Phryne had to confess: she really loved being at Jack's. There was safety in the tiny one bedroom house that sat behind a stone garden gate. They were totally alone from the world and on Sundays like this, when she knew that they would have all day to laze around reading or making love, she was filled with such domestic contentment that she almost didn't know how to process it.
So as she sat in her silk robe at the kitchen table, watching Jack read the newspaper, she was not expecting visitors.
"Who could that be?" Jack asked as they both looked up at the knock. He kissed the top of her head as he passed by her and headed for the door. Phryne glanced down and stole the paper from him as she tore another piece out of her roll. There was an article on their latest case and she wanted to see if she had earned a mention.
"Rosie." Phryne froze as she realized he had said his ex's name particularly loud for her benefit. "What brings you by on a Sunday morning?"
"Well, Mrs. Ferguson made an extra batch of cinnamon rolls for all of our holiday guests and I know that you always loved them, so I thought I would bring a few by for your breakfast, as a Christmas present." She explained. "As you can imagine, things have been quite tense lately and I needed an excuse to get some fresh air, even if that means delivering breakfast to starving bachelors at 9 o'clock on a Sunday morning."
Needed an excuse to win back your ex-husband, more like, Phryne thought jealously from her spot at the kitchen table. And he's neither starving nor a bachelor, thank you very much.
Out of spite, she stood up and made herself known, her chair scraping purposefully across the kitchen floor as she went to the sink to get an unneeded glass of water.
"Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't realize you had visitors." She heard Rosie say.
"No, not visitors." Jack said. "Just Phryne."
Phryne knew Jack well enough to know precisely what he was doing. He was subtly locking a door that Rosie had walked out of years ago. Phryne tightened her sash, ready to head into battle with him.
"Jack, darling. Your tea is getting cold. Oh, hello." She smiled.
"Rosie brought us cinnamon rolls for Christmas." He smiled widely.
"Oh, your favorite! That's so kind. I'm sorry, we're not exactly ready to receive guests. Sunday is our day off so we take our time in the mornings. Would you like to come in for some tea, we can certainly find some clothes to put on."
"No, I can't. We're on our way to church." Rosie said, pretending to be disappointed while still getting her judgment across. "But I'll let you get back to your tea. Merry Christmas." She said.
"Goodbye!" Phryne called after her.
As soon as Jack shut the door, he was raising an eyebrow at her.
"Darling?" Jack repeated.
"Too much?" She asked innocently.
"A bit, yeah."
"Well, she was trying to steal you back with cinnamon rolls, your favorite." Phryne mimicked the last two words.
"I was handling it." He defended.
"Far too nicely." She informed him.
"You're jealous." He grinned.
"I am not!" She protested.
"Come now, darling." He smirked as he reached for her hand. "Let me show you how worried you should be."