"Fortune, not God."

Annie say by the phone in the front sitting room anxiously as the clock struck six-thirty in the evening. She overestimated how much time she would need to prepare for the evening, doing her hair an her makeup nicely and neatly before picking out a dark floral dress and some green gloves and shoes to match. She wasn't sure why she told herself to doll up much more than she usually did, but she knew Eugene wouldn't care either way. They had gone out together many times before. It wasn't going to be any different this time.

She had decided against telling her parents or Miss Bernice that her and Eugene would be going out tonight. A night such as that wouldn't be a surprise to them. They knew Eugene. They would not have to worry about anything going wrong. Her thoughts were put on pause as the phone rang, startling her out of her trance.

"Taylor residence."

"Hey missy."

She smiled. "Should I start addressing you as Mrs. Phillips now, Mary?" Annie immediately began to chide her friend.

"Oh hush. We haven't even decided on a wedding date yet." She could hear Mary laugh on the other end of the line. "Are you doing anything after church tomorrow?"

"I don't plan on nothing, no. You got something in mind?" Annie shifted in the chair as she saw a pair of headlights come down her driveway.

"Nothing but wanting to spend a little more time with my best friend. I feel like you've been cooping yourself up lately."

Annie sighed. "I'm sorry. I've been so anxious waiting for Gene to come home that I wanted to be here when he did. But I would love to see you tomorrow night if at all possible."

"That would be absolutely perfect!" Mary grew excited on the other end of the line.

"Hey now, I'll call you tomorrow. Gene and I are going out for dinner tonight." Annie stumbled back to the phone as Eugene pulled up to the roundabout and circled around closest to the front porch. "Tell your fiancé I said hello, and screw him."

"Screw him?"

"He'll know what I'm talking about."

"See you tomorrow Annie."

"Bye Mary."

Annie hung up the phone just in time for Eugene to ring the doorbell. She adjusted her dress, pulled her gloves onto her hands further, grabbed her purse, then answered the door. Eugene looked up from his own white gloves, dressed in his marine dress blues, sans hat, which was sitting on the dashboard of his car. He smiled bashfully as Annie's eyes widened at the sight of his decorated blues and Corporal ranking.

"You're early, Gene." She took a step forward, letting the door close behind her.

"You're ready early." The corner of his lips perked up into a small smile.

"Nothing has changed there." Annie shrugged slightly.

Eugene offered up his forearm for her to take. "What do you say then?"

--

"Are you going to think about going to college now? I mean you must have all the time in the world at this point." Annie fidgeted with one of her bracelets.

"Are you?"

"South Alabama offered a two year program to become a registered nurse. I decided against internal medicine and decided on working with children. I work in the children's wing of the hospital now."

Eugene blinked, bewildered by the quick and detailed response. "Wow. Annie that's great! I mean, I'm proud of you. I really am."

Annie smiled warmly. "Thank you, Gene. What about yourself?"

Eugene closed his mouth and let his thoughts spin for a minute. From the moment he returned home, his mother had been begging him to start thinking about the future. If only she knew that much exhaustion so quick might actually kill him. "I don't know."

"Well there's a lot to do now around here. It's all gone nuts since the war ended. You'll have plenty to choose from when you do decide."

Eugene nodded, his thoughts trailing off again, zoning out of the conversation. He couldn't help that he didn't sleep well the night before. He had almost forgotten how to sleep in a bed.

"Gene? Gene!" Annie noticed her friend zoning out, his eyes somehow even get more sunken over the course of their conversation.

Eugene blinked and turned his focus back to Annie. "Sorry, sorry. Zoned out there for a second. How's Jefferson doing?"

"Old Boy is barely hanging in there. I'm not sure how much time he has." Annie chewed on her lip to distract herself from her impending shakiness.

Eugene nodded. "Thank you for taking care of Deacon on his last day. I didn't want to hear the news when my father told me but hearing that you were there makes me feel a lot better."

"I loved that dog as if he were my own too. He was peaceful when he passed, I can promise you that much." Annie smoothed her hair down. "I prayed every day for you and Sidney. It was the only thing keeping me sane after you left. But I knew you'd come. You'd both come."

"I think now it was some wickedly awful fortune that brought me home and not God's will. It's going to take me awhile to get even on speaking terms with him again." Eugene looked Annie dead in the eyes, silently asking her to not continue that part of the conversation. "Annie, I'm not sure what you want me to say to that. Cause I won't answer."

Annie sat dumbfounded by his response. While it wasn't personally directed at her, the sudden cynicism caught her off guard. She didn't know what to say to combat his reply. Usually she could, but Eugene's demeanor was starting to become intimidating to her nearly meek one. But a part of her couldn't blame him. She could only blame herself for provoking him.

—

The dinner hadn't gotten much better after Eugene snapped at Annie. They sat in silence most of the time. Neither of them could find something joyous or jovial to engage into conversation. Eugene has dropped her off with a short goodbye and a "see you later" before going home himself. The two friends knew each other better than the back of their hands, but they somehow knew nothing more than what upset them tonight.

Annie let silent tears fall as she removed the pins from her hair and took her makeup off. Her trembling hands and ragged breaths were usually unmatched for her skills of calming herself down, but tonight was a night for all of that to go down the drain.

If Eugene wasn't cursing himself at dinner, he was now. He couldn't find the will in himself to stay true to what he told the men of his company. He had done a piss poor job of talking things out with Annie that night, and the only thing he had achieved with her was make her suspicious of his own sanity. At least that was the way he felt. A second restless night of sleep wasn't going to let him forget that.

It's been 84 years ......
But I'm back! Please remember that I am a full time college student with some commitments that need to come first :)