STORMY WEATHER

By Bridgid

DIRECT CONTINUATION OF "FORTY DAYS AND FORTY NIGHTS"

Steve burst out in a bubble of laughter which made her brow knit in puzzlement. It wasn't until she turned around to see that her makeshift shelter had imploded into itself that she realized what was so funny to him.

"Great. If I built a birdhouse it would be condemned. Give me a hand with this would you?"

"Can't."

"What do you mean you can't?"

"I'm in the union. I can't cross the line when there are scabs on the job. You know the rules."

"Okay, fuck the rules. I'll fix supper if you build something."

Steve stood from the squat position he was in and scratched his head. "There has to be some kind of meat in it. Catch a fish and I'll build something." He wasn't about to tell her that there'd be only one bedroom. Okay, there'd only be one room period.

"I don't know how to catch a fish."

"Neither do I, so that makes us even. By the way, I don't know how to build a hut, either."

 
"We're gonna fucking die." She stamped her foot in the sand.

"For some reason I think you only get one death. I feel like we've been through that already."

Millie sighed then bit her lip. "I have the same feeling. Maybe we should call a truce for now. I have a gut feeling we're gonna be stuck with each other for a long time, Steveo."

"Eternity."

She walked toward him and handed him the sharp shell she'd been using to cut the fronds and vines. "I'm sure you'll find something better than this to use. I've broken a half dozen of them on bamboo poles." Millie kept on walking toward the surf; after all, it was a good place to start when it came to catching fish.

"Mil, wait up!" Steve ambled after her. He placed his hand on her shoulder to stop her. “Listen to me. I don’t know what happened to us but we were not shipwrecked here. I don’t remember being on a ship. I remember being in a building. A very tall building and there is something else. You’re not supposed to be here with me. You just got caught in the matrix.”

“Matrix? Steve, you’ve seen too many movies.”

“That’s not it at all and you know it. You were with me when something happened. We were, I dunno …bound somehow. This isn’t right. You’re not supposed to be here.”

“Believe me, pal; if I could leave I would in a New York minute.”

“That’s it! That’s where we came from. The Big Apple, New York City.”

“I can’t remember anything.” Millie buried her face in her hands. Finally the frustration came to a head and though she tried to hide it, she began to sob.

“Aw Mil, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize it would affect you like this.” Steve pulled her to him and held her close. “Please don’t cry. It’ll be okay. You’ll see.” As if he really knew.

“I’m not crying, you moron!” she yelped as she wiggled out of his arms. Millie moved away with her back to him. Damn right she was crying but she wasn’t about to let him know it. She didn’t have any idea what had happened to them and to top it all off she was sure her name wasn’t Millie. It was a stupid old name, something her grandmother would have had.

Steve felt bad for her. He knew for some reason he belonged here but she just didn’t fit into the equation. He watched her go to the water's edge before he turned around to try his hand at building a shelter. What the fuck would a city boy like him know about building a hut? The least he could do was give it a go, so he gathered everything up that Millie had and added a few additional items. He’d managed to find a few logs from fallen palm trees and he lined them up to make a type of foundation. He figured a little dry leaves and fronds would make a nice floor. It would keep them off the sand, anyway, so he made a floor before he figured out how to construct the wall.

Millie, in the meantime, aimed her frustration at the creatures in the surf. She’d managed to catch a couple of what she thought were fiddler crabs and figured they’d make a nice main course. It cost her a small cut on her left hand from one of the pissed-off creatures. She figured she’d eat that one.

“Poor bastard. Maybe after I steam you, you’ll wake up in some strange deserted place…like New York City.” She carried the crabs and a few mussels or something of the like back toward the fire Steve had started. The progress he was making on the hut was impressive. He sure did a hell of a lot better job than she had. He’d managed to lash some of the thicker bamboo together in a frame and then sided the hut with thick banana leaves. Maybe he wasn’t such a moron after all. The least she could do was to serve him a nice meal.

Steve kept looking her way as he worked because he was concerned about her but he continued with what he was doing. After the last frond was placed he stood back to admire his handiwork. He gave it a shake here and there to check the stability and felt secure it could pretty much withstand whatever Mother Nature had to offer. He glanced Millie’s way to see if she were watching but her complete and total attention was on whatever she had cooking. 

“Mil...” He called as he padded up to her. “You okay now?”

