Page 116 of Je T'aime, Actually

Monroe lay curled beneath the duvet, one hand tucked behind her head, the other holding her phone steady as Chloé’s face lit up the screen.

“I swear, the minute I sat down, a client messaged with ‘just one more thing’,” Chloé was saying, her hair scraped up messily, eyes tired but smiling.

“What did you say to that?”

Chloé pulled a face, “I said, ‘Make it quick.’”

Monroe laughed softly. “I thought that was my line.”

“You’re rubbing off on me. And not in a way I was hoping.”

“Only fair, I’m covered in you over here.”

Chloé grinned at that. “Oh yeah?”

Monroe shifted, snuggling deeper into the pillows and the T-shirt of Chloé’s she was wearing.

“My shirt?” Chloé smirked, remembering the night they changed the sheets, and the reason behind it.

“I needed it.” Monroe grinned, before becoming more serious. “Frank had a rough day. Barely said ten words until I finally pried one out of him. Gave him a bit of a telling off too. But the kids came home and lit him up again, so that was something.”

“You’re amazing, you know.”

Monroe wrinkled her nose. “I’m exhausted, I’ve got a thousand emails to answer tomorrow, and I look like I’ve been dragged backwards through a hedge.”

“You always say that, and you’re always wrong,” Chloé murmured, her voice softening. “I miss you.”

“I miss you too.” Monroe’s thumb brushed absently along the edge of the phone. “The bed’s too cold without your ridiculously hot body in it.”

“And you saidIwas clingy,” Chloé teased, eyes warm. “We’ll be together soon. Christmas is just a few days away.”

“Soon still feels far.” Monroe’s voice cracked just slightly.

“I know. But look at me. I’m right here.”

“I want you here, though. Is that selfish?”

Chloé shrugged. “Maybe a little,” she laughed, “but then I am selfish for wanting the same thing.” She looked down before she said, “Frank is home now, do you not think—”

“You want me to leave them?” Monroe felt her jaw tighten. She sat up, staring down the phone. “You just said yourself…Christmas is almost here… How can I?”

“I’m just asking the question. If not for Christmas, New Year? Easter? How long do you need them to need you?”

“You make it sound like I don’t want to come home.”

Chloé shook her head. “That’s not what I meant, but it is how it feels sometimes.”

Monroe closed her eyes, letting her honest thoughts flood through her. She would be lying if she said she hadn’t thought about how long she might stay.

“It’s not that I don’t want to come home…I just… They’re my family, and I like being around them.”

Chloé nodded, smiling. “I know. It’s not a bad thing, but maybe something else we need to discuss more,non?”

“Yes, okay, but not right now,” Monroe said, sliding back down under the duvet. “Can we just be here, together now?”

Chloé grinned. “It’s my favourite time of the day.”

They both fell quiet, the moment extending between them like a held breath. The kind of quiet that wasn’t awkward or heavy.