PERMANENT - Leonardo DiCaprio

Chapter 47 - Re-charge

Monday 11.12am

The anticipation of being home raced through me as I twisted the key in my apartment door, pushing it wide open once it clicked unlocked.

"Oh my god," I whispered, taking in the apartment as if it was the first time I had seen it. It wasn't a huge or spectacular apartment in any way, not one that anyone would expect a now millionaire actress to be living in, but it was special in its own way. The floor just by the front door was littered with paper as if someone had slid a mass of notes under my door, some different colours, and some with a variety of hearts on them. I frowned and picked one up, inspecting it. It was a light pink envelope, and written on the front side in beautiful cursive writing was:

'To Penelope,

OPEN ME

from apartment 181b, your biggest fan xo'

To be completely honest, I had no idea who lived in 181b, despite having lived here for a while, but it was clearly a handwritten fan letter inside. I looked down at the heap of other letters on the ground by my feet, and scooped them all up, placing them on the side cabinet, where I put my keys, promising myself to read them later.

However, it took one glance at my plush couch for me to throw myself on it, and I wasn't gonna get up till I had to.

Behind me, Leo sighed happily in what I guessed was nostalgia, remembering the times we've had here. This is where we became best friends practicing lines, before my name was even known. This is where we spent countless hours just talking, before it all got too hectic and complicated.

"This feels like home, you know." he spoke up after our brief moment of silence where we just appreciated our surroundings.

I looked up at where he was standing, as he made his way over to the couch adjacent to the sofa I was lying on, my feet propped up on the arm rest and my head buried comfortably in the cushions.

"Really? This little old place?"

He chuckled "Yeah. Feels like I've lived here more than I have in my Palm Springs home."

"Well I'm glad you feel comfortable." I replied, studying his face, trying to figure out how a 'celebrity' of his status, a multi-millionaire and the most in demand actor of the decade, could possibly be so down to earth.

After a moment, I spoke up again, "Though..." my voice trailed off, as if not wanting to say it, "I really think I should be looking at someplace else to move. Maybe a bigger seafront apartment in Malibu - it's not that far from here." Leo seemed to be considering it in his head, so I continued.

"I just think I need to move out of this area. Go somehwere more private and secure." I bit my lip, thinking hard, staring into space.

Leo stood up and moved swiftly over to me, lifting up my legs and sitting on the couch I was lying on, then placing my legs over his lap, one hand firmly gripping my leg.

"You don't have to justify yourself Nel. I'm with you whatever you choose to do." My eyes travelled back to his, and I smiled, still biting my lip. I nodded.

My stomach growled in hunger and I looked over to the fridge, realising my refridgerator was absolutely empty from my month's of travel abroad.

"Let's get takeout." Leo said promptly, reaching for his phone in his pocket.

I looked at him sceptically, "For breakfast?"

His eyes darted to me quickly and back to his phone as he snorted "Yeah, why not? It's not like you want to leave the apartment anytime soon, I know that for a fact."

He knew me so well.

"Alright," I swung my legs down and got up from the sofa, "I'm gonna take these bags to my room."

I bent down to take our luggage and rolled them to my room, as I heard Leo speaking on the phone. My bed stood neat and untouched in my room, just as I had left it when we left for Tokyo in November last year. I remembered that morning well - me and Leo were slightly hungover (when are we not?), and it was one of the most stressful mornings, trying to pack half of my bags at 6am only hours before we were due to leave, but I never ever left the house without making sure my  bed was made, so amid the rush, I managed to make my bed, and even put every one of my decorative cushions on (I was one of those people, yes, but at least my bed always looked pretty).

The room was dark, so I made my way from the bed, to the large windows and opened the curtains wide, letting the sunlight illuminate the room. Feeling content, I studied the view of the neighbouring apartment complex out of my window, which I had missed so much. I had always felt a strong sense of community living here. The weathered windows, however, did show signs of wear, after months of no cleaning, but that wasn't a major concern of mine at the moment - I just wanted to eat and sleep.

//

6.20pm

After pigging out on food that we ordered straight to my apartment and having a 5 hour nap on my couch, I finally awoke, my hair a mess and my hand still clutching the napkin I was using when we ate. I glanced down, Leo still sleeping soundly with his head on my stomach, his long arms wrapped around my waist, and coming down under to rest under my butt. Carefully, I sat upright, sliding slowly out of his grip.

I stretched hard, getting rid of any sleepiness I still had, and grabbed my phone off the coffee table, which lay amongst the leftover food we hadn't packed up. With one last look at Leo's sleeping form, I made my way over to my bedroom, closing the door behind me. It wasn't extremely late, so the room was surrounded in a dimming glow of the early spring sun outside.

Slouching over to the bed, I dialled Matt's number again - I wasn't about to let up. The phone rang....and rang....reached the very last ring, when....

'Yeah?' Matt's voice startled me - quite frankly I didn't expect a response today, though his irrate tone told me I wasn't in the clear, and he did not want to be on this call.

"...Hey Matty," I replied softly, unsure of what to say next.

'It's nearly half 1 in the morning Penelope. If you're not in danger, I don't care for what you have to say.'

I fought back a smile, I missed his moody ass, and it was so good hearing his voice.

"I'm sorry. Please," I huffed a sigh "please understand my life is so busy. It's hectic..." a moment of silence followed before I spoke again. "I miss you guys so much." I wasn't going to explain my every action to him, and I knew the simplicity of what I had said would be enough.

Again, a longer silence ensued.

'I miss you too Pen,' I smiled, letting his voice fill the room...