(This was originally posted in the Black Sheep folder in the late night hours of October 6th, but I decided to move it over here. I'm going to start using this folder quite a bit more.)

It had been a while since the ugly split between Dakota and Charlotte.

It was tough for a while...yeah, he missed her.

But he moved on, like he's done so many times before.

He's loved and he's lost. It's nothing new for Dakota.

Just a couple of days ago, he made it a point to finally go visit the grave of his first ex-wife, Rosie. That was for himself, mostly. It was an attempt to finally reconcile things with himself and her memory. He felt as if he'd succeeded with that. It was almost as if he left the guilt right there at her headstone. He truly felt himself freed of that pain for the first time in a long time.

Oh sure, some b***h who was a friend of Rosie's saw him today in the Inn, and did everything she could to make him feel like a horrible person, refusing to let go of the things he had done. But Dakota shrugged her off, told her "f*** you", and he was done with her.

He had bigger things on his mind tonight as he lay there, propped up on his bed inside his room at the Red Dragon Inn.

He was barefoot and didn't have a shirt on, but was wearing a pair of jeans and a few of his beloved tribal necklaces. Flowing, mid back length hair cascaded freely. From his propped up position, he had his guitar laying across his stomach...which was where he seemed to have most of his concentration. A cigarette dangled loosely between his lips, and a half empty bottle of Jim Beam sat on the nightstand beside the bed.

He prided himself on his sobriety, but he did still drink occasionally, and it was usually for one purpose only; that being when depression overtook him.

What did he have to be depressed about?

Well...it was a woman..

Wasn't it always a woman?

It was a woman that he saw today for the first time in quite a while....months, in fact. She was an old friend of his, but there had always been an attraction. It was an attraction that existed before he ever met his first wife. It could be argued that had he not met and married his first wife so swiftly, he would have had the chance to form a relationship with this woman. Not that he regrets taking the course he ended up taking with his life, but he does wonder what could have been had he exhibited just the slightest hint of patience.

She walked into the inn today, all worn out and exhausted from a run she had taken. She always was the athletic type, and that was one of the things he always loved about her. They had sparred together on many occasions, and they always stretched each other to their physical limits.

Those old feelings that Dakota had buried long ago....they came back today with a vengeance from the moment he laid eyes on her. Even after working up a sweat...God, she was so beautiful.

Her boyfriend was in the inn as well. Dakota never knew him all that well personally. He'd heard a great deal about him, and knew OF him pretty well. But within a matter of seconds, when she kissed her boyfriend, Dakota recognized this guy for who he truly was....the luckiest son of a b***h he'd ever seen in his life.

Dakota's mind flashed back to fourteen months earlier. He'd actually spent a night in her bed. Not that they did anything together....but they could have. It only ended up being a night shared in the same bed, with nothing immoral taking place.

He thought about that night for a long, long time after it happened. He eventually ended up marrying Charlotte, and all those lustful feelings and memories faded away.

But tonight...Dakota was alone, and he was hurting. He was hurting from knowing that he, more than likely, forever missed his chance to know this woman on the intimate level that he had always dreamed of. They were great friends at one time, but that faded away after his marriage to Charlotte.

When the girl saw him today, she smiled at him. She told him that they would see each other very soon, and that they'd have a chance to talk then. Of course, that was right before she kissed her boyfriend and headed upstairs to get herself cleaned up a bit. In that moment, it was like his insides were being ripped out.

This was so sudden...so completely out of the blue.

He hadn't felt this way about the girl in such a long time, and within moments of seeing her, she overtook his every thought once again...?

Damned if a woman wasn't a powerful being. She had him sitting here alone tonight, thinking of her. His only companions on this night were his guitar, a cigarette, and a half empty bottle of Jim Beam whiskey.

All this time, he'd been playing just a few slow, random tunes. He then stopped just long enough to remove his cigarette, place it in an ash tray which was laying on the bed, reach for his bottle, and take a long drink.

Carefully setting the bottle back down on the nightstand, he once again went into a tune, this time putting a few words along with it. It was one of his favorite songs, and it just seemed to fit his mood tonight.

"Livin' my life in a slow hell....
Diff'rent girl every night at the hotel.
I ain't seen the sun shine in three damn days.
Been fuelin' up on cocaine and whiskey...
Wish I had a good girl to miss me..."

And with that, he stopped momentarily to glance upon a calendar which hung on the wall just beside the bed. Interestingly enough, it was a Babes of Rhydin calendar. Even though it was October, the calendar was turned to March. Suddenly, it was becoming all too clear who this woman was that was tearing him up tonight.

He spoke up quietly..

"Damn, you're beautiful, Cassie...."

Moments passed, and Dakota bent over to carefully lay his guitar on the floor. He then finally laid back in the bed and closed his eyes, attempting to get a little sleep tonight. With whiskey on his breath, and a woman on his mind...sleep might be a little harder to come by than he had hoped.