The weather had gone from maddeningly hot to severe storms in less than an hour.
It was no doubt summer now, Alice thought as she poured her third glass of Merlot. The electricity had gone out just moments before, but Cliff had been well-prepared with candles and flashlights. He was actually from the south, he knew the seasons whereas Alice, being from Northern California, knew rain, and then drizzling. Thunder was completely foreign to her, and lightning was rare up there.
"Feeling cozy yet?" Cliff asked dryly, crossing the living room to close the blinds of their sliding doors.
"Don't shut them. I like to watch." She took a deep swallow of the warm, bitter wine. Her blood felt warmed and her mind swam comfortably. It was custom for Alice to start drinking after one of their arguments.
Cliff left the blinds open, returning to the kitchen to light more candles stoically. Alice wasn't used to a man like this; Cliff was a very hardened man emotionally, but passionate. All her life Alice had been handed everything by every man. She was unquestionably a lovely creature: honeyed hair, evergreen eyes, and she was young. Only twenty years, while most of the men that preferred her were in their thirties, even late thirties. Cliff was only twenty-nine, maybe the youngest she'd been with since she was seventeen, and he'd been a challenge.