Chapter 4- Responsible

As quickly as she could hail a cab, she was home and riding up that familiar elevator to their floor. Opening the door as quietly as possible, she made her way into their apartment, doing her best not to make noise in the event that Imogen was already asleep. It was only eleven-thirty, but the quirky young woman had a habit of dozing off at oddly early times. Upon placing her purse and keys down on the marble countertop in the kitchen, she spotted a small blue Post-It note:

Fi, there's dinner from Miyako's in the fridge for you. Eli and Clare said to tell you hello and that they miss you. I miss you too…Hope work wasn't too crazy tonight. Love you -Im

Pulling off her heels, she walked into their bathroom and turned on the shower. The warm steam nearly put her to sleep before she was even able to finish cleansing the office off of her. Upon stepping out, Fiona wrapped a large soft towel around her soaked hair and slipped into her incredibly comfortable pajamas. It felt so wonderful to be ready for bed before the midnight hour. Almost wonderful enough to make her consider quitting her job right then and there, and if it were a job that she loved even a smidge less, she would have. But fashion was her one real passion in life, and living in a beautiful Manhattan loft wasn't exactly cheap.

Unsurprisingly enough, Imogen was found sound asleep on the sofa in the living room. Leaning down, Fiona placed a light and quick kiss to her forehead, before spreading the blanket over her wife's uncovered feet.

"Hey," Imogen said groggily as she slowly stirred awake. "What time is it?" she yawned.

Peeking over at the large clock on the wall, Fiona responded, "12:02. I'm sorry, Immy, I didn't mean to wake you. Go back to sleep."

"No, I'm glad you did." The younger woman picked herself up to lean further against the arm of the couch. Grabbing Fiona's hand, she tugged her down so that she was sitting next to her. "Home earlier than normal tonight," she grinned. "It's nice. How was your day?"

Fiona allowed herself to fall further back into the couch cushions and closed her eyes. It was the most relaxed she had felt in weeks. "Busy…as per the usual. But it is so much better now that I'm with you. If we could just stay in this exact spot forever, I would live the rest of my days being incredibly happy, Im."

"Jeepers, Fiones, clingy much?"

"Hey!" the older girl sent a sharp poke into her wife's side, which was met with a huge smile. Imogen repositioned herself to lie across Fiona's lap.

"I've missed this so much," she exhaled. "Sooo…does you being home earlier mean that you're finally finished with all of the crazy late nights spent at work?"

The socialite's heart sank at the optimistic tone of Imogen's voice. She so wished that she could just lie and say yes, to give her wife even a fleeting illusion of good news. But lying tonight would do nothing to mask tomorrow's truth. "No, sadly not," she breathed. "Only reason I'm home this early is because Eliza said she'd finish up the rest of today's assignments. Tomorrow is a new day filled with new priorities."

"Oh…okay…" Disappointment resonated deep through her stomach. Imogen rolled her eyes, and shook her head. "No, actually its not okay, Fi." Her body perked up slightly. No point in hiding her honesty now. "I hate this—You've been saying that your hours would get better just as soon as things slow down at work, or just as soon as whatever next assignment you have is over. But things never slow down…and the assignments just keep coming. It's exhausting…I just want my Fiona back. My dinner date, and my movie buddy…my best friend." Her dark brown eyes begged the other girl for any kind of understanding. "Life is just so…uninteresting without you."

Fiona, not quite sure what to say, remained quiet. She knew the current situation was taking its toll on Imogen, and its toll on their relationship…and she knew that quite frankly, the other girl was right—work never slowed down. There was always another deadline waiting behind the current one. The city that never sleeps rarely allows its most career-driven inhabitants to do so either. She wanted nothing more than for Imogen to be happy, and to give her wife everything she ever wanted…but shirking her career wasn't a practical request. They had responsibilities, and with a child on the way, keeping her very competitive salary was more important than ever. "Immy," she paused, taking another minute to gather her thoughts. "Do you remember when we were engaged and pretty much lived in different cities? You were in Toronto, and I was here?"

With a small nod, Imogen answered her question.

"Well that was hard, too. Really hard. I mean we only got to see each other like once a month." Her voice was comforting as she wrapped her arm around her wife. "We will get through this, just like we got through that. It was temporary then, and its temporary now... I promise you."

An end in sight—as long as Fiona promised her there was an end to the loneliness in sight, she believed her. The socialite never broke her promises, especially when they were to Imogen. "Okay," she finally exhaled, "I trust you... I just hope that by the time he gets here, your work will have 'slowed down'," she casually threw in with air-quotes.

"Don't worry," Fiona appeased, "it will."

Cocking an eyebrow, Imogen swiftly tilted her head upwards. "Wait… Why was this Eliza girl so eager to do you any favors?" Her words were laced heavily with jealously, though that went completely unnoticed by her sometimes-oblivious wife.

Confused by the sudden change of subject, Fiona scratched her head. "Well, she just broke up with her boyfriend. Apparently she 'needed the distraction' and wanted to work."

"Hmmpft. Kind of sounds like you're the distraction she's looking for," Imogen quickly remarked, this time her jealously too evident to go overlooked.

Though she tried to hold it in, a small laugh escaped the curly brunette's mouth. "Imogen… She sent me home to spend time with you! You can't possibly be serious," she began running her fingers through the long brown hair, shaking her head at the girl's preposterous theories. If there was one thing she could say about building her life with Imogen, it's that it was definitely never boring.

"That's what she wants you to think, Fiones. Trust me, its just all part of her master plan to get into your very stylish pants. You'll see," she grinned, settling her head back onto the pillow of Fiona's lap.

"Whatever you say, Moreno. But you know you never have anything to worry about," she guaranteed, squeezing Imogen's warm hand for reassurance. Adjusting her back just slightly to a new position, Fiona quickly felt the lack of sleep catching up with her. A big yawn forced its way out. "Enough about my assistants. I'd rather talk more about my wife. How was your day?" she managed, fighting off the slumber as best as she could to take advantage of the rare time she was able to spend at home.

"My day was pretty good, I suppose," she began. "Sent an email to finalize a building permit, had lunch with Eli and Clare…Oh my gosh, Fi, he's so nervous about his play's opening, it's hilarious. You should have seen him—The entire meal he was tapping his finger on the table, nodding along absentmindedly to everything Clare was saying. She got so annoyed with him," Imogen rambled on. "Oh and then Natalie called—she said she wants to come visit soon, but I told her that now wasn't the best time. Maybe in a couple weeks…we'll see. On the way home, I stopped by Starbucks to grab a quick coffee with Hayley. The baby kicked, Fiones, I actually got to feel our son's kick! It was so amazing," her voice trailed, turning over to nuzzle her face further into Fiona's arm. The room was quiet now that her own words were no longer filling it. "Fi?" Looking up, she discovered her wife had already fallen deep into her dreams. For just a moment, she admired the other woman's beauty and grinned. After whispering, "I love you," she laid her head back down to return to her own slumber, feeling incredibly thankful for the little bit of extra time she got to spend with her wife tonight. Fiona was right—together they could get through anything.