I am so tired. It is an effort to walk along the hospital hallway and I curse the distance from my unit to the parking garage. Each step is torture, but I put my head down and doggedly continue, each step taking me closer to my car and escape from the day...I want this day to fall from around me and I want to feel clean again.
All the way home, I think of you. I wonder what you are doing now. What you had for dinner. Who sat around the dinner table with you, making you smile and laugh. I wish fervently that it had been me; a nice, clean fragrant me, laughing and joking with you and watching your dimples appear and seeing the way your eyes delve into mine.
I allow myself to indulge in a little fantasy that pleases me. It has been recurring since the day I gave you my spare keys to the apartment. I will come home and find you asleep on our bed, under our quilt. I imagine it often, the surprise and happiness of finding you there, waiting for me. It will probably never happen, though. I can't imagine you actually coming to my home, using the keys I so lovingly gave you, being there for me. It is just a fantasy that sustains me on days like these.
Finally, I turn into my apartment driveway. The security gate, as often happens for me, is up, even though it is nearly 8pm. I smile and thank my Guardian Angel for having it open for me, relieving me of the need to stop and work the magic pass system.
As I drive to my building, I thank my Angel again. There, right there, right at the entrance, is a beautiful parking space, just steps from the front door. I fall out of the car and again wish I didn't have to walk one more step. But I can see my windows and my feet actually speed up; I am nearly home! I stop myself from looking around for your car. It is just a fantasy and one I should forget.
I stop for the mail, clunk down the stairs in my heavy sneakers, open the heavy green door. I am finally home! It is getting dark outside and I know my apartment will be cool and dusky too. I like coming home to the nice welcoming cocoon, the little night lights giving off enough light to help me through the submersion into my safe place.
I enter, immediately locking the door behind me. I drop my keys on the shelf by the door and sigh loudly. Without turning on any lights, I drop into the chair in front of the computer....just to see if you are online or if you sent email today. I click on the music icon and an old love song fills the air. I check my email....nothing. You aren't signed on, so there is no chance of hearing a little brrriiiinnnnngggg from you. Next, I check Facebook and Lexulous to see if you have played. Ah, yes, you did. The little pop-up says you played two hours ago....so, I missed you! I click on our games, one by one, and smile as I see your words. You are so good, so intelligent. It is a challenge to keep up with you and I have the re-occurring concern that you will grow bored with me. I play my words quickly, giggling as I imagine your face when you see that I played 'dirty' scrabble in one game.
Now, I slowly get up and walk to the bedroom. The nice, dark bedroom- made even darker by the blue curtains you helped me hang. I walk in the dark, the little nightlight in the corner sending a soft glow against the far wall. As I enter, I can smell you. That is a curse, thinking of you and knowing you so well, that I can conjure up your singular scent at will. I collapse on the side of the bed, facing the closet, and reach down to untie my shoes. That is my only concession to civility. Once untied, I just kick them off. I use my heel-on-toe to remove my socks. I am exhausted. I sit in the darkened room and inhale you, wishing you were really here, not just my over-active imagination playing cruel tricks on my weary mind.