7 : Hoping for the Best

•

Théo took her back to the hotel a half-hour later. Past midnight, they were already snug in bed, set to recharge for tomorrow's itinerary. They agreed on going biking at nine, then karaoke sometime after lunch before going thrift store shopping downtown.

A post-apocalyptic TV series kept him amused while she flipped through magazine pages. Then in straight French, Théo randomly mumbled about how big his bed was for just one person.

Veronica listened to him complain in jest about her choosing a two-bed room. "Quit your yapping. You like the view." She grinned. 

"Do I?"

She shut him up by jumping onto his bed and snuggling to him under the covers. "Better?" she teased, fully aware that she was bra-less and had nothing more than a thin sheath of sleeping gown over a small pair of scanties, while he wore nothing but his boxers.

"Perfect,"  Théo sighed. His arm circled her waist while he pretended to focus on the television screen. An impish grin put small slits beside his eyes.

Veronica kept a side comment to herself. No doubt he wanted to do something else later. They killed time watching TV, but she also kept her mind busy pondering things, committing to memory how addictively good it felt to be this intimate with him...to have him right next to her while he hugged her close.

It had always been like this.  Time apart always told her what they had was more than physical.  He'd made clear of that himself from the beginning.

"This long distance thing isn't just a test run for me. All right?" Théo had told her once or twice. He was even the one who had insisted they try being exclusive.

She'd agreed to it months later, mostly because he kept on beleaguering her about it every time they talked on the phone, and because she was already too in love with him that time. It just made her scruple her once casual perception of their relationship.

Théo grinned before giving her a long, sweltering kiss. He pulled away when she started chuckling again. "What's so funny?" he mumbled with scrunched brows.

"You are," she bantered, trying to stop laughing. But he only gave her an inquiring stare. "Aren't you tired?"

He made a face. "Forget already that it's been seven months last time we were together more than a few days?" he reminded. A scoff accompanied his question.

The displeasure in his reaction made her want to give him a sympathetic smile. Keeping another clever retort to herself, Veronica chuckled at how his accent was thinning. "You sound like a New Yorker now." She snuggled closer to him. Her face now rested on his arm.

"I don't feel like going back home yet." Théo sighed.

"Hear, hear."

"I miss you already."

She smiled and glanced up at him. "Thank you."

"For?"

"Nothing." She closed her eyes. "For the distraction," she muttered, her voice taking on a serious tone. "They're expecting us to get everything done soon. Kavanaugh keeps emailing." She giggled, blocking off anxious thoughts about the deadlines, and the likelihood that if she and Kyle didn't finish the album on time, she wouldn't have enough cash for the new apartment. "It's stressing me out."

"What'd Kyle say?"

"I was pretty chill about it...then he started overthinking everything." She shrugged. "One of the execs just called. They set the date early." She fidgeted at the thought of the album still halfway done.

Actually, as of last week, not even halfway yet. It was discouraging, of course. The new record label honchos were quite pushy and insistent this time.

"I mean, the songs aren't even half-finished yet. The recording would take at least a month, then the mixing..."

"About three months from now, right?"

She winced. "I don't think we could pull it off before the deadline."

"Sure you can." Théo gave her shoulder an encouraging squeeze. "You need this break; trust me." His warm hand stroked her hair. "Might even clear your head...bring in some newfound inspiration." He ogled her and wiggled his brows suggestively.

It got her laughing again. "Sorry to break it to you, man...but, you're half the inspiration you used to be." She snorted. "Overused and overstated, frankly speaking."

"Admit it, though." A chortle cut him off. "I made the fourth album. Just, indirectly." His grin was now as puffed-up as his ego.

His conceit made her want to roll her eyes again. The adorable look on his face, though -- just precious. Veronica stared up at the ceiling, stifling another laugh. "Whatever helps you sleep at night, supermodel."

He snickered. The room fell silent afterward. "This. Just this," he murmured against her head. His short but sincere reply pasted another smile on her lips.

He'd always been very patient with her from the get-go, and he had always tried to be understanding of her work commitments and being workaholic.

The band was always on the road for as long as she could remember, doing as many as seven shows a week on occasion. Théo let her be, and since their relationship materialized, he had always been supportive. Even exceedingly tolerant of her mood swings.

Although this time, she knew he had been dealing with some pent-up thoughts lately. Not to forget her refusal to his brash proposal after he popped the question days ago.

Théo turned the TV off after what seemed like a minute of staring wordlessly at each other. It made her heart swell.  He'd been so sweet and understanding all week, and she loved thinking they hadn't felt this happy in a while.

