Joyous - July 04, 2012

[note: this was written during a writing exercise: we had 20 minutes to write something inspired by the word "joyous". This is the result, unedited, exactly as it appeared when time ran out. You can read all of them in the waves category]]

Joyous - Squiddy Geiger - July 04, 2012

"Walter? Walter!" the voice interrupted his reverie.

"What?! Yeah, ok, I'm here. What?" he asked, startled and a bit confused.

"Where were you, just now?" Don asked. "You weren't paying attention, that's not like you."

Walter just shook his head, it wasn't time. When Don pressed, he finally answered. "I got some good news, but I can't share it yet, ok?" When Don insisted, he added, "I told you, you'll have to wait. If you don't, I'm telling Irene about Vegas."

Don blanched. "You wouldn't!" then quickly added. "You would. Ok, ok, it's obviously something big and something important, but come on, threatening me with Vegas isn't fair!"

"No, but Irene sure would like to know," Walter laughed.

"No she wouldn't, she'd rather not know I went gambling in Nevada when I was supposed to be at a conference in Dallas," Don countered. "And besides, it's probably something obvious, like you guys are expecting or something." He saw the look on Walter's face. "Oh man, Walt. That's it?" When Walter nodded, he whooped. "That's wonderful news! Fantastic! Congratulations!"

"Shh! Keep it down, dammit!" Walt held a finger up to his lips. "Be quiet! We have not told our parents yet, and Brenda hasn't told Irene yet, so you absolutely cannot tell anyone. Especially your wife. She wants to tell her parents and my parents first, then you and Irene."

"Ok, ok, I won't tell anyone." At Walter's look, he added, "not even Irene. I promise! That's all you had to say, you idjit. This did not merit Vegas threats! That's for something like, if you were having an affair and I found out and threatened to tell, you would counter with Vegas."

They heard footsteps on the stairs, and waited for Brenda to come to the basement where they'd been shooting pool. She came in, a small, pretty woman in her late thirties. "Hey gorgeous, how are ya?" Don asked. His smile was wide. This was not unusual for him, but there was something different.

"What are you grinning about Don?" she asked.

"Don't I always grin when you come in the room, my secret crush?" he laughed. It was a running gag, since high school, when the four of them had gone on their first double date in Grade 11.

She looked from Don to Walter and back, suspiciously. Don was grinning, too. "What on Earth is going on- oh, Walter! You told him! You stupid jerk!"

"I didn't!" he protested. "He guessed!"

"I did!" Don confessed. "Come on, Brenda, this is huge news. You've been waiting to have this news all these years, do you really think he'd be able to keep it a secret from me or from Irene?" He walked over to her and hugged her, kissing her cheek. "You should call Irene now. Your parents can wait, Irene can't."

Posted by Squiddy at July 4, 2012 08:45 PM | TrackBack