It was very late when I arrived home at last after a 20 hour flight from India, where I had been for the past month. I had been there to oversee the work of the charity which I represented, amongst the many disabled children and adults in the villages there. As I put my key in the lock I wondered if you would still be awake to enfold me in your loving arms after so long apart. But the house was in darkness as I opened the front door, the only light a small lamp on the hall stand, and In the pool of light at its base I saw a small envelope on which were inscribed just three words "To my lover".
Inside was a note which read, "Welcome home my darling, it is so good to have you back again. I have missed you so much, and I had so wanted to be there when you walked through the door, but I couldn't stay awake any longer. I have taken my mug of chocolate into the study, and when I have drunk it I shall go to bed to wait for you there. You will find bread and cheese on the table in the kitchen, and a bowl of soup in the microwave, but don't delay too long my dearest once you are refreshed. I do not want to wait a moment longer than necessary to hold you in my arms again. D xxx."
I parked my case at the foot of the stairs, hung up my coat and hat, and on a whim I quietly pushed open the door to the study in case you were still there. The vision of loveliness that I saw before me banished my hunger, and pushed all thoughts of sleep out of my mind, my tiredness forgotten.
You were lying back in an arm chair in front of the fire, an empty mug on the table at your side, and the book you had been reading lying on the floor where it had slipped from your fingers as you fell asleep, dreaming, perhaps, of me. Your lustrous dark hair cascaded down your shoulders, and loose tendrils caressed your naked breasts where your silk dressing gown had fallen open as you slept.