Monday, back to work day. I’m sure Eddie and Mary Ann will pop up somewhere down the line, just not tonight at least. Judging by all the feedback I got from that piece of fiction, and considering the feedback I get from most everything I write, it’s amazing that I write at all. But that’s neither here nor there, for still I write. It’s end of the month and that means I need a new bus pass. I could’ve gotten it on Saturday but forgot all about it, so I figured on getting it today but a hundred other people had the same idea.

Bill and I watched the Sopranos last night which was excellent of course, then Entourage which was good and the De La Hoya/Mayweather documentary which has Bill and myself looking forward to the bout this weekend. Then it was off to bed for Bill with me watching some of the news before I eventually joined him in a horizontal state of slumber. It was a good sleep, no apocalyptic dreams as far as I could remember and I didn’t hit Bill in my sleep. It was totally win win.

Then it was shower, coffee, cereal, email and weather reports as well as checking out Otis Livingston to see what he’s wearing today. It’s uncanny we’re almost always in sync mostly, today though, not so much. He’s a good looking cat, that much I do know. Definite eye candy. I ran for the bus this morning, something I never do, but I know if I can get this certain bus it would be an easy ride. If not, then it’s a twenty minute wait and that changes everything. I finally finished the God Delusion by Richard Dawkins and I still highly recommend it. He also has a website, http://richarddawkins.net if you can’t make it to your library.

Work was good today and I learned a major secret about being an office manager. An office manager delegates and I delegated. I have so much to do and I’m not complaining about the amount of work, but one thing distracts me from another thing I’m working on, then someone asks me to do something else and this goes on all day and the original thing I was working at falls by the wayside and when I get back to it I have no idea what I was doing. So I delegated a project I’ve been working on and it’s almost finished, allowing me to continue on my merry way.

I subscribe to the New York Times online and I was invited to a seminar at the Institudo Cervantes, the Spanish Institute which happens to be across the street from my office. It was about acting with Raul Esparza, Lauren Velez, Daphne Rubin Vega and Moises Kaufman talking about being Latino actors and directing. I brought Bill along and ran into his parent’s neighbor Jane and her kid Janelle. That was nice, after the entertaining seminar we had wine in the courtyard on a beautiful spring evening.

We held hands on the bus ride home as Bill talked about his acting and looking forward to the two of us sitting in the audience at an awards show when Bill’s name gets called. He sits there speechless, not knowing what is going on as I mouth the words ‘Get up motherfucker! You won!’ For some reason I can easily see that happening, as well as my sister watching it on TV and screaming. We sat there laughing and holding hands and in the back of my mind, I think about how uneasy some people around us might be by the fact that we’re holding hands.

Nothing happened, but it is still a revolutionary act, holding hands.

Eddie and Mary Ann were not having a good power walk. It was an okay day but the two of them started off on the wrong foot. Mary Ann went out with her girlfriends last night and didn’t get home until late or rather, early in the morning. Eddie wasn’t upset at all about that, since he went out with his boys the night before. No, he was upset with the fact that Mary Ann was hungover as hell. He told her to eat before she went out but she didn’t pay him any mind and now she was paying the price.

Even though she gave up smoking a few months ago, she had a few cigarettes last night and he had no cause for complaints for he too did the same the night before. They walked around Pier A in Hoboken, attempting a fast pace but not achieving it since Mary Ann wasn’t operating on all cylinders. She was a bit stressed about the upcoming work week and she was also stressed about that guy from the bar who wanted to buy her a drink. She turned him down politely and thought that would be the end of that. But it wasn’t.

She didn’t want to tell Eddie but it looked like the guy who tried to buy her a drink was following the two of them. Maybe it was him, maybe it wasn’t. Things did get a bit blurry the night before and with all the joggers and runners and power walkers in Hoboken, could she really be sure that this guy was the same one? And the three guys they had just walked past, could it be that they were at the bar last night too? Have all the demons from hell, or from the bar come to haunt her on this melancholy Sunday?

Eddie was oblivious to it all as usual and Mary Ann was annoyed with the fact that Eddie wasn’t tuned into her hung over paranoia. But she could let him know. Maybe he would attribute it to her menstrual cycle. He really didn’t know when her time of the month came, just noted her discomfort. Then he usually took cover and made himself scarce, which according to Mary Ann was a good thing. Mary Ann was tired now and wanted a nap. If the sun was out and shining, she would suggest that she and Eddie just lay in the grass for a little while.

But everything was soggy from all the rain the past few days. It was a good idea for Mary Ann and Eddie just to keep power walking on, past her past. Eddie just wanted to get home and watch TV. He didn’t care much. He didn’t notice the jogger a dozen yards behind them, pacing himself to keep a safe distance from Mary Ann. Eddie asked her if she maybe wanted a pizza later on and she gave him a look that reminded him that she was on yet another diet.