{"id":2416,"date":"2025-11-01T08:46:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-01T08:46:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/self-editing.com\/?p=2416"},"modified":"2025-11-01T08:46:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-01T08:46:07","slug":"forty-seconds-tops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/self-editing.com\/?p=2416","title":{"rendered":"Forty Seconds, Tops."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Forty Seconds, Tops<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Five minutes was all she\u2019d give him, Jenny thought, glancing at her wristwatch on the steering wheel.  She was driving her beloved jeep wrangler, stomping on the clutch and using all her strength on the well-worn gear shift as a flock of pink and grey galahs swooped close to her windscreen with the roar of the jeep approaching them.  Amy had been a great friend to her in the past, but what had she done for her lately?  Jenny cringed, changing gears, the old engine cranking, thinking of her recent Facebook posts, her dear \u2018friend\u2019 Amy hadn\u2019t responded to.  Jenny knew she\u2019d more than likely seen them and read them.  But for some reason … what was it?  Spite?  Sheer rudeness?  She\u2019d chosen to ignore them, as if she didn\u2019t exist. And now, on another stinking hot day in the jeep with no air con, the driver\u2019s zipped plastic window folded next to her sweaty knees, Amy expected a favour <\/em>from her.  As far as Jenny was concerned, If Amy expected their \u2018friendship\u2019 to continue, she should be the one doing her <\/em>a favour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She pulled her jeep up in front of the address of Amy\u2019s new boyfriend\u2019s house, glancing again at her watch, deciding it would take her less than a minute to give the man the details of her upcoming barbeque.  Forty seconds, tops.  After that, she\u2019d be off as quick as a bride\u2019s nightie.  She had about a million things to organise back home in preparation for the event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSup?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Except, he opened the door, and Jenny was speechless looking into the blue wells of his eyes.  They reminded her of the blue ocean she imagined immersing herself into on this hot sweaty day.  Eyes set into a tanned face of surrounding stubble, and the bare muscles on his body slick with sweat.  Why is he looking at me?<\/em>  Had he spoken?  Jenny couldn\u2019t remember.  But his eyebrows were raised above those turquoise eyes like he expected something from her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI… er..\u201d  Jenny coughed at the sound of her own voice.  Where had it gone?  And why was she standing on this stud of a man\u2019s doorstep?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh… right.\u201d The man shook his head, his bare body above his shorts slackening.  Jenny thought the barefooted long-haired stud of a man smiling at her through white teeth was probably never agitated.  \u201cYou must be the woman holding the barbeque, right?\u201d  Amy told me to expect you.\u201d The man stood back, opening his door wide enough for her to pass through, and Jenny glanced back at her jeep, thinking of all the things she needed to organise back home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ah, to hell with it!!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

She walked past him into his house; a palpable fission of electricity she was sure she hadn\u2019t imagined passing between the two of them.  Her heart beating faster than it had in about a million years and something hotter than the sticky day stirring within her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a moment, she thought of her friend, Amy.  But that was before the man walked towards her with his blue eyes and all she could see, all she could think about, was him!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTake a seat.\u201d  He said, offering her a place on his leather couch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDon\u2019t mind if I do.\u201d  Jenny said, almost sliding into him as she slumped herself down onto the thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He turned to her then, so they were close, so close Jenny was scared to breathe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think I\u2019m in love…\u201d  He said, his voice sounding like a combination of something deep and velvety to Jenny\u2019s ears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In love?  With me?  Already?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith Amy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her throat was dry, but Jenny couldn\u2019t swallow.  Because if she swallowed, she might wretch.  And that meant she might vomit all over him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cListen, forget about the barbeque…\u201d  The man\u2019s blue eyes pierced into hers on the couch.  \u201cLet\u2019s talk about Amy.  I want to know everything.  <\/em>I want to know everything there is to know about Amy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

…<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Forty Seconds, Tops Five minutes was all she\u2019d give him, Jenny thought, glancing at her wristwatch on the steering wheel.  She was driving her beloved jeep wrangler, stomping on the clutch and using all her strength on the well-worn gear … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":563,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2416","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/self-editing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2416","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/self-editing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/self-editing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/self-editing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/563"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/self-editing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2416"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/self-editing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2416\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2417,"href":"https:\/\/self-editing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2416\/revisions\/2417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/self-editing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/self-editing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/self-editing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}