“I’m fine. Doing a lot better then these critters I caught. I think they’re just about done.”

“You caught them? That’s great. They smell good, too.” He squatted down on the opposite side of the fire. “I finished the hut. What do you think?”

“Looks like you did alright, Steve.” She wasn’t looking at the hut. Her eyes were directly on him. “I’m sorry I called you a moron. I was just a little upset.”  

“I know … it's okay. Look, we’re making progress here. At least we have a place to sleep.”

“...And we have food. Here, try this.” Using a leaf as a hot pad, she broke off one of the bigger claws and handed it to him. Steve took it, bobbled it and used a rock to crack it open. The first piece he pulled from the shell was offered to her. She took the morsel, savored it even.

“It’s really good. Try this.” Lifting one of the open mussel shells, she scooped the sweet meat out using a smaller shell as a spoon. Mille offered the bit to Steve.

“Mmm, it’s wonderful.” He watched her as he chewed and swallowed the bit. “Mil, why don’t you like me?”

“Who said I don’t like you?”

“You did, more or less. You’ve hardly been sociable to me.”

"I guess you're right. I think we all handle confusion differently and, Steve, I'm so confused about all of this. I may be able to make the best of it but it doesn't mean I'm going to accept it."

They talked on as they ate and Steve gradually moved around the fire until he was sitting next to her. Well, maybe she moved his way a bit, as well. It wasn't long before nature took its course and they were acting like two healthy red-blooded adults.

"Are you ready to see what I've built?" he asked, every bit expecting to get turned down.

To his surprise she shrugged a shoulder and uttered a simple "Okay." So they walked hand in hand to the little hut. Steve spread the banana leaf door open for her to look inside.

"Holy cow, Steveo,  I can't believe you built this! It looks comfy." She crawled in on her hands and knees and he found himself looking away before the rear view gave him another chubby. Damn, he felt like a schoolboy with no book to hide the evidence.

Once inside, Millie turned to sit on her bottom. "How'd you make this so soft, Steve?"

"It was simple, really. I just piled up the sand and covered it with a layer of dried vegetation. Then I added some of the biggest, thickest leaves I could find. I sure hope there's nothing in them to make either of us itchy." He eased his way in and sat beside her.

"Well, what could we use for blankets?" she asked with a cock of her brow.

He gave her an innocent look but his mind was down in the gutter when he replied "Each other."

Millie looked into his eyes for a long moment. Once again she noted the blue green color visible even in the dim light. His long lashes seemed almost unreal but her eyes were suddenly drawn to his bow shaped mouth. His lips were slightly parted and she could feel an energy coming from him. A type of energy she hadn't felt from anyone in a long time. It was reminiscent of a backseat encounter she had when she was just sixteen. Hold on, did she remember something? Not that it registered to her because before she knew it she was kissing those cupid's bow lips of his. The fever that followed was hardly gradual. With a clash of teeth they were wound around each other. Lips pressed, thighs touched, hip bones bruised and hands explored as they rolled around together gasping and groping. It wasn't until she felt the flop of his need strike her lower belly that she realized there'd be no stopping.

"Aw, what the fuck!" Millie growled as she flipped the lucky man onto his back. Pinning his arms, she straddled his waist and teased his chest with her breasts as she slid down to pluck his Adam's apple.

"Oh yeah, Oh yeah!" Steve repeated. The moment he felt her reach between them to guide his swollen cock inside of her he let out an amusing little yelp. It blended so perfectly with the one she emitted ...they harmonized.

She let go of his arms and both of his hands seized her breasts at once. Molding and kneading and ...needing. Millie grasped on to the supports on either side of the hut as she ground down on him. The photosynthetic room rumbled, the earth began to quake and bits of daylight filtered in as Steve bucked her off to finish the job in a proper manor. His left shoulder bumped a pole and leaves fell upon them as he flattened her into the sand. She rolled him over and he rolled her back until the big O made every muscle in his body lock up tighter than a drum. She shuddered beneath him and let out a scream that brought the house down better then Freddy Mercury ever did on his best day and within moments they lay welded together, spent right down to their last dime.

As Steve began to recover he was well aware of the visible sunset in the west. The hut he'd built was leveled to the ground like a mobile home after an F-5 tornado, but it sure was worth it.

