After unplugging my phone from the charger, I rolled over in bed, coming nose to nose with a pair of innocent doe eyes, his head on the pillow, his body tucked under the covers. As if I’d needed validation on how much it sucked waking up without Remi, he sneezed in my face.
“Jesus, Sugar.” Using the back of my hand, I wiped my cheek. At the sound of my voice, Clyde took that as his cue to unfurl from his dog bed in the corner and lumber over to poke me in the back with his nose until I flipped over to share the attention.
“Okay, okay. I’m getting up.”
While I’d hated my first night away from Remi that week, the dogs were pretty stoked to be allowed in the bedroom again. After a few quick head scratches, I sat up and typed another message while the dogs performed the morning ritual of trotting around the room, celebrating that I’d once again been resurrected from the dead.
Me: Twelve hours is too long.
Remi: I agree, but Aaron put tap water in the humidifiers the other night. If I don’t get things straight around here, Margret is going to be as dead as you already think she is.
Me: Fine. But pack a bag for tonight. One for Margret too if that’s what it takes. Bring a whole fucking rainforest. I don’t give a shit.
Remi: Yes, sir.
Me: Mmm…that sounds better than both boyfriend and manfriend.
Remi: Sirfriend? How very regal of you.
Me: Don’t you forget it either. I’ll have a placard for my office door ordered by lunch. Sirfriend Bowen Michaels, CPA. Sounds about right.
Remi: The nerds will have to change your name in all their phones. But as long as we’re picking our own titles, I’d like to be Madame Remi, Queen of Auto-Injected Epinephrine and Certified Plant Whisperer.
Me: You be at my house early today and I’ll call you whatever you want.
Remi: How early? What time will you be off?
Me: Technically, I won’t get off until you get here, but I have the entire day blocked out to finish your dad’s stuff. I should be done by two, but I need to hit the grocery store. We’re gonna try round two of burgers tonight. Be here as soon as you can swing it. We can spend the rest of the afternoon in bed making up for last night, and only then will I feed your loud, rumbly stomach. After that, it’s whatever your heart desires this evening. Though I’d like to put in a formal request that, whatever it is, we do it naked too.
Remi: So…bed, food, naked fun. Got it. Well, I’m meeting a new client this morning to show him houses. He’s a single guy and I found one in his price range with a theater room, so I don’t expect it to last long. I should be done by three.
Me: Okay. Then it’s a date, Queen Mouthy.
Remi: The Mouth Queen. Perfect! I’ll show you all my oral…I mean…royal skills this afternoon. See ya in bed at three, Sirfriend.
She was full of it. She’d see me fifteen minutes late, but knowing I’d be seeing her at all had me climbing out of my sheets with a huge grin on my face. I’d barely made it to the bathroom before my phone vibrated in my hand again.
Remi: In case you didn’t notice, I missed you too. See you tonight.
It was something so simple, yet it hit me so damn deep. I swear, after months of walking around hollow-chested with a permanent chill, a little fucking sunshine in my life went a long way.
The day was relatively uneventful, but I stayed busy enough that time didn’t crawl at a snail’s pace. Good news was Remi’s dad wouldn’t be going to jail. Bad news was he owed a nice chunk of change to the IRS. So I’d set him up with a payment plan that, based on The Wave’s revenue, shouldn’t be an issue.
On my way home, I stopped at a plant shop before heading to the grocery store. I must have sorted through a dozen shrubs before deciding on a snake plant. It was nothing fancy or big, and it sure as hell didn’t cost more than my mortgage. But with green paddle-like leaves, it was sturdy and thick.
Sure, it was technically a gift for Remi, but if she was leaving me to go home to take care of her babies, I sure as hell could give her something to care for at my place as well. I chose a deep-red-and-gray ceramic pot that matched my living room, and as soon as I got home, I placed it prominently on the end table. Cassidy would have something to say about me moving her precious woven basket of useless wooden balls, but she’d get over it.
