Jill stretched in her bed. She luxuriously stretched her arms and legs, her tummy, every muscle feeling heavy but curiously relaxed. Still half asleep, she rolled over and stretched her hand out to touch Joe. She groaned as she realized he wasn't there. She tentatively opened her eyes, hoping that the lovely dream she'd just woken from was true and that he was home from Japan and lying beside her. Alas, no. Reality was such a pain sometimes she thought to herself. As she came awake the events of the past week came tumbling through her mind, principally the fact that this was yet another morning waking up without him. She contented herself with the fact that tomorrow morning would be different. She reached for her phone. She definitely would have a message from him, probably twenty, she laughed to herself. They had left voice messages, text messages, and WhatsApp messages countless times for each other over the past week. The time difference this time was a real pain for actually getting to speak to each other but they did manage that too. She sat up and fixed her glasses as she unlocked her phone.
Her trip across South America had been a tremendous success. It had been a hectic week. There were some diplomatic booby traps to negotiate but Joe had coached her well, unwilling to let her go feeling anything less than a hundred percent confident in every aspect of the trip he had given her valuable time to prepare and kept in touch as much as he could while he was visiting the Pacific nations. He had a sixth sense for when she needed him. Just as the questions were beginning to surface in her head, second-guessing herself on an answer she had given or an off-hand comment she had made Joe would ring, or message, telling her how proud of her he was, how grateful to her for stepping up.
She had arrived back in Washington last night, exhausted but pleased. Joe would be traveling for another couple of days and, walking back into the White House on her return she had been thinking about how she missed him, how much she was looking forward to seeing him. As she entered the residence she was presented with a beautiful bouquet of flowers; from Joe. The card read 'Thanks for the help babe, you've been magnificent. Love, Joe' she smiled and laughed at the same time. He was a truly unbelievable partner.
She took a long bath and let her tired body relax. She slipped into bed basking in the warm glow of a successful trip, albeit alone in their bed. Slowly her body was readjusting, she was back in familiar surroundings.
They had managed to chat while she was on the plane back from Argentina so they were fully updated on each other's progress. He had replied immediately when she texted him goodnight. He was in the car on the way to an event and had rung her straightaway. She listened to his voice, speaking softly to her as she lay in their bed. She had that curious feeling of elation following a successful trip, exhaustion after all of the events, and her body out of sync with the normal pattern of her days but her readjustment was nothing compared to the time changes Joe would experience on his way home. She knew from his voice that he was excited. Looking forward to the ceremonial tea with the Prime Minister and his wife, the formal dinner, and then tomorrow, that mix of hope and expectation that the QUAD session they had prepared so hard for would all go off successfully.
As he spoke she settled back against the pillow, her tiredness threatened to overcome her. His voice was so soothing, so comforting. She felt herself nodding off. He noticed her voice changing and he adjusted his own tone, spoke more softly, and whispered words of love and comfort to her as he guided her to the edge of sleep. He told her again how much he loved her, how much he missed her. How he wished she was beside him, holding his hand, how he would envelop her in his arms tomorrow, how they would sleep together again soon, to wake together wrapped in the safety and security of their love. She fell asleep lulled by his voice as a baby would to a lullaby. She realized now that was probably why she had dreamt that he was there, and why she had slept such a truly deep and uninterrupted sleep.
