A Trail of Crumbs

She woke up and discovered, to her dismay, that she had finally developed feelings for him. Gently reaching across the sheets, she brushed her fingers through his dark hair and chuckled at the meaningful predicament that had arisen from all the meaningless nights.

He shifted and opened his eyes halfway.

"Hi," she whispered, propping herself up, "did I wake you?"

"No," he murmured, "I was just thinking about something."

"Oooh...what's that?" She flopped down on the pillow and faced him.

"When I was a kid, my mom would always put this beautiful, porcelain cookie jar full of chocolate-chip cookies high up on a ledge where I couldn't get it." He waved his right hand at an invisible jar on the ceiling. "Then there would be this other equally beautiful porcelain jar on the counter, within my reach - only there were oatmeal cookies inside." He turned to face her. "I could always get the jar of oatmeal cookies, but that wasn't what I truly wanted." A small breath of disappointment escaped from his nostrils. In a small voice, he added, "I wanted the jar of chocolate chip."

She looked him in the eyes, only to discover he was looking past her. Although she felt a slight pang in the back of her throat, she mustered a smile. "Baby," she cooed, thinking about her predicament, "am I your cookie jar?"

His eyes returned to meet hers. Something ran across their dark brown pupils, but he smiled. "You're a beautiful cookie jar." Without another word, he tossed the sheets aside and walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

Her arm reached down and slowly pulled the covers over her naked shoulders. She had thought about having oatmeal for breakfast, but she didn't feel very hungry anymore.