KISMET Prequel TaeTee

A Darvid Day

My eyes fluttered open. The room is still in darkness yet I feel that it's already light. The thick drapes are drawn to shut the early morning sunlight from getting into our bedroom.

It's just another morning.

Or not.

Someone else is in the bed with me.

Someone I didn't have for two weeks.

P'Tae is sleeping peacefully next to me. With a jolt to my heart, I recalled that he was supposed to be back last night.

I waited and waited for his return but had fallen asleep, ultimately.

The jet must have delayed.

And here he is sleeping on his side, facing me.

My heart felt light by finally seeing him for real after two weeks. Squinting my eyes, I tried to make out his face in the darkness of the room. Except for his subtle yet familiar scent, I couldn't decipher his features.

I scooted closer.

I missed him. I missed everything about him. I want to see his face yet I'm afraid to wake him up. He must have gotten home so late last night, or it could be early in the morning.

So I inched closer to his sleeping form, close enough to feel his warm breath on my face, and fell back into sleep again to the lull of his rhythmic breathing.

The next time I woke, the room was flooded with light from the open drapes.

And I was alone in the bed. I frowned and wondered if I was dreaming earlier.

Before I get more confused, I heard the toilet flush in the bathroom.

P'Tae is really back. I wasn't dreaming.

"Good morning, Tee!" He strode into the bedroom in his familiar, striped PJ bottoms and a plain white t-shirt. His smile so bright, teeth white against the tanned face.

How I missed his smile!

"Morning, P'Tae!" I mumbled. For some reason, I felt unusually shy and subdued today.

Seeing that I wasn't going to get up anytime sooner, he came and sat next to me on the bed and smiled down pleasantly.

"When did you get back?" I asked scratching my hair and rolled onto my back so that I can look at him properly.

"There was a delay at the Domodedovo airport," P'Tae explained. "I'm sorry, Tee. Were you waiting?" His lips turned up at one corner.

I shook my head. It was a little white lie. I tried my best to keep awake until his arrival, despite mae Vanida's insistence that I should sleep, that the jet gets delayed often.

But I still waited.

Or tried to.

"I didn't know what to bring back from Moscow." P'Tae turned aside and took a plastic bag from the floor. "Just a few random things I managed to grab while running around and working." He chuckled handing me the bag.