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“I’m going to get home late tonight,
probably around 8.
We got new information on the
Hendricksen story that I have to
go through. :( Sorry!”
“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of dinner.
Electricity is out, btw. Landlord says it’ll be out
all night.”
“:(
Shall I call him about it?”
“The neighbors are already on it.
Loudly, from what I can tell.”
“Ok, see you at 8 then.”
Two hours later, Karen finally left the Bulletin offices. It was dark already, and she was immensely glad that her heating ran on gas, just like her stove. The November air was chilly, and it would be quite an icy night.
When she opened the door to her apartment, she raised her eyebrow in surprise at the sight that greeted her. There were candles all over the living room that dipped everything in a dim glow, while Frank stood by the stove and just finished cooking dinner by the looks of it.
“Wow, what’s all this?” Karen breathed as she hung up her coat and her hand bag.
“Thought we might ‘s well get cosy,” Frank said with a smug smile. “Wine?”
Karen accepted the glass he held out for her and then stepped close to press a lingering kiss to his lips. She placed her hand over his heart as Frank’s arm wrapped around her waist.
“Hi,” Karen said with a wide smile.
“Hi,” Frank replied. He gave her another peck and then turned back to the pot of soup that was in danger of overflowing.
“I’ll get changed real quick,” Karen said. She placed the glass back on the kitchen island, ran a hand down Frank’s back, and headed to the bedroom.
When she returned in a comfortable set of yoga pants, fuzzy socks and a wide pullover, Frank was just setting the table. She helped him finish and then the two of them sat down together.
“This is really romantic,” Karen said and lifted her glass. Frank clinked his against hers, and Karen reached out to squeeze his hand.
“Thank you. This is perfect,” she said.
Over dinner, they updated each other on how their respective day had been and talked about this and that. Frank got himself another kiss when he pulled out Karen’s favorite store-bought mousse au chocolat, and then the two of them washed up together.
Once they were done, Karen stretched.
“Do you want to watch a movie? We could use my laptop,” she asked. Frank nodded, and Karen got her laptop from her bag and picked a movie the two of them had been meaning to watch but never gotten round to.
Once she’d placed the computer on the coffee table, she settled into one corner of the couch. Frank sat down next to her, and a second later, he wordlessly squeezed himself between the back of the couch and her body lying on his side, his head resting against her chest and his arm thrown over her. In response, Karen pulled him close, and gently began to run her fingers through his hair and down to the back of his neck in soothing patterns.
About half way through the movie, Karen could tell that Frank had fallen asleep. He got tired relatively early these days, mostly due to the physical demands of his job in house renovations where he was working nowadays. Karen wrapped both of her arms tightly around him and rested her cheek on the top of his head.
Later, when the movie was finished, Karen nuzzled Frank’s forehead and he woke with a start. “Time for bed,” Karen whispered and pressed a kiss against his temple. Frank sat up drowsily, and at the sight of his groggy facial expression, a wave of affection overcame Karen. She leant close to hug him once more and Frank nuzzled her hair in return. A few seconds later, they got up, put out the candles, and headed to the bedroom. Both of them were too tired to change, so they just dropped into bed as they were, Frank merely shedding his t-shirt to sleep only in his jogging pants. Just before Karen fell asleep – her body curled tightly around Frank’s and his breath in her hair – a small thought shot through her head.
Peace.