What We Found | Fillie

StrangerCon: Day Two

Sunday morning, Finn wakes up early, takes a quick shower and slips into an inconspicuous outfit of stone-washed jeans and a rolling stones tee with black Reeboks before leaving his and Millie's room. As he closes the door, he takes a moment to ensure she is still sleeping in the darkened room. He doesn't have to see her to know she's still deep asleep though. He can hear her light snores, like a baby pig rooting in a trough of daisies, and it reassures him that she's not going to wake up because of his departure. 

The snoring used to bother him when he was a freshly in love seventeen year old, but after spending two years without the now heavenly sound, he doesn't want to go through one more night of silence.

He leaves a post-it note on the inside of the door that says Good morning Beautiful, went for a walk, be back soon—F, then leaves.

Once in the elevator, he googles the nearest flower shop and is pleased to find that it's next to an award winning bakery, both less than a block away. The door dings and he breezes through the lobby and takes off on foot for the shops, breathing in the crisp Chicago morning air. A good start to this year's Mother's Day.

______________________________

Millie jolts awake when she hears the click of her hotel room door closing shut. Her body was already stirring from the lack of Finn's body heat against her back, but the door closing erupts her to a full consciousness. She breathes in a yawn and closes her eyes again while reaching for the body that she fell asleep cuddled up against. Her eyes snap open when her hand meets nothing but a vaguely warm blanket, "Bub?"—no answer.

While Finn doesn't particularly like this pet-name, he always answers to it. She squints at the bathroom to see if the door is shut, and she can't be sure with her second-rate vision being worsened by the darkness, but the bathroom looks unmistakably vacant.

She stretches over the bed and switches on the modern looking table lamp. As the room illuminates, she finds no evidence of her boyfriend but sees a white piece of paper adhered to the door and rolls out of bed to investigate.

"A walk?" She asks the emptiness, "Why would you go for a walk?"

 She's never known Finn to just go for a walk. They've taken random strolls around her property together, but she's always been the initiator because he'd rather sit on the couch with his guitar than be outside in the sun with bugs and pollen filling the air. And waking up early isn't exactly something he's ever made a point of unless it was for an early call-time.

But maybe it has to do with them being in Chicago. Maybe the city feels so inviting to him that he just went for walk. It's a beautiful city but, still, it doesn't seem like Finn to do this. 

She assumes she'll find out the 'why?' of the matter soon enough and puts the note on the desk, deciding she might as well get ready for the day. It's going to be a long one and a hot shower sounds inviting opposed to crawling back into her empty and now cold bed. Maybe when she gets out, Finn will be back. Or better yet, maybe he'll get back in time to join her. Either way, she heads to the bathroom, turns on her shower playlist through her phone speaker, and initiates her day.

_____________________________

Less than half an hour later, Finn is strutting down the hall to his room, proud as a peacock, balancing an arrangement of pink and purple tulips in a thin cylindrical glass vase with a bakery bag containing pastries and fresh fruit in one hand and his room key in the other.