Purposefully Coincidental ✓

30. Cleaning

Josephine

I wipe the cloth across the bathroom mirror with a huff. It's been a long day of cleaning and tidying.

My little apartment requires a full day to deep clean. And I still need to clean my bedroom. It's messy and there are clothes everywhere.

I'm wearing the uniform I wear when cleaning. Lounge shorts that are comfortable for bucking and gliding across the floor, and a loose shirt that I've had since high school, and is now too tight on me. But it has the Jonas brothers on it from when I was obsessed with them—still am, but on a more subtle level—and I refuse to part with it.

I've put away almost all of my clothes when someone knocks on my door.

I open it and gape when I see it's Leo.

He steps forward, and we wrap our arms around each other.

"You're here." My voice comes out high pitched.

He pulls back and his hands travel from my shoulders to my nape.

"Surprise." He chuckles.

"I thought you'll stay there for another few days." I softly hit his chest. We just spoke yesterday, and he didn't tell me he's coming.

"I changed my mind." He shrugs and plants a soft kiss on my forehead before grabbing my hand. "I have some exciting news."

He sits down and I take a seat next to him and pull my feet onto the sofa.

"Tell me." I demand, smiling widely at the sight of him. It's been two weeks since I last saw him and it feels like a full month. Too long. The phone calls have been difficult with the time difference and my crazy shift times.

"You know my brother and his girlfriend were there when I arrived." He starts and I nod. "He proposed to her there."

"Aww." I grin. "That's so romantic."

"Yeah," he takes a hand through his hair. He got a haircut during the period I didn't see him, I notice. "They couldn't stop smiling the entire time."

"That's sweet."

Our eyes connect, and we hold our gazes. "How have you been?" He asks, setting a palm on my knees.

"Good." I look around my apartment. "Was busy with work and cleaning this place."

"Looks clean to me."

"Duh." I scoff. "After a thorough deep cleansing."

"If you would've waited a day to clean, I could've helped you." He offers sincerely.

"Next time, I'll call you up." I tap the palm that's on my knee and keep it there. My hand on top of his.

His eyes peer at our hands for a moment, then he turns his hand and clasps our fingers together. His fingers totally engulf mine.

"I've missed you." He whispers, his eyes staring into mine.

"I've missed you, too." Between his gray eyes, I look for any sign of what this could mean. I'm not sure if it's my mind playing tricks on me, but I swear I could see affection in his gaze.

"Do you still have a lot to do?" He gestures around the place.

"Nah, only my bedroom a little." I wave a hand in the air. "But that's not important. Tell me all you did while you were there."

For the next two hours, he tells me in boring detail all that he did. In detail because I keep asking for more specifications.

He tells me all about his Nonna and the things she had planned for them like an art class, snorkeling, jet skiing.