She has tried everything from drinking wine to counting sheep and yet still she lies in bed wide awake. Another glance at the clock tells her that it has been three hours since her first attempt to fall asleep. That makes her groan and kick back the covers in frustration.
She opens the light in the living room and turns on the television that shows a late night variety show. After a trip to the kitchens to fetch the bottle with the remaining wine, she settles on the sofa with a sigh, wondering if she should go for a nighttime jog to push herself into exhaustion.
Her phone suddenly lights up as a text message comes in. "We have just finished filming for tonight. On my way home. Goodnight, sweetheart. 😘"
The emoji has her smiling widely. She teased him about his limited use of emojis when there were a lot in his disposal. This might be his way of telling her that he was exploring. Instead of replying, she taps on the call icon and lifts the phone up to her ear.
"Why are you still awake?"
His voice, gentle as always, betrays his fatigue, and it makes her smile fall. "Couldn't sleep," she tells him. "Are you getting enough rest these days? You sound like you are about to get sick."
"I'm fine. Just had to shoot an emotional scene today," he explains with a sigh. She can imagine him stretching at the back seat of his Lincoln. "Why can't you sleep? Is something bothering you?"
"Just plain old insomnia hitting me hard these days," she says, mindlessly flipping through the channels. "I get so tired during the day only to be wide awake at night. It's exhausting."
"You poor thing," he frowns, sounding genuinely worried that it makes her heart flutter. "Have you tried drinking some warm milk? I hear that helps."
"I don't think dairy will agree with the alcohol currently in my system," she laments, taking another swig of her wine. "I do not want to add diarrhea to my problems."
He chuckles before teasing her, "And here I thought that you only drink when you are with me."
His suggestive tone has her biting her lower lip to control her growing smile. "It has been weeks since we last saw each other," she says with a playfully accusing tone. "You can't possibly keep me away from my wine for that long."
"Tsk. Damn it," he replies in a low tone. "I thought you were going to say that you miss me."
She slyly turns the question back to him. "Do you miss me?"
A beat. "What do you think?"
Her cheeks turn warm, and she emits a sound akin to a school girl in love. "What are you doing to me?" she whines, falling face first onto the cushions and kicking her feet. "You can't say things like that when we are apart. It's not fair."
"Are you saying that I can do this when we are together?"
"Yes," she confirms. "You can only flirt with me if you are within my reach. So I can either kiss you or hit you, which highly depends on what you say."
"And what would have your response been with what I just said?"
She does not hesitate when she says coquettishly, "A kiss. Because I miss you terribly."
Her doorbell rings.
Her heart skips a beat. "Wait..." she loses her train of thought and almost trips over her own two feet trying to reach the door.
He stands on the other side in a simple shirt and jeans with his hair in disarray, his phone against his ear, and a smile.
He has never looked more handsome.
"If you said you were going to hit me, I would have turned around immediately," he says in greeting.
She doesn't add onto his joke, choosing instead to jump into his warm embrace. He smells like home and she cannot help but sigh in relief.
"I wanted to ask you to come over," she reveals, still wrapped up in his arms. "But when I heard how tired you were over the phone, I..." she pulls back to look at him and frowns upon seeing the dark circles under his eyes. "You look exhausted, my love."
"I can't leave my girlfriend to battle insomnia on her own," he grins before kissing her soundly. "I missed you. I don't have to be on set until late in the afternoon tomorrow. So until then, I am all yours."
She smiles, pulling him into her apartment and locking the door behind them. "Sounds like a plan."