"Baby, baby, baby. I thought Mother Nature didn't stand a chance against our hut but you can't fool the old broad can you?" He growled as he kissed her sweaty neck.

"I think I'm going to give you a nickname ,Steveo. Hurricane Steve. Uh huh." Millie smiled as she basked in the afterglow. "You can blow me down anytime ...just take it easy on the roof will you. I don't think Allstate covers acts of fornication."

"Admit it. You were in good hands."

"Okay, I'll admit it, you win. I sure hope it doesn't rain tonight." She professed as a big-ass drop landed right between her eyes. "Tell me that was a seagull and I'll rest easy."

"It can't be rain. I can see the sunset," Steve stated just as a rumble of thunder came from the billowing clouds in the east. He reached for her hand and pulled her up as another drop fell, then another. Shuttling her toward the edge of the vegetation, another clap of thunder came and brought with it a gust of rain-soaked wind. Lightning flashed as the pair began to run for cover. Steve leaped over a broad-leafed bush but his altitude lacked and the merciless vegetation thwacked against his nads to send him tumbling into a growing puddle of sand and mud. The poor girl went with him, ass over tit. She got up fast and reached down to him.

"Get up!

He lay there in the fetal position, his agonizing groans swallowed by the thunder. Millie wrapped her arms around his waist and struggled to lift him to his feet. He managed to limp along as she guided them further into the thicket. Rain was teeming and wind was whipping as they passed by the lagoon. Just on the other side a rise of rocks showed promise to provide them with a modicum of shelter. The recovering Steve slipped under the overhang first, pulling her back as far as he could. They barely got past the line where the rain couldn't reach them, but still the wind showed no mercy as they huddled together. Neither could shout loudly enough to be heard above the roar of the storm and so they spent a sleepless night in the crevice. The storm broke slowly as the night waned and the pair emerged with the first shards of sunrise.

"That sucked," Millie rasped as she looked around at the damage the storm had done. It wasn't as bad, though, as it had sounded. A few trees had sacrificed their leaves but other than that the only thing she noticed was Steve, all covered with mud.

"Ha! You look like you've been wallowing in gravy!" She giggled as she pointed at him.  

He peered at her through his mire mask and began to laugh himself. "I hope it’s good for your complexion. You'd pay a fortune for it at a spa."

"Eugh! I've got to wash this off. I suppose we should check to see what's left at our camp."

He nodded and took her hand. Slowly they walked back toward the beach, making sure to take the extra steps to avoid the offending bush that had given Steve's ego a thrashing. As they emerged onto the beach they could see no sign of their hut or fire pit but there was something else...debris and plenty of it. Millie let go of Steve's hand to run toward one of the larger objects. It was a steamer trunk, for sure, and by the time he reached her she had it open. She was wide- eyed as she shoveled out the contents, pots, pans, clothes and the likes, but the one thing that made her squeal with glee was a king-sized acrylic blanket. It had a label that said "The Martha Stewart Collection" on it and luckily it was a deep green in color. It would match their natural decor perfectly.

"Hoh boy, somebody up there likes us!" she chirped as she slapped his muddy hand away from a pair of white trousers she'd pulled out. "I'd kill for a hairbrush and a bottle of sun screen if it’s not asking too much."

"Your wish is my command." Steve replied. He'd fished her wish out of a zippered bag from inside of the trunk. One bottle of Coppertone and a Goody hairbrush, perfect. "I wouldn't mind having a razor." ...and sure enough he found one, of the straight variety, but better than nothing.

"Where do you think this came from?"

"I dunno," he shrugged. "I think it’s someone's hope chest. Maybe the storm wrecked a ship?"

"If that's the case there may be survivors. You see any footprints or anything like that?"

"No, but I see some crates down the beach a bit."

She shielded her eyes from the morning sun with a hand to her brow. "Maybe there's some stuff in them that we could use to build. Or maybe there's a canned ham. Let's go check them out." She reached for his hand to pull him along but the resistance set her back on her heels.

"I say we do some mud wrestling first," he growled as he pulled her down in his arms. "Priorities, you know?"

Birds chirped and bees buzzed in paradise today. Too bad there wasn’t a nearby Rite Aid drugstore with a selection of Trojans. We all know what happens when the salmon swim upstream. Some of them actually make it.

TO BE CONTINUED...

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