‘I don’t know I didn’t think about it.’

‘Just try what do you think?’ I ask running up the old staircase. ‘Do you think she made tea for them or he made glühwein for them and they discussed the movie or maybe went just straight to bed to lay in each other’s arms?’

‘I really wouldn’t know.’ Her voice turns distant as I turn the key in the lock, as the latch bolt clicks and the line drops, the warmth floods me and leads me through living room where the fireplace is spreading a soothing kindness. ‘I see you found the key again.’ She’s leaning against the door frame of the bedroom, her arms crossed in front of her chest, the fire turning her eyes into a flaming shade of hazel.

Ignoring her sarcasm I follow her into the bedroom. The feeling returns to my hands and my skin slowly lets go of my shirt. ‘Were you about to go to bed to read a book or maybe take a wine and watch TV?’

‘I asked a simple ‘how are you?’ and this is what you come up with?’

‘I went for a run.’

‘That much is obvious.’ Shaking her head slowly she gives me a glance over before turning to the walnut build in closet and letting her hand slide over a pile of neatly folded clothes. ‘Here. You like this one.’ She says handing me a sweater that I immediately recognize. I don’t remember who bought it, but ever since we had it we used to wear it in turns; whoever saw it first after it was washed was the lucky one that time.

The worn out fabric feels soft against my fingertips. I inhale and the scent of what I know to be the scent of home reaches my nostrils. Floral and citrus. I do… I do love you.  Taking off my shirt I think to catch the reflection of the slow burning flames in her eyes when I turn to her holding the hoodie in my hands. I always had a thing for her eyes, they were, as a matter of fact, the first thing I noticed about her, those enchanting hazel orbs that can look right through me and obelize all my secrets at once. ‘I’ve been running whole week.’