Plans to Make & Hearts to Break
They're beautiful!
hey! i figure you're in the air but let me know when you land. you should come see the house
I responded to Danny's voicemail with a simple text upon waking up the next day. He would be back in Chicago days earlier than planned and I needed to feel like everything was normal.
So, cleaning my house ensued. A lot of it was just basic stuff - dishes, laundry and making sure all of the clothes were mine, sweeping and vacuuming the rugs. I picked up Apollo's food and water bowls and heard the cat let out one slow, sleepy meow as I rinsed and refilled the water, and washed and refilled the food. As he waited for his breakfast, he rubbed his sides against my ankles and occasionally I heard the small ringing sound from the tag on his collar.
“Let me see you,” I spoke as I scooped the kitten up with one hand. With the other I gave him a few quick scratches on the top of his head, and my eyes drifted down to the name tag hanging from the collar.
Apollo Beckett
“Well, that won't work,” I whispered before moving to unbuckle the collar. Once it was off, I set Apollo back on the floor. He still stared up at me expectantly, his bowl of food on the counter and well out of his reach. “Needy, needy,” I chuckled to myself before putting the bowls back on the floor. We'll need to get you a new one of these, huh? I thought as my fingers ran along the metal tag hanging from the collar. With a little work, I removed it. I should take you to get microchipped anyways. And you're always inside, we don't need this right now. I moved back to the countertops and opened the small drawer towards the corner. In the drawer there was a small flashlight, a couple screwdrivers, and now a cat collar. I looked at the namesake on the tag one more time before deciding to toss the tag into the small garbage can underneath the sink.
Cleaning complete, I moved into the living room. Not much to do now but wait, so I decided to pull out a canvas. I'd primed a square canvas a few days ago, painting an even coat of solid black - now that it was dry, I had an idea. Rather than going right into the paint I made a rough sketch on a loose sheet of paper and taped it to the easel.
I prepared the colors I knew I needed and after a deep breath, the painting began. The paint seemed to flow freely as the idea came to life. In the style of a classic cameo necklace, I painted a reverse silhouette, white against the dark background. The details slowly added revealed the side of a skeletal face. I was moving lower, to paint the vertebrae and shoulders towards the bottom of the canvas when a few soft knocks on the front door pulled away my focus.
The time on the cable box showed that I'd been painting for… almost two hours. I've heard of people using guided meditation as a form of therapy but picking up a paintbrush was, consistently, the best way I could center myself.
After a moment of hesitation I pulled open the front door. My eyes widened and a grin crept over my face as I took in the sight - Danny stood on the other side of the storm door. One hand was absently fidgeting with his keychain and the other held a small vase. The flowers within the vase were beautiful - a mixture of red and yellow tulips, a few containing a mottled mixture of the two colors.
“They're beautiful!” I grinned as I opened the storm door and allowed him into the house. “I love them.”
“Apparently I'm not the only person to think of flowers,” He chuckled as his gaze fell behind me for a moment. It was that exact moment that I remembered the wilting blue hydrangeas in a near-identical vase, sitting atop my dining table, near the wall. A few small petals had curled and fallen onto the tabletop, and all of the stems were starting to droop.
“Oh, god,” I sighed, under my breath. “My… mom sent those! She must've ordered them from the same shop you grabbed yours,” The story leapt from my mouth after only minimal hesitation. I carried the tulip vase to the table and them out with the older plants. “The vases are identical. How funny.”
“I thought they'd be a good housewarming gift. And apology gift.” Danny said after a moment. He walked behind me and pulled me into a tight hug, ignoring the vase still in my hand.
A smile found its way to my lips yet again. “You don't have to apologize,” I reassured him. “I was being immature and not letting you just do your job. Besides, you're back now - three days early! Which is enough of a gift on its own. Can I throw these away please?”
In response, he held me a little tighter. “You're too good to me. I'm never letting you go.” He said with a laugh.
“I'm not going far!” I protested. “Just gonna toss this in the garbage. It's like… two feet away. Goof.”
“You drive a hard bargain. But.. nope. I really thought I made you mad, I'm just making sure I didn't.”
“If I cant drop these old flowers into my garbage can, maybe you will!” I did my best to sound serious and threatening but couldn't stop myself from laughing. “I can't even move my arms!”
“Well-” Danny started to speak again, but paused abruptly. He dropped his arms from around me and turned around quickly before letting out a loud sneeze.
