“Andie?” I asked, hearing the hope in my voice.
Question after question sprang to mind (How did you get here? When did you plan this? Where are you staying? How long will you be here?), but I settled on a simple statement. “You’re here.”
A loud crash sounded in the kitchen and her smile dropped. Her eyes scanned past me, trying to find the source of the commotion. “Is this a bad time?”
I shook my head and pulled the door open wider. “No, it’s just Georgie. Come in.”
We hadn’t touched. She’d been on my doorstep for one whole minute and I hadn’t kissed her and I wanted to kiss her.
I held the door open and she stepped inside with a hesitant laugh. I reached for her suitcase before she could and rolled it in the foyer for the time being.
“Pretend like I’m not even here!” Georgie shouted from somewhere in the flat just before a door slammed. I had no clue what she was up to, but I didn’t care. I closed the front door and focused on Andie as she inspected the photos hanging in the foyer.
“So this your place,” she said, leaning forward on her toes to inspect a photo of Georgie and me from when we were little. Georgie had urged me to hire a decorator after I’d purchased the flat a few years back; as Andie turned to take in the living room, I made a mental note to thank her. “It’s really nice, Freddie.”
How had I still not touched her? She was walking around the place, smiling at the furniture when she should have been smiling at me. I stepped forward to break the separation and give her the greeting I should have at the door, but suddenly her face contorted as we both caught a whiff of air freshener coming from the kitchen. No, not a whiff. A plume of the noxious gas nearly knocked us off our feet. Georgie had sprayed enough of it that it smelled like a Febreeze factory had exploded in my flat.
Andie coughed and waved her hand in front of her face. “What in the world is that?”
“That will have been Georgie. She came around to tidy up just before you got here. It’s supposed to smell like…” I checked the spray bottle. “Summer citrus.”
She laughed. “It smells like shitrus.”
I shook my head and walked over to push open the balcony door. It was a bit chilly out, but we’d have to make do until the flat aired out.
I waved for Andie to follow me out onto the balcony and I watched in wonder as she took in the view of London. I’d grown accustomed to it over the years, but seeing it through her eyes reminded me how overwhelming it could be at first. She leaned against the railing and stared out at the London Eye.
“Georgie knew I was coming,” she admitted, peering over at me from the corner of her eyes. “That’s why she came to clean up, I think.”
I stepped closer. “You called her, but not me?”
Her cheeks flushed. “I wanted it to be a surprise,” she said, wrapping her arms around herself to keep warm. I stepped forward and rubbed my hand up and down her back, warming her skin beneath her blouse.
“It’s a wonderful surprise,” I assured her. I was still in shock.
She tilted her head to look at me over her shoulder. For a moment we hovered there with my hand on her back and her eyes pinned on my mouth.
“Typically when one makes a grand romantic gesture like this, they get kissed,” she said wistfully.
“I still can’t believe you’re here. My lips haven’t caught up with my eyes,” I said, skimming my hand up her back so I could cup the base of her neck and tilt her mouth to mine.
“Well tell them to hurry.”
It hadn’t even been a month since she’d left me in that hotel in Rio, but as I bent down and pressed my lips to hers, it felt like years had separated us. Her hand pressed to my chest, gripping my shirt. She tugged me closer and I cradled her head, bringing her body closer to mine so I could bring her bottom lip into my mouth and show her how much I’d missed her.
She moaned against me and I pushed her back against the balcony railing. I knew the metal would bite into her back, but she didn’t care. She was lost in the kiss as much as I was.
When I finally pulled back to catch my breath, she fit herself against me so her head was tucked beneath my chin and her cheek was pressed against my chest. “I read the article today. I read it and I got on a plane an hour later.”
I smiled.
“Is that crazy?” she asked.
Crazy?