Lucy stared at her phone. The girls had been in bed for an hour now, and she was sitting in the living room, alone.
Their last mission had left Lucy's arm in a cast, which meant that she was out of commission at the moment. Therefore, Gru was required to go on the next mission without her. While the doctors said that she was healing quickly, it felt to her as if the days drug by like molasses. She was itching to get back to her job, and she hated the fact that Gru was doing it without her.
Not that she minded the extra time to be with her daughters. It was nice to be able to see them more, and to have more one-on-one time with them. Still, she missed her husband.
She knew that he was no more happy about the situation than she was. He hated doing anything related to the AVL without her. Right now, he was at a required week-long training session out of state. They were both supposed to be there, but with her recent injury, she was unable to participate.
He had been gone for six days now, and, so far, his absence had been even harder to bear than she had predicted. It hadn't helped that Jillian had made a habit of dropping by, once she had noticed that Lucy had been staying home during the days. At first, she had been glad for the company, but now, she just wished that Jillian would leave her alone.
On the first of these visits, Jillian had dropped by, and Lucy made them each a cup of tea. It had taken her longer than usual, what with her arm still being in a cast and all. They both took their tea into the living room.
"So, I bet it's nice for you to have some personal space, now that Gru's gone for a little bit." Jillian began, laughing in her usual fake way.
"Well, it's a little nice, I suppose." Lucy replied. "Honestly, I mostly just miss him. It's pretty hard not having him around."
"Oh, yeah." Jillian continued. "I totally get it! Having a guy who travels is so hard! I had one boyfriend who was always traveling, and it was hard."
"I'm sure it-" Lucy began.
"The thing that was just so frustrating," Jillian kept going, as if Lucy had never said anything. "Was that he just never stopped calling me! He just seemed so desperate!"
"I like it when Gru calls." Lucy said. "It makes it easier when I can at least hear his voice."
"Yeah," Jillian said. "But, you don't ever want to be the one calling him. That's what I learned from my boyfriend. It makes you look super desperate and clingy!"
Lucy sighed internally. She knew that Jillian had good intentions, but she sometimes made Lucy's head spin with all of the "advice" that she gave. It was exhausting!
She felt slightly bad for rushing her guest out of the house, with the excuse that she had to make dinner, but she got over it relatively quickly.
Now, she sat on the couch, looking at her phone. Should she just call him? He hadn't called last night, and she knew that there were many good reasons why that could have happened, but she found herself worrying all the same. He never missed a call.
She fidgeted with her cast. Ugh! She wished that she could make this injury go away so that she could be there with him.
Should she just call him?
Jillian had gotten in her head. Of course she should just call him. Before Jillian had come over, she would've never even given the question a second thought.
She picked up the phone to dial the number that he had given her for his hotel, but before she could do that, it started buzzing, and a picture of her husband showed up on the screen. He had called!
"Hello?" She said, after answering it.
"Hello, darling. Listen, I'm so sorry that I didn't call last night! The trainer kept us super late, and I got home past midnight and went straight to bed." She heard him say.
"Oh, it's alright!" She replied. "Just as long as you're ok."
"So, how are you?" He asked. "How's your arm?"
"Fine. Still in a cast." She said.
"I know that you hate it. Believe me, if I could make it go away, I would." He replied sweetly.
Of course he would. She loved how sweet and protective he was. She knew that he hated that she was home with an injury without him. He had no way to make sure that she took it easy. He had to just take her word for it, and, knowing Lucy, who never took anything easy without him there to enforce it, that was little consolation.
"I only have one more day here." He added.
"That seems like a long time." She sighed.
"I know." He replied. "But, I'll be back before you know it. Just please take it easy while I'm gone, especially with your arm."
"I am." She replied. "I miss you."
"I miss you too, sweetie." He said. "I have to go now. I'll see you soon. I love you."
"I love you too." She said, and their conversation ended.
"Why was I nervous about that?" She asked herself, shaking her head at her silliness. She never had to worry about things like that with Gru, and she knew it!
