Baby It's COVID Outside

Chapter 12 - Henry

I woke early, after a night of tossing and turning, restless from the dreams I barely remembered. With a groan I rolled and reached out for my phone to see the time.

I had, before bed at least, had every intention of clearing my mind and meditating and then getting a long and fulfilling night of sleep. But every time I closed my eyes, she was smiling at me in my mind and I could feel the ghost of the touch of her fingers on my skin.

My hand moved up to my nose remembering how she had tried so gently to check it was ok the day before. The concern on her face so genuine it took my breath away.

I hadn't had someone caring for me like that in a long time, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it.

Sitting up, I stretched my arms above my head and rolled my neck. I hadn't slept this badly in a long time, and I knew the stirred up memories of Penny and my parents had something to do with it.

I had told Susie she wasn't my therapist yesterday, but oddly enough, I did feel a little better for having told someone. Not that I'd ever admit that to her face.

Swinging my legs over the side of the bed, I got up and the cold air hit me. Goosebumps broke out over my arms and legs as I hurried towards the ensuite, determined to shower quickly and dress.

Stripping off my pyjama bottoms at the door, I tossed them into the laundry basket before stepping into the bathroom and flicking on the water. It took a moment for the water to warm up, but as soon as it had, I ducked my head straight under in an effort to wake myself up. My eyes closed against the spray and Susie was there, smiling at me in my mind.

No! I couldn't be thinking about her in the shower too. Not when it immediately had blood rushing to parts of me that had no business thinking about her.

I shut the water off and jumped out, quickly towelling myself dry and trying to ignore the growing problem I faced when she was on my mind.

Emerging in a cloud of steam back into my bedroom, with my towel knotted around my waist, I headed to my chest of drawers, quickly pulling on boxers and joggers.

My eyes flicked to the top, where I had left the t-shirt Susie had returned last night, which hadn't quite made it to the wash yet. It wasn't exactly dirty considering she had only worn it for half a day, I reasoned as I picked it up.

Before I could think too hard about it, I slid it over my head.

It smelt like her. Sort of fresh and with a hint of something tropical.

I was torturing myself but I couldn't persuade myself to take it off. Hopefully she would just assume I really liked this top and had more than one.

Crossing to the window I pulled back the curtain, blinking in the daylight and looking out at the view.

More snow had fallen in the night, totally covering any marks or spots where it might have melted the previous day.

I wasn't the biggest fan of snow, but even I could admit, it looked pretty beautiful out there.

Grabbing my phone I opened the door and listened for a moment for any signs of life from Susie. When none came, I tiptoed through the hallway and headed down the stairs as quietly as possible.

The house felt so oddly quiet this morning. Not that it was a particularly noisy house at the best of times, but somehow when Susie was awake in it, there was always a little noise that alerted me to her whereabouts.

Moving quickly through to the kitchen, I flicked the switch to put the kettle on. I wasn't much of a tea or coffee drinker normally but I knew Susie was, and with the chill in the air a hot drink seemed pretty appealing for once.