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It was seven thirty on Sunday morning. Kevin was not supposed to pick Ellena up for another hour and a half but he couldn’t wait to see her. He knocked loudly on her apartment door and hoped she would hear. After knocking the third time, he heard a muffled holler from inside the apartment and a loud thud. Seconds later, the door opened. Ellena stood in the entrance with her quilt wrapped around her waist. She still wore her uniform from the night before. Her hair hung messily down her back and she had dark lines under her eyes. She looked absolutely exhausted. Kevin immediately felt bad for waking her up. Her eyes widened at the site of him.
“Omigod! I overslept again didn’t I? What time is it?”
Kevin entered the apartment and wrapped his arms around her. “No you’re not late. I’m early. I couldn’t wait until nine to see you.” He cupped her chin in his hand and leaned in to kiss her. She put her hand over her mouth and stopped him.
“No don’t kiss me. I just got out of bed and have nasty morning breath. If you wait in the living room for me, I’ll go have a quick shower and get ready.” (Author’s note: just another reason why I think that fan fiction has a certain “realism” to it – have you ever heard about bad breath in a harlequin romance?)
Kevin kissed her on the tip of the nose and let go of her waist. “Sure you don’t need any help in the shower?” he grinned. Ellena swatted him playfully on the arm and pointed to the couch.
“Sit and be good.”
“Yes ma’am.” Kevin saluted and dropped onto the couch. Ellena padded down the hall to the bathroom. Kevin studied the familiar photos that were placed around Ellena’s living room. He had seen all of them before except a new one on the mantle with a pewter frame. He stood to look at it and broke into a smile when he realized that it was the photo Ellena took of him and Lacey playing Barbie dolls the first night Kevin visited their apartment.
Twenty minutes later, Ellena emerged from the bathroom looking fresh and almost awake.
She smiled shyly and plopped down on the couch beside him. Without a word, he pulled her into his arms as his mouth descended upon hers. He ran his tongue along her lips and then tasted her mouth. When she whimpered, he pulled back to look in her eyes. Warm grey spheres shone back at him intensely. A tear escaped and ran down her cheek. Kevin ran his thumb across her cheek to wipe it away.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” He whispered and kissed her forehead.
“Oh nothing.”
“Okay, I almost believe you.” Kevin gave her a small smile. “Has Eric called you?”
Ellena shook her head. “I don’t expect him to.” Kevin ran his hands through her hair. Ellena buried her face in his neck and sighed. “I’m sorry, I’m being stupid.” She whispered. “I promised myself that I wasn’t going to fall apart and cry. I’m just tired is all – makes it difficult to control my emotions. I haven’t been getting much sleep lately.”
He squeezed her in a gentle hug. “Lacey’s going to be all right. You’ve got to believe that.”
“I know, it’s the what if’s that keep me awake. Maybe Eric will realize that a three-year-old will cramp his style and bring her back to me. I can only hope.”
Kevin nodded in agreement. Ellena’s stomach grumbled loudly and she giggled despite her tears.
“Hungry?” He asked.
“I’m starving! I can’t remember the last time I ate anything.” Ellena replied.
“Breakfast?” Kevin stood and offered his arm.
“How about awfuls and ipped cweem?” Ellena suggested.
“Sounds good to me. Let’s go.” Kevin replied. Happy that Ellena was now smiling.

~*~

“I couldn’t eat another bite.” Ellena exclaimed as she threw her paper napkin on the diner table. Kevin smiled and touched her hand.
“So? How do you want to spend our last day together?”
Ellena glanced at the table across the room and grinned. “I say we ditch the ogres and make a run for it to your house.” She said referring to Mitch and Ralph.
Kevin laughed. “I like the way you think.” He extracted a few bills from his wallet and set them on the table.
A phone rang and both Kevin and Ellena reached for their cell phones. “It’s mine.” Ellena stated. She smiled and winked at Kevin as she greeted the person on the other end of the line. The smile immediately left her face. The phone call was short and she hung up with a sigh. “Carla called in sick. I have to go in and cover for her at the club.”
“But this our last day together!” Kevin whined.
“And if I had the choice, I’d say I wasn’t coming in but choice is a luxury I don’t have in this situation, Kevin. I’m sorry.” Ellena circled her arms around his neck. “Will you give me a ride to work?”
Once outside, Kevin grabbed Ellena by the hand and led her to his car. Before he opened the door for her, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed her up against the length of his body. He bent his head and buried his face into her neck. He breathed in deeply, trying to etch this moment indelibly into his memory. They stood in the embrace for what seemed an eternity, but when Ellena pulled away, eternity hadn’t been long enough.