Watching Her
I arrive home late from a night out with the boys, trying to be quiet, unsure if she had gone to bed. I enter the apartment and find her asleep on the couch, the television turned to a celebrity poker game I had Tivoed for her the previous night. A small smile appears on my face as I watch her, breathing so light, eyes closed a small smile plastered on her own face as she dreamed. I quickly turn off the television and cover her with a blanket, not wanting her to catch cold as she slept.
I sit in a small chair and watch. The blanket rising and falling as she breathes lightly, murmuring words I couldn't make out as she slept. I watched her face, the small smile remaining there, as if frozen...maybe it was a treat for me, or maybe it was my sign?
Rising from my chair and moving back to the couch, I lean forward closing my eyes as I inhale her scent, swallowing and shaking away desires I had kept hidden for months. I kiss her forehead lightly and whisper "I love you Neela" before moving away, heading for my room in case she awoke and questioned me.
As I reached my door, I turned back to look at her, one last time before I slept, knowing my dreams were definitely going to be of her sweet face tonight, as they had been the past few months. I smile at her sleeping form and as I turn back to my door, she rolls onto her back and murmurs again, only this time, I heard the words, words that would forever stop my heart in my chest.
"I love you too Ray..."