“Holy shit,” I chuckled, using my new freedom to quickly drop the hydrangeas, vase and all, into the trash can beneath the sink. “Thank you for not releasing that demon right onto the top of my head. And bless you or whatever.”
Danny sniffled a few times but seemed to recover from the involuntary outburst. “Well, I'm here. With no plans besides seeing my beautiful girlfriend for… at least a few days. What should we do?”
“Well,” I grinned, “I should clean up my mess,” I gestured towards where I'd been painting before his arrival. “And then… let's watch a movie. I am so ready to sit on the couch and cuddle.”
Danny grinned and I couldn't help but return the expression. He'd just been on a plane for a few hours, and at work quite a bit over the last few days - I know he needed to relax more than I did. He moved towards the canvas and easel just as I did, and I watched him study the still-wet painting for a few long moments.
“Skeleton?” The word came out as a question, and not a very good one at that. My only response was a slow nod. “Isn't it a little… halloween-y?”
“You know halloween’s my favorite.”
“Of course!” He defended. “I've just only ever seen you paint… not skeletons.”
“I’ve been trying a different style,” I grinned. Thanks for letting me know you hate it. “Pick out something on Netflix and I'll put this stuff away.”
I shuffled the easel and canvas around, and he took a seat and turned the TV on. After shuffling around for a few minutes I finally took a seat next to him on the couch. “How's this?” He asked, nodding towards the television. On the screen he'd selected The Office, but hadn’t started playing it.
“That's.. fine.” I nodded.
“You sound like you don't like the office.” He teased.
“I mean it's not my favorite but it's fine!”
“I feel like you watched it all the time.”
I couldn't help but laugh. “I watched it all the time because you watched it all the time.”
“We can watch something else.” He said, holding the remote towards me.
“This is fine,” I repeated. “I don't hate it.”
“If you say so,” he sighed. Still, he held the remote in my direction as if giving me one final chance to change my mind. At this point, I took the remote from his hand and pushed play myself.
We settled into a comfortable quiet, cuddled on the couch. My head rested in the crook of his neck. We barely made it through a whole episode before I realized my boyfriend was right on the cusp of sleep. “I'm glad you're back,” I said quietly, moving to place a small kiss on his cheek. Even half asleep, his expression changed to a small smile and he pushed me to snuggle into him just a little tighter.
I responded to Danny's voicemail with a simple text upon waking up the next day. He would be back in Chicago days earlier than planned and I needed to feel like everything was normal.
So, cleaning my house ensued. A lot of it was just basic stuff - dishes, laundry and making sure all of the clothes were mine, sweeping and vacuuming the rugs. I picked up Apollo's food and water bowls and heard the cat let out one slow, sleepy meow as I rinsed and refilled the water, and washed and refilled the food. As he waited for his breakfast, he rubbed his sides against my ankles and occasionally I heard the small ringing sound from the tag on his collar.
“Let me see you,” I spoke as I scooped the kitten up with one hand. With the other I gave him a few quick scratches on the top of his head, and my eyes drifted down to the name tag hanging from the collar.
Apollo Beckett
“Well, that won't work,” I whispered before moving to unbuckle the collar. Once it was off, I set Apollo back on the floor. He still stared up at me expectantly, his bowl of food on the counter and well out of his reach. “Needy, needy,” I chuckled to myself before putting the bowls back on the floor. We'll need to get you a new one of these, huh? I thought as my fingers ran along the metal tag hanging from the collar. With a little work, I removed it. I should take you to get microchipped anyways. And you're always inside, we don't need this right now. I moved back to the countertops and opened the small drawer towards the corner. In the drawer there was a small flashlight, a couple screwdrivers, and now a cat collar. I looked at the namesake on the tag one more time before deciding to toss the tag into the small garbage can underneath the sink.
Cleaning complete, I moved into the living room. Not much to do now but wait, so I decided to pull out a canvas. I'd primed a square canvas a few days ago, painting an even coat of solid black - now that it was dry, I had an idea. Rather than going right into the paint I made a rough sketch on a loose sheet of paper and taped it to the easel.
I prepared the colors I knew I needed and after a deep breath, the painting began. The paint seemed to flow freely as the idea came to life. In the style of a classic cameo necklace, I painted a reverse silhouette, white against the dark background. The details slowly added revealed the side of a skeletal face. I was moving lower, to paint the vertebrae and shoulders towards the bottom of the canvas when a few soft knocks on the front door pulled away my focus.
