“It was just long enough. Don’t worry about anything,” I say, as the sun comes up for real and starts to bathe us in clear, yellow light. “I promise. I really did enjoy myself.”
As Tommy takes me back into the bedroom and lays me on the bed, he doesn’t look entirely convinced. He’s got a frown starting.
“Don’t you start. Don’t you dare,” I say, shaking my finger at him. “You did fine. Marvelously, in fact.” I pull him toward me and toward the sheets. “Now get in here and get some sleep, before I decide to punish you for getting grumpy.”
Tommy falls into the bed beside me, stroking my cheek. Letting his fingers linger on my lips. “What if I want to be grumpy?” he asks. I can see the mischievous glint in his eyes.
“Then I’ll snuggle with you until you can’t do anything but smile and call out my name along with the good Lord’s,” I say, feeling drowsiness began to overtake me.
Tommy yawns, cuddling me to him. Around us, I’ve begun to hear the sounds of early morning traffic along with the chirping of birds.
As my eyes close and I begin to drift off, I think about how often I’ve slept in on Sundays. I’ve just never slept as well or as peacefully as I’m about to. And it’s all thanks to Tommy. The love of my life. The man I wasn’t expecting to fall for in the middle of a cascade of resumes and cover letters, and yet I did.
And now I want nothing more than to spend every morning with him, not just this weekend. Not just more weekends. But every day for the rest of my life.
Chapter Fifty-Two
Tommy
Monday arrives too soon for Melissa and for me. Neither of us are ready to get up and get ready for work when her alarm goes off at just after six-thirty a.m. We laze around for ten or fifteen minutes, cuddling and kissing each other. We savor every minute as long as we possibly can, even continuing to kiss and fondle each other as we get out of bed.
Eventually, though we have to part ways. We can’t get dressed if we’re attached at the hip, unfortunately. So, I get myself dressed in the bedroom, while Melissa goes into the bathroom, does whatever part of her morning routine that requires, and then comes out and gets dressed.
She’s in a soft lavender blouse, a pair of light-brown slacks with polished, brown leather heels. I’m in one of my new suits. The dark one with faint paisley designs. Even without having looked in the mirror at myself yet, I already feel super fancy. Way sexier and much more successful than I’ve ever felt in my old frumpy suit.
Melissa’s reaction when she sees me is just as sweet as it is priceless: her eyes practically fall out of their sockets, and she proceeds to start giggling and crying at the same time. “You look so good,” she says, circling around me, fixing this and that, while covering her mouth with surprise and shock. “So, so good, darling!” She pauses her circuit around me, coming to stand directly in front of me. There, she fixes the collar on my dress shirt and the shoulders on my suit, so they sit nicely. “You look even more handsome than you did at the shop!” She takes a breath in, just admiring me for a moment. “By the time I’m done doing your hair for you and putting one of your nice new ties on, no one at the office is going to recognize you!”
Saying this, she reaches into one of the many shopping bags, pulling out a tie. A blue one, also, with faint paisley designs. This one will be a perfect fit for the overall ensemble. Taking that tie and grabbing a pair of new shoes from my pile of goodies, she leads me into the master bathroom. “Come on! Let me help you finish getting ready, and then we can stop for some coffee and donuts on the way!”
I don’t resist in the slightest. The last time Melissa forced me into the bathroom for a makeover, I ended up getting the promotion I wanted. If this time is anything like last time, I’m going to leave a great impression on everyone at the office. If I’m lucky, today will be another lucky day for me. Not sure what or how, but Melissa’s magic always brings good results. I’ll just have to wait and see what those good results are. Maybe by the end of the day, I’ll have something good to share with her over drinks.
I think this just as Melissa has settled me in front of the mirror, and begun to put my tie on for me, and get out her styling gel.