So, Here I Am

Chapter Thirty Lilo ?

Maggie woke early the next morning, before Laurent was awake.  It was just getting light, and she decided she would go for a walk to clear her head.  She got up as quietly as she could, put on some joggers and a sweat top, took Laurent's keys, a bottle of water, and quietly closed the apartment door behind her.

It was going to be a beautiful day, as so many of them in L.A. invariably were.  Laurent lived only a few blocks from the beach, so after a short walk, she took the steps that deposited her on the sand.  It was warm already, and she turned her face to the sun, soaking in its warming rays.

With a sharp sigh she took his phone out of her pocket, and scrolled through recent calls, incoming and outgoing.  Larry,  Eleni,  Management Company,  Lilo.

Lilo.

She waited a few seconds before pressing the redial button. There would be a voice at the other end, maybe an unfamiliar voice, maybe a female voice.  She held her breath.  Her heart was pounding in her chest as it rang.  Then it went to voicemail.   Shit.

"Hello, this is Lilo, I'm not home right now, leave a message !" the sweetest little voice said.

Lilo.

Maggie sank to her knees in sheer relief.  He was telling the truth, why hadn't she believed him ? Why shouldn't she ?  Larry must have been mistaken.  Maybe Lilo had called her uncle Laurent without Mama B's knowledge, because she really did miss him.  Maggie didn't care at that precise moment in time.  It was as if her world had started turning again.  The sky was bluer, the sun was warmer, and her heart started beating again. 

She quickly walked back to Laurent's apartment, let herself in quietly, but she still had to put his phone back without him noticing it had gone.  He was in the shower, so she quickly put it somewhere other than where he had left it, so he would think he had misplaced it when he came in late last night.  She got undressed, and quietly opened the shower door to join her love.

It was a long shower.