The streaks of moonlight passing through the windows kept the room from being pitch-black. As they locked gazes in the dark, he continued drawing her close. "Sing to me. Please?"

•••

The next day

Their last night together before he had to go back home came earlier than expected.

Théo watched as his girlfriend paced around the bed to start tidying up. She had to resume work with the band, and he was due to fly back to Paris. He had been having second thoughts about the L.A. shoot. Especially since Veronica wouldn't be there with him.

Although dismayed that their time together was cut even shorter, he obliged without any complaints. He couldn't say anything to make her change her mind, anyway.

Since their relationship came about, she'd already made it clear she would still want to put work first...and he understood that.

He had to. Her independent nature and being dedicated to her job were two of the things he admired most about her.

So even when he felt sorry for himself sometimes that he was always second on her priority list, he sucked it all up. And he had ever since tried to be as considerate and uncomplaining as possible, because he was serious about her, and because he knew there was this tiny bit of her heart that believed what they had was something else.

From the get-go, he thought what they had could handle the consequences of having a long-distance relationship. He didn't know for sure if she felt the same, though. Probably not.

"He said it's 5:30, but I gotta be there 'round four." Veronica crouched by the hotel bed. She glanced at him with a small pout on her pink lips. "Sorry."

"'Kay." Théo stood next to her and helped her tidy up the hotel bed.

She thanked him for helping her stuff her clothes into her suitcase; the packing barely took five minutes. She surprised him a bit when she embraced him from behind and apologized again. She even kissed his nape.

"S'okay," he murmured, lying to her and to himself. He clutched her warm hand on his chest.

"Hungry?"

"A little."

"Gimme a few minutes." Veronica tied her hair into a ponytail. She watched as he rushed to the other end of the room to neaten his own bed. "Need somethin'?" She started walking in the direction of the bathroom door.

A longer hug and another kiss, he wanted to say.

"What?" his girlfriend asked when she found him gawking at her stuff.

Théo stayed rooted to the floor, his calves and back muscles still aching. He glanced up to meet her gaze. Again, he couldn't stop staring. Her hazel eyes did that to him most of the time.

Let's move in together, he wanted to say out loud, but he fought off the urge. He would rather lose sleep dwelling on the what-ifs than scare her off.

"Earth to Théo," she joked.

It made him grin, and distracted him from his nigh on outlandish thoughts.  "Erm...can I borrow your iPod?" Borrow your iPod. Right. He nearly slapped himself. Stupidest alibi.

"Only if you agree that I update your playlists." With a raised finger, Via headed for the bathroom.  "It's in my brown bag," she reminded him, almost shouting this time. The faucet went off. "Find the pouch?"

"Errm...which one?" Théo winced, chastising himself for thinking his weaseling was going somewhere. He reached the desk where her corduroy bag sat. He pretended to wait for her answer before unzipping the handbag.

"The brown one. Did you hit your head?" she called out, snickering at the question.

Right. It was another minute before he found the iPod.  Certain she'd be busy for another fifteen minutes, he gave in to the temptation and cautiously poked around her stuff. He found her cellphone first; it was off. He touched a pack of wet wipes, and then something else.

A long and thin yellow container caught his eye, especially since it was almost completely concealed in the secret pocket. But maybe it wasn't a secret pocket; it had no zipper or anything. He'd never seen her bring the thing out of her bag before.

His chest felt funny now.  Théo popped the top lid open as carefully as possible. He wasn't surprised to see what it contained. Of course...it was the pills and not her vitamins.

His brows creased. He shook his head, thinking what he was doing was just downright stupid. He closed the lid. Did she keep a year's supply of birth control pills?

Did she think she always needed them? Did she think he wasn't that careful?

Seeing the stuff bothered him. He knew from his sister's experience how taking those drugs regularly for a long period of time could cause serious health concerns. The small compartments laid in two rows -- the ones numbered '1' to '17' were all empty-told him his girlfriend devotedly took one every single day.

"Merde." Théo almost dropped the container to the floor so he put it back in the pouch.

"Sometimes I think we should have a baby now."

"No wedding if you don't want one yet. Let's just move in together. I'll pay for that house you really like. Does that sound sensible?"

"Why do you keep taking those pills?"

"Don't you want us to have kids someday?"

Those were  just a couple of unspoken questions he'd been meaning to ask Veronica lately. He didn't yet, because he just knew it would instantly scare her off, which was much worse than not knowing. So he kept mum.

Théo swore to himself.

How the heck was he supposed to think about anything else right now?

•