The time on the cable box showed that I'd been painting for… almost two hours. I've heard of people using guided meditation as a form of therapy but picking up a paintbrush was, consistently, the best way I could center myself.
After a moment of hesitation I pulled open the front door. My eyes widened and a grin crept over my face as I took in the sight - Danny stood on the other side of the storm door. One hand was absently fidgeting with his keychain and the other held a small vase. The flowers within the vase were beautiful - a mixture of red and yellow tulips, a few containing a mottled mixture of the two colors.
“They're beautiful!” I grinned as I opened the storm door and allowed him into the house. “I love them.”
“Apparently I'm not the only person to think of flowers,” He chuckled as his gaze fell behind me for a moment. It was that exact moment that I remembered the wilting blue hydrangeas in a near-identical vase, sitting atop my dining table, near the wall. A few small petals had curled and fallen onto the tabletop, and all of the stems were starting to droop.
“Oh, god,” I sighed, under my breath. “My… mom sent those! She must've ordered them from the same shop you grabbed yours,” The story leapt from my mouth after only minimal hesitation. I carried the tulip vase to the table and them out with the older plants. “The vases are identical. How funny.”
“I thought they'd be a good housewarming gift. And apology gift.” Danny said after a moment. He walked behind me and pulled me into a tight hug, ignoring the vase still in my hand.
A smile found its way to my lips yet again. “You don't have to apologize,” I reassured him. “I was being immature and not letting you just do your job. Besides, you're back now - three days early! Which is enough of a gift on its own. Can I throw these away please?”
In response, he held me a little tighter. “You're too good to me. I'm never letting you go.” He said with a laugh.
“I'm not going far!” I protested. “Just gonna toss this in the garbage. It's like… two feet away. Goof.”
“You drive a hard bargain. But.. nope. I really thought I made you mad, I'm just making sure I didn't.”
“If I cant drop these old flowers into my garbage can, maybe you will!” I did my best to sound serious and threatening but couldn't stop myself from laughing. “I can't even move my arms!”
“Well-” Danny started to speak again, but paused abruptly. He dropped his arms from around me and turned around quickly before letting out a loud sneeze.
“Holy shit,” I chuckled, using my new freedom to quickly drop the hydrangeas, vase and all, into the trash can beneath the sink. “Thank you for not releasing that demon right onto the top of my head. And bless you or whatever.”
Danny sniffled a few times but seemed to recover from the involuntary outburst. “Well, I'm here. With no plans besides seeing my beautiful girlfriend for… at least a few days. What should we do?”
“Well,” I grinned, “I should clean up my mess,” I gestured towards where I'd been painting before his arrival. “And then… let's watch a movie. I am so ready to sit on the couch and cuddle.”
Danny grinned and I couldn't help but return the expression. He'd just been on a plane for a few hours, and at work quite a bit over the last few days - I know he needed to relax more than I did. He moved towards the canvas and easel just as I did, and I watched him study the still-wet painting for a few long moments.
“Skeleton?” The word came out as a question, and not a very good one at that. My only response was a slow nod. “Isn't it a little… halloween-y?”
“You know halloween’s my favorite.”
“Of course!” He defended. “I've just only ever seen you paint… not skeletons.”
“I’ve been trying a different style,” I grinned. Thanks for letting me know you hate it. “Pick out something on Netflix and I'll put this stuff away.”
I shuffled the easel and canvas around, and he took a seat and turned the TV on. After shuffling around for a few minutes I finally took a seat next to him on the couch. “How's this?” He asked, nodding towards the television. On the screen he'd selected The Office, but hadn’t started playing it.
“That's.. fine.” I nodded.
“You sound like you don't like the office.” He teased.
“I mean it's not my favorite but it's fine!”
“I feel like you watched it all the time.”
I couldn't help but laugh. “I watched it all the time because you watched it all the time.”
“We can watch something else.” He said, holding the remote towards me.
“This is fine,” I repeated. “I don't hate it.”
“If you say so,” he sighed. Still, he held the remote in my direction as if giving me one final chance to change my mind. At this point, I took the remote from his hand and pushed play myself.
We settled into a comfortable quiet, cuddled on the couch. My head rested in the crook of his neck. We barely made it through a whole episode before I realized my boyfriend was right on the cusp of sleep. “I'm glad you're back,” I said quietly, moving to place a small kiss on his cheek. Even half asleep, his expression changed to a small smile and he pushed me to snuggle into him just a little tighter.