Chapter 3
Karla
“Another long night.” I yawned, sitting in the break room with Rich per usual.
He had just warmed up the homemade chicken noodle soup his new husband had packed for him.
“It’s pretty slow tonight, eh?” he asked before slurping down some noodles.
I pulled my Kindle out of my bag. “For sure. Thank goodness for technology.” I opened a family-sized bag of dill pickle chips, starting to go to town. They were my weakness and I couldn’t help satisfying the craving while I had to be working such shitty hours.
Right as I was about to get to the good part in Julia Sykes’ newest release, the charge nurse popped her head into the break room. “Karla, you can head on home. It’s a quiet night and you’re dangerously close to hitting OT.”
Without questioning it, I jumped up from my seat. “Perfect. See you guys tomorrow night.”
Rich shot me a jealous glance followed by a sweet smile. “Enjoy some bed time with that hunk of yours, for all our sakes.”
I laughed. “If I can wake the bear from his hibernation, trust me, I will make up for lost time.”
Working different hours than James was really starting to take its toll on our relationship. It wasn’t just the lack of sex we were having; it was the absence of intimacy. It was something I’d never thought would happen to us, but I guess it can happen to even the most connected couples.
From day one, James and I had palpable chemistry in every sense of the word. We had mind-blowing sex, laughed at all the same things, had most of the same interests, and went on tons of random adventures together, but it had all started to fade as the months turned into years. I kept saying we needed to get our mojo back, but actions speak louder than words. Getting off early was the perfect time to show my man just how much I missed being us and how much I wanted to get back there.
After stopping off at the quick stop down the block from the apartment to grab a bottle of James’ favorite Malbec, I made my way up the stairs, giddy to surprise James for the first time in forever. It was almost one in the morning and I couldn’t wait to crawl into bed next to him; just the thought put the biggest smile on my face.
Sticking the key into the lock, I tried to be as quiet as possible to not wake the yappy pups up. But, of course, their supersonic hearing had them at the door, barking up a storm before I could even get one foot in the door.
I set the bottle of wine on the counter. “Hush. We don’t want to wake Dad up,” I whispered, picking up both Nike and Thor to carry them into the bedroom with me. Tiptoeing through the darkened apartment, I gingerly made it into my bedroom without making too much more of a ruckus. I set the dogs down and snuck under the sheets in the pitch-black room, only to find them cold and empty.
“The fuck?” I remarked out loud. “Where the hell is James?” Leaning over at rapid speed, I turned on the lamp. The bed was definitely missing a key component.
He’s probably just out with Joey.
Don’t jump to conclusions.
I repeated that over and over in my mind while I typed feverishly to text my man.
Why am I freaking out?
James is a good guy.
He’s my guy.
It wasn’t like James was a complete homebody, but on work nights, he was usually one to be asleep by ten at the latest. Working construction took it out of him and with long hours and laborious work, he certainly enjoyed his downtime.
Me: Hey babe, got off work early :)
Play it cool, don’t let him think anything is up.
It only took a few seconds for the typing bubble to pop up. I tried to level out my breathing to calm my racing heart.
James: Awesome! Can’t wait to see you.
Does he really think I don’t know he isn’t home?
Me: Be home in five. You better be ready for me.
James: Get that sweet ass home to me.
