Building Forts

Jake soon learned that his girlfriend was incapable of sitting at a desk and writing, like a normal person. He noticed this when he went to Brielle's apartment to surprise her for lunch and found her sitting in her bedroom, on a floor, under her bed comforter. Brielle had successfully constructed herself a fort.

"What are you doing?" Jake asked. Brielle jumped under the blanket.

"I'm working on my book," she said innocently, crawling out for under the blanket. He saw she was still in her pajamas, compete with a Winnie the Pooh tee shirt.

Jake knew she was working on the sequel to her successful first novel, and had been for the last few months. He had never watcher her write; Brielle hated anyone watching her read or write. Now he assumed this was why, no doubt she was in fact, writing her book in her little fort.

"And you're in a fort for what reason?" He asked,

"I'm really not sure, but ever since I was a little girl, I've written stories in a fort I would build in my room. I think I did it, and still do it, because it helps me get away and go into my own little world,"

"And you have never mentioned of this because…"

"I guess you just never asked," She said, giving him an isn't-it-obvious look.

"Oh yeah, I guess it never came up in conversation, 'Hey Brielle, by any chance do you write in a fort made out of bed sheets?'"

"Apparently,"

Jake walked into her fort and found it very roomy, including book space, a bottle of water, and her laptop (still running).

"How long did it take you to build this?"

"About thirty seconds," She told him. He just stared at her like she was crazy.

"What?" She asked, "I'm a professional fort-builder," Again Jake just stared at her.

"Actually I think I am more of pro- fort-builder," Jake said. He was the one with the engineering masers degree, not her.

"Ha, that, my friend, is where you are wrong. I am a professional writer, and with that I am also a pro procrastination and a pro fort builder. Because in the world of writing you are judged on your ability to procrastinate and build fort, it just so happens that I enjoy writing in my fort,"

"Pro procrastinator?" Jake asked.

"Yeah, it's why my apartment is always so clean, I use cleaning of a method of procrastination,"

"Honestly, how much do you procrastinate? Because you've already published a book and you've only been out of college for two years,"

"The only way I can think to describe it is, you know that episode of Sponge bob where he has to write the essay for boating school and he sits at his desk and starts witting? Then there is that big montage of epic writing, and when the camera pans out all that is written is the word "The" but it is incredibly fancy? That is what most of my days are like, but I get paid for it," She was, of coarse, she did spend most of her time writing, and not too much time procrastinating, it was just fun watching Jake get jealous.

Jake stared at her, speechless. "So basically, your whole day is spent sitting in a fort in your Pj's, writing, and procrastinating,"

"Sometimes I take a nap," Brielle said looking up at him and gave him a cheeky grin.

Jake thought about his job working at NYU, building equipment for the physics department, sweating over machines and doing hard labor for ten hours a day. Then he looked at his girl friend, still in he pajamas at one in the afternoon, who just admitted she spent most of her days doing nothing and hanging out in a fort she built. "I hate you," he told her.

"Well, fine then, you are not allowed in my fort," she climbed back into her fort and disappeared behind the blanket. Jake followed her into her fort and saw her typing on her computer and cuddling a dolphin pillow-pet. "What is that?" Jake asked.

"It's a computer," Brielle told him.

"No the thing you are cuddling with,"

"Oh, this is Marley, my pillow pet," Brielle told him, showing him the pillow pet.

"And why do you have it?"

"Why not?"

"At lease you aren't procrastinating any more," Jake said, looking at his girlfriend who had gone back to typing hastily.

"No I am, I'm not really working on the book, I'm writing a fanfiction for my own book, because I'm that egotistical,"

"So, forts, pillow pets, and fanfictions. Well this… this has been eye opening for me,"