The incessant ringing of the phone had developed from a faraway buzzing to a loud ringing Federico could no longer ignore. Without opening his eyes, he felt his bedside for it and balanced it on his ear.
"Good morning, handsome!" a female voice chirped on the other line.
"Leon?" he joked, his voice still thick and groggy from sleep.
"Oh dear lord, Federico, it's 7:15!" his girlfriend, Ludmila, said in an exasperated tone.. "You have to wake up."
"I'm awake," he lied even as he started to drift back into sleep, the phone slipping from his ears, falling to the floor with a thud. He gave a start and reached for the phone. When he placed it back to his ear, she was still talking.
"How many alarm clocks does it take for you to wake up on your own?" she asked. Oh, she was expecting him to answer.
"Well, I kind of like hearing your voice first thing in the morning," he said lazily.
"Hmph. Even half-asleep you're a huge flirt," she admonished, though her voice has gotten much softer. "Get up, okay? Don't be late again. Your fans expect you to be amazing and without practice, they will be disappointed."
"Yes baby," he said.
"Okay. Bye, I love you," she said, her voice still sounding shy on the last three words since they've just recently started saying them to each other.
"I love you too," he said softly.
He smiled sleepily and placed the phone back on his nightstand. Then he turned on his stomach, huddled under his covers, and promptly went back to sleep.
"Ha! I knew it!"
Ludmila burst into the room, her phone still in hand. She had a triumphant look on her face as she pulled the blanket off him. He instinctively curled into a ball as the air-conditioning hit his naked back.
"I swear, you are the hardest person to wake. Federico! FEDERICO!" she shouted, muttering a few curse words in Spanish.
He felt the mattress shift weight as she climbed on the bed to shake him awake. He turned on his side, opening one eye to look at her.
"Come lie with me for a while," he said, bringing a heavy arm around her to force her to lie down.
"Ack! You're so naked!" she exclaimed as he tightened his embrace on her. "Fede, you're going to wrinkle my clothes!"
"Then let's take them off," he murmured close to her ear. He was already feeling the first stirrings of arousal as she tried to wriggle out of his grasp, causing her behind to make delicious movements against him.
"You're going to be late for practice," she protested weakly.
He lifted her chin and gave her a thorough kiss, tasting a little bit of the cherry lip balm she liked so much. Well, he liked it too. He gently sucked on her bottom lip, making her shudder. He ran his hand on the dips and curves of her body, loving the way she felt against him, loving her taste, loving her... Ludmila...
The loud clanging of his alarm clock made Federico sit up disoriented, vainly trying to chase the last images from his dream before they completely faded away. He smashed his hand against the snooze button, but it wouldn't shut up. He had to input the series of numbers it displayed on the screen before it will turn off; a gift from Ludmila. She gave it to him before he left for Italy.
His heart sank in his chest as he glanced almost hopefully at the empty space next to him on the bed. He could still taste the cherry lip balm as if it were real and she was in bed with him. But it wasn't just a dream, was it? It was a memory. The alarm clock still blared intrusively and he glared at it for a few seconds before punching in the correct numbers. The sudden silence was even more deafening than the beeping. There would be no Ludmila to burst in the door to make sure he stayed awake.
