She tucked James in and headed to the kitchen to clean up. It was a small job but it always seemed to grow overnight if she left it till morning.
When the kitchen was clean she sat down in the living room. She turned the TV on and resumed tidying, throwing toys from the sofa toward the box in the corner of the room. She hadn't practiced her free throws in a while and it showed.
There was a movie on the TV. Some romantic comedy. Not helpful.
She turned it off and went to her room, switching off lights as she went.
-
Mark lifted the phone to dial. But with a sigh he put it down and walked away restlessly. His things were packed. The moving company were picking up boxes tomorrow. The furniture had gone to some storage place in Phoenix. It wasn't like he couldn't put the words together. He just wanted to tell her in person. For some reason he thought it was important to see how she reacted.
Everything was signed and sealed. Even if she wasn't thrilled he couldn't change his mind now. And he kept telling himself the only reason he was moving was James. Susan had nothing to do with it – biology aside.
He should have worked today – his last day in Chicago. There was nothing left to do. He'd booked a flight for the next night – once the moving company had finished. His two suitcases were closed, ready to go to Doug's tonight – cause his bed was gone.
He sat on the windowsill with a sigh. He looked out, imagining he was looking toward phoenix and wishing he were already there. He could be with her. Not 'with her' with her but, in the same room, apartment... whatever was better than here.
It only took him another hour or so to realize the moving company didn't need his help and Chicago had other flights to Phoenix much sooner than tomorrow bloody night.
-
She wasn't sure why she was awake. She always slept so deeply and something had woken her but she couldn't remember what.
She was standing over James' bed when she heard a knock at the door.
Fear seized her automatically. It was after midnight and Chloe never showed up this late. She hoped for a minute it might be Mark but... no way. He would have called.
Her surprised grin gave her away. She was more than happy to see him, reaching into a somehow perfectly appropriate embrace then leading him through to the lounge. He pulled out the sofa bed while she made two cups of tea.
He apologized for not calling and for arriving so late. She said it was a great surprise. The both hoped they weren't flirting and decided it didn't really matter. As he finished his tea he finally forced himself to deliver the big news.
"So, I did get a transfer." Might as well be straight to the point.
"Really? That's great." She looked a little surprise. It had only been three weeks since she'd seen him and hospitals were rarely that obliging.
"Yeah."
"When do you...?"
He lifted his shoulders with a smile. "I'm here. Now."
Her eyes widened in surprise – more surprise. But she was grinning... laughing. He couldn't quite believe it. And then he regretted it because she was giving him hope and hope only meant more pain.
"Mark, that's fantastic. I..." she shook her head, still grinning. "You should have called."
"Yeah, I know, I just... it's silly, no real reason."
She laughed.
"Well, is it okay if I stay here for a while until I can find a place."
She nodded. "Yeah, definitely. Of course."
"Well, lets catch up tomorrow – cause I pulled you out of bed didn't I?"
"Yeah. I'm fine. But, okay... actually I should probably feed James while I'm up."
"I can do it." He said quickly.
She smiled at his enthusiasm. She was hoping again. He was too good to be true. But he was true. More so than she deserved. "There's a bottle in the fridge."
"Do I microwave it?"
"Yeah – ninety seconds on low."
She watched him feeding James for a little while – feeling the luxury of it and only forcing herself to walk away when she realised she might seem not to trust him. "Goodnight." She whispered into the dark room.
Mark looked up from James, whispering, "thank you."
She waved him away, his thanks unnecessary, and left.