Something About You

3

I woke up at 7AM, focused on correcting at least a third of the essays. I got up quietly, trying not to make a sound so I wouldn't wake Stef. Unfortunately, I failed miserably. As I came back from our bathroom and into our bedroom, Stef's sleepy eyes looked at mine, questioningly so.

"Mhm, 'time's it?"

I smiled warmly, for she wouldn't like the answer. "7:10."

She huffed. "Come back to bed, woman."

I sat on our bed and softly ran my fingers through her hair, kissing her forehead, only to leave her in bed alone. "I can't. I have some work stuff to do."

"But 'tis Saturday," Stef pouted.

I chuckled. "Teachers don't rest on the weekends."

"Lena," she mumbled as I was leaving the bedroom. "Come cuddle with me."

Mushy. Very mushy Stef. Truth is, I missed her. I wanted to cuddle with her. I wish I could, but I needed to get everything done by tonight so we could go out to a bar or something, just the two of us.

"I have to work, honey. But I will come and get you in a couple of hours with a cup of coffee, how's that?

"Mhmm 'kay," she gave in.

It was very early, especially for Stef, who'd only gotten home last night at almost 10PM and then had to entertain our friends for a few hours after that. I admit it, I was pretty tired too, but I had a reason to be up – Stef didn't.

That was the good part about her job: although it killed her on the weekdays, she was mostly free on weekends, unless something urgent – and rare – came up. Mainly, she could rest just fine. I, on the other hand, brought work home quite constantly – and that was a disappointing part of being a professor.

Sure, I could have a TA correct papers. I could, right? But it wouldn't be the same. I am currently having a few students run for TA so I can decide – based on a series of criteria – which one to pick. It's just the beginning of the semester, though. But even when that was settled and I had a trust-worthy TA by my side, I wouldn't trust them completely. Not enough to correct actual tests, just assignments.

I know what that sounds like. Like a workaholic talking. And I know, I may even be one. Stef surely complains about the lack of time we spend together on the weekends due to the amount of lesson planning combined with paper correcting that I set myself up with. But I am willing to work twice as hard and have gratification in the end rather than leave it all up to somebody else who may not know exactly what they're doing half the time.

Considering we had gone to bed last night at about 3AM and I got only about 4 hours of sleep, I was pretty exhausted – but also on a mission. I sat on my desk and thought that if I could correct a third of it today and another third on Sunday, then I'd have a third left on Monday and everything would be corrected by Tuesday.

And so I sat there and worked pretty hard. I meant to bring Stef coffee at about 9AM, but I completely forgot. It was supposed to be my break even.

At around 10AM I was surprised with a cup of coffee on my desk. Someone'd brought me coffee. It was-

"Stef," I asked.

She chuckled. "It's almost 10:30, love. You completely zoned out."

"Ah. I was supposed to bring you coffee- how long have you been up?" I asked, noticing her work-out outfit and the fact that she'd made coffee.

"Only about half an hour. I made us some coffee and I'm going running in a bit."

I nodded as I drank a sip of coffee. "Okay. So I was thinking maybe we could go to the Laurel tonight? I'll be done by then."

She nodded and raised an eyebrow. "Should I call Jenna and Kelly?"

I shook my head. "I figured we could go, just us."

"Mmhm, miss me much?" She grinned at me, grabbed my free hand and kissed it softly.

"You know I do," I said.

Stef tied her running shoes and leaned in to kiss my lips. "I'll be back in an hour and a half," she affirmed.

And so she went.

An hour and a half later, Stef arrived and found me in the kitchen making two turkey sandwiches. I, for one, was starving. I spent all morning correcting papers and still wasn't done with it.

"Hey, love, what you making?" She shut the door and went into the kitchen.

I turned around to notice her sweaty body and her earphones irreverently around her neck. Damn. "Just turkey sandwiches. Do you want pickles in yours?"

"No pickles, and no onions, please. On mine or yours." She ordered.

I smiled, knowing where this was going. "Oh yeah? Why's that?"

"Because I have plans for after lunch that do not include bad onion breath," she simply said, walking to our bathroom. "I'm showering now; I'll just eat after."

I finished preparing our sandwiches and started eating mine, without her. I really was starving. Stef came back, grabbed her sandwich and stared at me accusingly.

"You started eating without me?" I nodded, finishing off my last bite. "That's absurd!"

I laughed, "I was starving. I've been working since 7, cut me some slack here."

"By the way, are you done with that yet?" She questioned.

I shook my head. "No, but I will be soon," I affirmed, grabbing some papers in front of me and my red pen. I then went back to correcting.

"Hey, when do you think you'll be done exactly?"

I chuckled. "You're such a baby. I don't know, honey, really soon."

Stef pouted, "Fine. I'll just go watch Netflix without you then."

I nodded, "You do that. When I'm done, I'll go join you." I turned my eyes from the paper to kiss her softly.

But...

"Love, come watch an episode of Grey's Anatomy with me," I heard Stef yelling about two hours after she'd left.

"I can't, Stef. Not right now. You go ahead and watch it without me," I said. We liked rewatching – since we had seen them all – Grey's Anatomy episodes every now and then. We liked doing that as an activity to pass the time and cuddle a little, sometimes have make out sessions in the middle and never get back to the episode – but I couldn't afford doing that right now. I had to finish my first third before tonight, so we could go to the Laurel and have some sort of date, just the two of us.

Stef came back into the kitchen to find that I was still correcting some papers, and hugged me from behind.

"Honey, as tempting as that sounds-"

She quickly turned around and found my lips, silencing me abruptly. "I know. I'm sorry for distracting you. I've missed you, that's all. It seems like our timing sucks lately, even though we live together."

I sighed. "I never thought that, because we would live together, we would have that much time for each other. We still have jobs and responsibilities, but now it is easier to spend time together, I'll admit... It's not perfect, honey, it'll never be."

Stef was shocked by my reality-based comment. She was usually the one to give me those. "You're right."

"We're still going to the Laurel later, right?" I asked.

Stef nodded eagerly. "Definitely," she answered. "And again, I know how important all this is to you. So I'll leave you to it."

I smiled in return for her understanding. "Thank you."

It turns out I finished everything up – well, at least my third – in half an hour, then got ready to go to the Laurel with Stef.

AN: Hey, guys, thanks for reading! Please let me know what you think, your comments and suggestions are appreaciated (: