry my eyes. I look at the time on the Microwave and it's currently 7:33.
"Well, this is going to be a day" I say, as I head back into my bedroom.
I put on a orange collared IZOD shirt, a shirt I remember buying way with my first paycheck with the company, as attempt to look cool and hip with the then modern style. The Alligator on it still looking crispy and as fresh as I did when I first bought it, I rarely wore the shirt over the years. I grab a pair of khakis and socks and my shoes in the closet, a pair of Fila shoes, they're about 10 years old. This is usually how I dress on my off days, so I'm really feeling different in a good way this morning.
After tying my shoes I walk near the door and grab my keys off the ring and head to my car.
"Oh crap, I forgot" I say, realizing my car isn't in the driveway, I parked it in the garage this time.
I walk inside the house again and make my way to the garage door, I open the door and head into the garage. I hit the garage door button near the door entering the house. I don't really park all that much inside the garage, due to the fact I just don't really think about it. My garage is pretty barren, there's not much besides a couple of old spare tires and a old 75 miles per hour sign I got for free from one of my high school friends who stole it back when they were changing out speed limits due to the whole oil crisis back in the early 70s.
I get in my car and put my keys into the ignition and turn and soon leave the garage.
I take the street way to Tiffany's apartment, just a average normal drive to me. I get to a stop light and I'm feeling a little adventurous so I switch it from my usual station since it's on commercials to the modern rock station, a song screaming "The Nookie" every second, and I change it back to my station.
"Jesus Christ, has rock really changed that much since the last time I listened to it?" I say, thinking about the bands "Van Halen" and "REO Speewagon" being popular when I last listened to rock.
The light turns green and it's about another 5 minutes until I reach Tiffany's apartment complex.
I see her standing on the sidewalk, her ruby red lips and her dress blouse that goes down to her upper arm, instead of starting on her shoulders. I park the car right next to her, and she gets in.
Tiffany gets in the front seat, closing the door and putting on her seat belt.
"Was I late this time?" I say, as I quickly pull off and head towards the highway, my tires making a small screeching sound as I pull off.
"Well, you weren't right on time either" she says.
I laugh at this remark as I turn on to the entryway and begin to start driving on the highway, punching the accelerator a little bit.
I drive a little bit faster than usual, feeling like a speed demon, the car is called a "Grand Prix" after all, it may not be a muscle car like my old Camaro but it does have more Horsepower than the average coupe.
"Holy hell, can you slow down?" She says.
"Alright alright, I'll slow up a bit" I say, letting my foot go a little loose off of the gas pedal.
The song that's currently playing on the radio ends, I actually don't know this one, but I think it's by The Kinks. The song "Live and Let Die" by Paul McCartney and Wings starts playing.
"Y'know, I remember this song was the theme song for this James Bond movie I took my ex-wife to see when we were dating" I say, I remember this about a minute or so into the song.
"That's nice, I guess" She says, I start to slow down and steer left, putting my blinkers on quickly afterwards.
I go through the exit and down to the first stop light, slowing down a little but the light turns green so I put my foot down a little more.
We make it to the office building pretty quick, all the lights being green.
I pull into the parking garage and the radio goes off as soon as I do, I drive up to the second floor and park.
"See you later tonight, babe" She says, leaning over and kissing me on the lips quickly. Her hazel eyes staring into mine as she does this, her lips feeling soft like as she places them onto mine.
"See you later" I say, I feel aroused by this. A thirty year old hot chick who's almost model levels of attractiveness is into me, this 40 something year old divorced guy, who lives alone and basically has no friends besides the ones he hangs with at work. I'll admit, I would get hit on my 40 something year old soccer moms at the local Target or Albertsons every now and then, and they didn't look too bad, alright levels of attractiveness Paula was better looking than them by a little more. So this is really new to me.
I take my foot off the brake and do a U turn and leave the building.
"Welp, what now? I guess I'll grab some breakfast" I think to myself, turning the radio off as I drive back to Scottsdale.
I go and eat breakfast at The Original Pancake House in front of the Motel 6, I haven't really eaten inside a restaurant in months, so it was new to me. I spent about a 2 hours in there, just eating pancakes and bacon and scrambled eggs with coffee and orange juice to my heart's content.
"That was a good meal" I say, when I walk out the door to my car. I haven't really had a proper breakfast like that in awhile, I usually eat cereal whenever I have time.
I walk over to my car, and get in, turning my engine on, and I look down on the clock on the radio, it's 10:02.
"Alright, I gotta go home and change" I say to myself, closing the door and beginning to shift gears as I put my seat belt on and leave the parking lot.
I get home fairly quickly, I shower and change my clothes and under clothes and all that, dressing in a In-N-Out Burger T-shirt I got about 13 years ago when I took my family on one of our monthly road trips to Los Angeles, and a pair of grey shorts and the same shoes I was wearing earlier.
I get to the airport, the drive being pretty fast, I turn into the arrivals section, the time being about 10:48 on my car clock, the radio on the pop station, the station playing a song called "I Want It That Way" by some boy band, from what I can tell.
I wait about 15 minutes, and then I see her walk out of those automatic doors, she's dressed in a No Doubt t-shirt, which I think is a band, and blue jeans and a pair of Adidas. Her face tending more towards her mother's traits, her red hair and dimples, but I'm pretty sure she's got some of my personality, right? It crumbles me on the inside, seeing my girl so grown up. She's got ear piercings and hot red painted nails, typical teenage girl stuff.
"Hey, dad" she says, as she enters the car door. Feeling the weight on her words.
I breakdown crying right then and there, and she pats my back, it's been ten years since I've seen any of my old family, let alone heard from them.
I try to maintain my composure, bawling for about several minutes, but I start to relax again and dry my eyes, I feel Cindy hugging me a little, a couple of tears running down her cheek too on my shirt.
"Well, you're here. Where's Brandon?" I say to her.
"He doesn't remember you all that much, but he says he loves you still" she says, I feel a twinge of sadness when she says this but I quickly realize he wasn't that old when Paula and I divorce.
I drive and she talks to me about everything, about what's Seattle is like, and how nostalgic it is to her seeing the desert landscape and Phoenix again, how her mom's doing, saying that her new husband Howard is really nice and really rich, he even bought all three of them cell phones, the boys she likes at school, talking about how she's in 11th grade this year, the vacation to Italy she took in July with her mom and brother and Howard. And her group of friends back in Seattle too.
We don't really spend too much time at my house, I offer to take her to go see a movie, and she says yes. She asked about the Kleenex with Tiffany's number on it next to the wall near my phone, and tell her it's just a friend from work, and she gives me a cheeky smile and says okay.
I take her to go see this movie, a chick flick, it's called "Runaway Bride" with Juila Roberts, it's a alright film, I thought it was okay and Cindy felt the same.
After that we just go around town, to the malls and buy clothes and all that stuff. Eventually it's around seven pm and I have to drive her back to the airport. Tiffany calls me and tells me she got a ride home from a co-worker later that night
"Alright fine, I'll come over" I say, finishing the call with her, I grab my tracksuit jacket off of the wall near the front door and head out into the night.
Giantess World
Chapter End Notes:
What do you guys think so far, was the story portion alright or could it need a little work? Feel free to tell me, but anyways shrinking starts next chapter.