Charlie paused outside the door, taking the time it took him to dig the key from his pocket to appreciate the feeling of excitement he was experiencing. He never thought that he would be excited to be returning home from work. He smiled at the thought of it all.
When he had been living in London, he usually preferred to stay at the office until the early hours of the morning so that he would only have to suffer being alone in his small apartment for a few hours before returning to work. Sometimes he stayed with his grandmother for the company as the apartment he had brought to give himself independence felt lonely and isolated when he was staying there alone. It gave him too much time to think about how lonely he was, and how he wished he could allow himself to think about what he could have if he just opened up to others that could have helped him. It did not feel much better when Patricia was with him. Yes, it was nice when she would lie against him on the sofa as they watched television but to him it seemed that there were both there for the same reason and it was not the right reason for them to be together. To Charlie it had seemed as if they were two people that simply craved the company to stop them feeling isolated from the world. They were there for the company, not the romance of being together. Patricia worked as much as he did, and work kept them apart from any sort of real relationship from starting. Even with two people there, Charlie's London apartment felt empty and lonely. And he hated it.
Now, as he stood before the door of the small but perfect New York apartment, he felt excited. And he understood why. He wasn't alone, or in a relationship that did not feel real. The apartment wasn't the place where he would sit alone, wallowing in his thoughts of what he could have. No. He had everything there. Within the small apartment was everything that meant the world to him and the thought of that made him smile. Pulling the key from his pocket, he opened the door slowly as not to startle her and put his case and papers on the table in the kitchen and walked through to the lounge. It was late, and he had half expected the lounge to be empty, with all the lights turned off and everything quiet. A gentle glow of a single lamp lit the room and the sound of the late night news from the television reached him. He smiled. "Sophie?" he said softly walking around the couch. The sight that met him made him melt. Sophie was curled against the back of the couch, her head resting on her hand and a book open across her lap, her breathing soft as she soundly slept. She had waited up for him, but the tiredness of a day at work for her also had beaten her.
Smiling softly, Charlie gently sat besides her not wanting to scare her awake. He moved the book to the table before pushing a strand of her long blonde hair behind her ear and leaning forward to plant a soft kiss on her forehead. His smile lit up his pale blue, almost grey, eyes as he saw her eyelids flutter open like butterfly wings and he saw the stunning ocean blue of her eyes. "You're home" She whispered sleepily, sitting up to face him better. "Yes" Charlie smiled stroking her face with his hand gently. "And you didn't have to wait up for me". Sophie smiled moving forward and sleepily wrapping her arms around him, pressing herself against his chest and taking in his warmth. "I wanted to see you" She smiled listening to his heartbeat. Charlie wrapped her in his arms, running his hand through her hair and inhaling her scent of citrus fruits as he pressed a kiss into her hair. He couldn't get over how much he loved her and how good it felt just to hold her close.
"I know baby, but I told you I was working late tonight" He whispered. "I know you are tired too, you work as hard as I do". As he spoke, he moved himself back against the couch, keeping Sophie secure and comfortable in his arms. As tired as he was himself, he wanted to enjoy the feeling of his beautiful girl lying in his arms for a little while longer. He rested back on the couch, allowing Sophie to lie against him, resting on his chest. "I missed you so of course I was going to stay up to see you come home" Sophie said sleepily, cuddling against his body. "I missed you too, I always do" Charlie said. Moving slowly so not to disturb Sophie, he pulled the blanket down from the back of couch and spread it over the both of them. "I love you" He whispered although knowing that she probably hadn't heard him. He just wanted to say it out loud. He looked down at her, seeing her eyes closed and her breathing steady. As she slept, she held his hand as if afraid to let him go.
It wasn't like this with Patricia. She would not have waited up for Charlie to return home from work. Most nights she wasn't even in when Charlie got home. She was the sort of person to go out every night if she could, never Charlie was with her or not. With Sophie, he knew that she would be there when he got home. She would make sure that there was some dinner for him if he had been working late, she would always be there to cuddle with and listen when he needed to talk and she would always greet him with a smile. She was his sweet girl, someone who made him feel lucky to be there and she meant everything to him. He fell asleep with her in his arms that night, his cheek nestled against her head as he held her close. He couldn't imagine this with Patricia, no, just with his Sophie.
Authors note
I feel that this is nowhere near my normal standard but I felt so bad about leaving it so long without any update that I just had to put something on here.