PERMANENT - Leonardo DiCaprio

Chapter 48 - Chateau Marmont

Tuesday 11.27am

My eyes fluttered open as I awoke from my dreamless sleep to see the spring sun once again shining through the cracks in my bedroom window, that the blinds had failed to conceal. For March, it seemed to be considerably more sunny than I remember March ever being - no wonder California was called the Golden State.

I glanced at Leo, who was still sleeping beside me, his hair a mess atop his head, and pulled my body to a sitting position, letting the covers fall to my lap. Reaching a hand out, I checked my phone to see that it was already half 11, it was nearly midday, and decided to blame my late wake-up on the jetlag.

Underneath the time sat only 2 messages:

'1 new message: Lisa'

'1 new message: Daniel'

I opened Lisa's first, a text that was only received 20 minutes ago.

'Hey sweetie, just wondering if you and Leo got to the hotel okay last night? They called and said no one checked in to the room...are you okay?'

I smiled at Lisa's thoughtful message, though I did feel a tad bad that we didn't let them know we weren't gonna be staying the night there, after all, who turns down an extra night in Chateau Marmont for a plain Santa Monica apartment?

After typing out an apologetic message, I got up out of bed and headed straight for the bathroom to shower and refresh myself for the day.

By the time I got out of the bathroom, Leo was already up, scrolling through emails on the bed, the curtains partly open to let the sun in through the window.

"Hey," I said softly, smiling as I gently closed the bathroom door behind me until I heard the faint click.  "Did I wake you?"

Leo shook his head. "Nah, it's late enough." He stood up from the bed and walked around, giving me a quick kiss as he walked past me and out the bedroom, as I followed behind.

"When do we leave for Chateau Marmont?" He said as he rounded the kitchen island as I hopped up to sit on one of the barstools. 

"About half an hour, probably less. Lisa sent someone to pick us up." I watched Leo open the fridge, not sure if even acknowledging my response, only to find it empty, and by empty, I mean empty .

He turned to me, hand still clutching the handle of the fridge, which was wide open (it wasn't even turned on), giving me a great view of the nothingness that was there, his mouth slightly agape, and the expression of a child who's candy has just been taken away. Leo loved his food. I burst out laughing at his face, not able to control myself any longer.

Of course, as we'd been away travelling for so long, I'd be stupid to leave any food in the fridge, unless I wanted to come back home to find some furry vegetables and a foul smell that would surely fail to air out for at least 2 weeks.

"Leo, I don't know what you were expecting," I said in between laughs "I've been out of my apartment for so long," A look of slow realisation dawned on him, I could tell, as he let go of the handle, and the door shut itself.

I composed myself, taking a deep breath before I laughed again and spoke "Please tell me you cleared your fridge before you left." Leo bit his lip, fidgeting with the hem of his shirt. He looked up at me and chuckled, sighing in amusement "I did not do that." He chuckled again "I hate myself," he joked, shaking his head as the  realisation of the state he would find his fridge in when he got home set in. At least he saw the funny side.

"And that, my darling, is why women live longer than men." I whispered, hopping back off the barstool and heading back towards the bedroom, smiling to myself. Leo followed suit, huffing and puffing behind me about my jokey remark.