Happy Birthday Lizzie

Part 4

We ate breakfast and I went to take a shower. I had exactly one set of everything at his place. I made a mental note to pack a small bag to bring over next time. I finished getting ready and went to find out if he was coming to my place after work.

She took her shower while I wandered around my place and fiddled with my guitar. When she was done she came out to find me. "Sup, Babe. Good shower?"

"Yeah. It's better with you though." I twiddled my fingers. "Are you coming over after you are done tonight?"

"That's still okay, yes?"

I nodded. "Always. I can make dinner if you want." I looked at the time. "I should probably get out of your way. I might need to clean my place anyway."

"You're not in my way. What's for dinner? Actually, it will probably be a late night. We can sort food out a bit later. You opposed to meeting up for dinner?" I looked over at her and smiled then put my guitar down so I could steal a few hugs and a kiss. I still don't like goodbyes. They bug me. But I knew we wouldn't be apart for too long. I walked the short distance between us and pulled her closer to me; stealing that hug I wanted. "I'll let you know."

I was in his arms easily. "Meeting up could be fun." I didn't really like saying goodbye, but it wasn't forever. I wondered how long it would be before we actually started living together. We spent almost every night together, often alternating places. He had a drawer at my place, and I had a drawer here. I let him hold me for as long as he needed to. I sighed against his neck. "I love you", slipped from my lips very quietly.

"I love you too," I professed proudly as I rubbed her back. "I'll see you tonight." I pulled back and stole a soft warm kiss that actually made me dizzy. "Say um you got any plans for the - what is it? Next two days?"

I licked my lips after he kissed me. "Cannot wait. As a matter of fact, I have nothing on the agenda for the next week."

"Good. After work. I don't either. I'll walk you to your car if you are ready to go. Let me just get Lady." I smiled and stole another smaller kiss then headed over to put my guitar in her bag so I could take her to the studio with me. "So I'll call you around dinner time. If I don't, message me because that means I have forgotten about my need for food."

I nodded. "That I can do." I reached for his hand and let him lead me out to my car. After a quick hug goodbye, I was on my way home. I cleaned a bit and changed the sheets on my bed. I set an alarm on my phone and took a nap.

Work was good; easy relaxing until it wasn't. But I managed to get a lot of the things I wanted to get done before things went further south than I cared for. I got hungry, then got annoyed and angry and forgot I was hungry. I was working on working through dinner time; it was well past it, when Noah stuck his head in and asked if I was hungry. "It's dinner time?"

"Yeah."

"Oh!" I grabbed my phone. "I don't know." I started to fumble with it. "I mean I am hungry. I need to--"

"Dude, chill. Let me know in a few minutes what you want to do about being hungry. Maybe we can all go and get some food or Door-dash. Your call." He disappeared around the corner before I could reply. I looked at my phone. It was nearly 7 o'clock. I should have a message and Lizzie should be pretty hungry too by then.

My alarm woke me at 6 pm and I got up and showered and called Avi. I was starving. The call went to voicemail and I left a quick message reminding him that it was dinner time and he needed to eat. I got dressed and waited for his response.

I was expecting to find a message and was a bit disappointed until I realized I had a voicemail. I checked it and called Lizzie back. "Hey?"

I smiled at the phone as it rang in my hand. "Hey, stranger. You must have been working hard."

"Yeah. Pretty much. So do you want to go out with us or come here?"

"Whatever is easiest for you guys." I started gathering my keys and my purse as I talked to him.

"Um--" I stopped to think it through, "Out. Burgers?"

"Sure. In and Out?"

"Nah. I need real food. Unami" at that point Noah had stepped back around the corner. He gave me a thumbs up and stepped away. "We'll meet you there. I don't know who all 'we' entails, so um -- you know." I tried to put a smile in my voice but I felt like my grumpy was easily heard. I sighed as I stood up. "I don't have much more to do here. I think after work, I might take a short walk though."

"Okay. I am on my way. You do whatever you need to do, sweetie. I'll see you in a few." I made my way out to my car and drove to the restaurant. It would take me about 20 minutes if traffic stayed good. He sounded weary and upset. I hoped that it would pass soon.