Saving Rain

by Kelsey Kingsley

I opened my eyes with a jolt to see Harry standing before me, and I said, “Man, you’d make an awesome thief, you know that? Nobody would know you were coming.” He chuckled and offered a kind smile. “I think I’ll stick to my day job, thanks.” Then, he handed me what looked like a piece of paper. “Here. I came to give you this.” “What is it?” I asked skeptically before accepting the white bundle that turned out to be a folded-up paper towel. Inside was a slice of pizza. “Oh, man, Harry …” It was stupid, the way my eyes teared up at the sight of the melted mozzarella and sliced pepperoni. “We had pizza for dinner in the break room. So, I saved you a slice.” He nudged the toe of my beat-up canvas slip-on sneaker with the toe of his shiny shoe. “Happy birthday, Soldier.” “Don’t ever let anyone say you’re not my favorite,” I said before taking a big bite. It wasn’t the freshest, and it was a little cold, but, holy God, nothing had ever tasted better, and I groaned like I’d just received the best blowjob of my life. Fuck. I missed that too. Women. Blowjobs. Sex. The guys and I talked about it sometimes, remembering the people we’d had at one point or another, but most of the time, I preferred not to think about it at all. It didn’t suck so much that way. But right now, with the pizza and pepperoni mingling joyously in my mouth, I recalled other things I wouldn’t mind tasting, and it left an ache so dull in my chest.