The Long Day Is Over
"Honey, I'm home!"
The apartment was dark and eerily quiet as Eden makes her way down the hall and into the living room. She shrugged out of her coat and draped it over the back of the couch before calling out into the darkness again, but still, no one answered.
A few more steps brought Eden into the small kitchen. There was an open half-empty pizza box and a 2-liter of diet soda on the table, along with a three-quarters empty glass and a dirty plate. Eden would have been perturbed by the mess if she weren't too busy going over possible scenarios as to why the apartment seemed so strangely vacant in her mind.
She'd been living with Nor for nearly six weeks and she quite enjoyed the company. As much as she hated to admit it, Eden liked the thought of having someone to come home to every night; of having someone's arms to fall into when she'd had a particularly rough day on the job, especially if those arms belonged to a beautiful woman. On days when she was completely honest with herself, Eden might even admit to needing that sort of thing.
It wasn't like Nor to be out this late. She kept a fairly regular schedule: home early on week nights, before 9, and she didn't go to bed until around 2 in the morning. She almost always greeted Eden with a warm smile and a hug as she came in the door. That wasn't the case tonight and Eden felt oddly uneasy because of it.
As she made her way out of the kitchen, she resisted the urge to flip on the lights and instead opted to take careful steps. Just in case, her previous military training told her. When she made it to the long hallway that led to the bedrooms, she spied a sliver of light coming from a crack in the door at the far end of the hall. Still taking quiet, cautious steps, she made her way down. When she finally reached the door, she peered inside. A smile immediately tugged the corners of her full lips upward.
Still careful not to make a sound, Eden positioned herself to lean against the door frame and nudged the door open a little further with the tip of her boot so that she could get a better look. Inside the room, Nor sat hunched over her drawing board, dark hair cascading over her shoulders in soft curls, bouncing slightly as she worked tirelessly with her charcoal pencil. She wore only a white tank top and a pair of too-short boxers that she had undoubtedly stolen from Eden and cut to the "correct" length. Strapped to her left upper arm was her MP3 player; her bright orange headphones were nestled securely in her ears and Eden could faintly make out the sound of rock music. It was no wonder Nor hadn't heard her when she came in.
As Eden watched her girlfriend work, she couldn't help the way her smile seemed to widen until it was almost painful. It wasn't often she got to see Nor this way, so focused on her work, completely unaware of her watcher. She preferred to work in private, said it was better for her attention span if no one was around when she sketched. Eden respected her wishes, of course, but that didn't nullify the fact that she loved to watch Nor work.
Minutes ticked by as Eden continued to watch in silence. It took a while before Nor realized that she was no longer alone. She slowly lifted her eyes from the charcoal etching she had been perfecting and greeted Eden with a slow, knowing smile that warmed Eden from tip to toe. Nor removed her headphones, unhooked her iPod, and set it down on the table before turning to fully face Eden, blue eyes shining in the low light.
"Hey, you," she said, her lightly accented voice like warm honey, drifting and heating Eden even more.
"Hi." Eden shifted her weight to the other foot and leaned her head against the door frame. "Didn't mean to interrupt."
"Oh, no, I need to take a break anyway. I didn't hear you come in." With the last sentence, Nor glanced briefly at the small electronic device lying on the table.
"It's alright. What are you working on there?" Eden said as she took a few steps into the room. "Something for the gallery?"
Nor turned her eyes to the drawing. "Oh, no, this one's isn't going to be on display. It's mostly just for me. Just something I've been working on for a little while. Nothing special," she replied.
Peering over the younger woman's shoulder, Eden let out a little breath of astonishment. "Oh, that's hardly nothing. It's absolutely beautiful," she said.
"You really think so?"
"Absolutely. Is that...?"
"My mum?"
Eden nodded slowly.
"Yeah. I found this old photograph of her in a box of things my father sent me a little while ago. I had almost forgotten about it." Nor's voice was almost wistful as she recalled the memory associated with the photo that was pinned to the top of the drawing board. "It's one of the only pictures I have of her before she got sick."
"I'm sorry," Eden said softly, her hand gently stroking Nor's back.
Nor smiled and shook her head. "I have good memories of her. It's just nice to finally have something solid."
"Well, I think she's beautiful," said Eden. She brushed a stray lock of dark hair behind Nor's ear. "You too."
Nor smiled softly as she leaned forward to press her lips to Eden's. "How was work?" she asked as she pulled away a few seconds later.
Eden let out a little sigh. "It was... work," she answered vaguely.
"Ah, sounds like gobs of fun."
"Oh, yes. Tons. The joys of working at a high-end security firm. Makes me miss working for the military."
"Seriously?"
"The DDS was less headache."
"Ick."
Eden nodded a little. "But enough about that," she said as she wrapped her arms around Nor's slender waist and pulled her closer. "At the present moment, I'm much more concerned about the fact that this little iPod of yours has interfered with me getting my nightly welcome-home hug."
With a little smirk, Nor asked, "Oh, dear, whatever shall you do about that?"
"Well, the way I see it, there's only one way to fix this--the iPod has got to go," Eden replied, quite seriously.
Nor gasped, feigning distress over her girlfriend's proposed solution. She placed a hand over her chest for a little extra dramatic effect. "Oh, no, not the poor, innocent iPod! It meant no harm, I swear. Please, there must be some other way I can make it up to you," she said, her voice sinking back down to its familiar sultry warmth.
Eden raised an eyebrow. "Hmm... whatever would you do to make it up to me?" she asked. She rocked forward a little, tightening her arms around Nor's waist.
Nor leaned forward, her nose gently grazing Eden's cheek as she moved to whisper in her ear. "Anything you want me to," she said.
That was all Eden needed to hear. Without uttering another word, she lifted Nor off the stool she'd been sitting on and carried her the short distance to the guest bed where they both fell giggling like giddy school girls. And as Nor's hands immediately began to wander, Eden was more than willing to forget about not getting her nightly welcome-home hug, especially if not getting it led to this instead.