It has been too long. Too long since I've basked in the laughter of someone special. Too long since I brought her flowers just to hear her tell me how sweet I am and kiss me on my cheek. Too long since I've held her hand, looked into her crystal blue eyes and asked if she has time.

"Sure, hon. Come inside," she says to me as she takes my flowers and disappears back into her apartment.

"You look wonderful, Dixie," I tell her in all earnestness. Even with her hair all wild and that cigarette hanging limply from her mouth, wearing nothing save a pair of bunny slippers and an oversized tee-shirt that says "Material Girl" in glittery script, she is beautiful.

"Thanks. I was sleeping. I don't usually work this early," she responds with such a gleam in her eye that conveys what only true love can.

"I appreciate it, as always," I tell her as I drape my jacket easily over the large padded chair that sits next to the sofa, the only two pieces of furniture in the room. I see the flowers have been placed with care into the seat of the chair. Dixie has perched herself on the white canvas upholstered sofa. She's resting her head on a green throw pillow and her little white rabbit house slippers are teasing one another at the end of her crossed legs on the other end of the divan. She reaches down blindly next to the couch and feels for an astray. She finds it quickly. It's full but she'll use it anyway. It's always full. Several of the butts spill out onto the carpet as she drags the tray to a more convenient location. Her every movement is like that of a ballerina. Or, no! Of a swan! So graceful! So deliberate!

"You just gonna stand there, hon?" she asks, raising her left arm from over her eyes just enough to see me. I can't see her eyes though. They are still shielded in the shadow of the crook of her arm.

"For a bit, yes. I don't think I want to sit just yet," I tell her. Her apartment is warm and, even though it's only seven in the morning, full of light. There aren't any window hangings. No blinds, no curtains.

"Suit yourself. It's your dime," she says, tapping the ashes from her cigarette roughly near the tray on the floor beneath her. She looks down at her legs a moment and then feels her hand along her thighs, inside and out. "I should shave," she says. "Look, if we're not gonna do this pretty soon, I'm gonna take a shower and shave my legs." She pauses a moment. "You wanna help?" she adds with a bit of a smile. Got to love her.

"No, I think I'll just wait out here. I don't want to see the wizard behind the curtains, even if I know he's there."

"Man you're a damn fool sometimes," she says, extinguishing the remains of her cigarette and rising from the sofa. Standing there now, she reaches her hands down between her legs, underneath her long shirt, and feels about once more. "I don't blame you, I guess." And she disappears into the one other door in the room.

I decide to brew a pot of coffee for her. She seems like she could use it. I head towards the opposite wall from where she disappeared and into the kitchenette. Dixie's apartment is small. If there weren't any walls, you could walk from one end to the other in about eight steps. But at least she has her own place. A lot of the girls have to have roommates just so they can get by. Dixie is strong though. Independent.

I remove the old coffee filter from her Mr. Coffee. Its old grinds have grown mold on top. Yes, she needs some fresh coffee. I hear her turn the water on in shower.

"Come on, baby," she calls out from the other room. "Let's do it in here. In the shower. I'll give you another go for free when we get out. I feel like something a little different today."

"I'm making coffee!" I shout back to her.

She appears at the doorway, completely nude. "Coffee? I ain't got no coffee for you to make-"

"You do. I found some in the freezer just now," I interrupt.

"Oh." She's surprised. "I forgot about that. Well, shit. Go ahead and make the coffee then. But I'm telling you, you happened to catch me on a day when I actually feel like enjoying a fuck, and not just given one. Ya know what I'm sayin'?" She's very direct. God bless Dixie.

"I know what you're saying," I reply with a nod. "How's about you shave first, I'll start the coffee, and then I'll join you."

"Sounds good!" she says with a smile and disappears back into the room.

She reappears in a few seconds.

"Listen, sugar. I know you like to pretend I'm some perfect girlfriend you got, and that I'm all beautiful and shit, but you a real nice boy. I bet you can get yo' self a proper little flower that'll fuck you good and let you make coffee for her."

"I know, Dixie. I know. But I like what we got here right now, okay? Now, get your black ass in there and shave while I start the coffee. Then I'm gonna come give you a little cream and sugar."