Epilogue
Patrick
One Year Later…
There will never be a day that I tire of waking up next to Ellie.
Although, I could manage to live without her sixteen alarms. I was awake by the third one, but she continues to snooze them, claiming she’ll 'get up soon'.
She is so cute while she is sleeping, always a little disheveled and her hair is everywhere, but the way her lips curve upward when she sees me laying next to her makes my chest tighten every time. I pull her into a kiss, and she tries to stop me, complaining about her morning breath.
God, I love her so fucking much.
“Let me go brush my teeth!” She gives me a tiny peck and removes herself from the covers. “We can only kiss for a few minutes! I can’t be late on my first day!”
“We could have had more time if you didn’t snooze all of your alarms!” I yell after her, smiling to myself.
By the time she responds, I can tell she is already in the process of brushing her teeth because she says some kind of gibberish that I cannot understand.
It’s almost too tempting to lay here until she comes back, but now that she has mentioned it, I should at least use some mouthwash.
Peeling the blankets off, I make my way to the bathroom.
Ellie has pulled her messy hair into a high bun, and she looks stunning, even with a mouthful of toothpaste.
I stand behind her, wrapping my arms around her waist, leaning down to rest my head in the space between her collar and jaw.
She is perfect in my arms, and my reflection shows me smiling like an idiot in love.
I don’t want to move, but I reach around her to grab the mouthwash anyways.
Even as I swish the burning liquid around in my mouth, my eyes still follow her everywhere.
Seeing her in our home is like nothing else.
Watching her move seamlessly through our house, I don’t know how I lived so long without her here.
She brings a lightness to my life that I don’t want to live without ever again.
She moved in a week after graduation, which was slightly uncomfortable sitting with her parents for the three-hour ceremony and having dinner afterwards, but it felt like they were trying to support Ellie while doing their best to keep their opinions to themselves.
During her final fall semester, Ellie started putting herself out into the world of book editing and working with some new authors in the area as a test run.
She put out an ad offering editing services for a small cost to build up her portfolio, so that when she applied to a few places in the spring, she could highlight some of her experiences.
It didn’t take long for her to land a job with a small publishing company right outside of D.C.
that she fell in love with—thanks to my research.
The hours are almost the same as mine, and her commute isn’t that bad.
My coffee pot has been working overtime, especially since Ellie quit her job at The Brew. Ever since she started staying the night, she taught me to brew the coffee extra strong so that we can pour it over ice to make iced coffee. It’s funny how she has been training me to make her coffee.
Oh, how the turn tables.
I thought her moving in would result in a fancy coffee set up, but that is not the case. We have my good ol’ coffee pot that I’ve had since college, a single bottle of vanilla syrup that she bought from The Brew, and some half and half in the fridge, and that is the extent of it.
She waltzes into the kitchen, looking like a million bucks in her thrifted business casual outfit.
Her flowy green blouse is tucked into a pair of high-waisted black pants with her everyday gold accessories complementing her complexion.
To top it off, she put on some sleek black heels that make me want to worship her even more than I already do.
As she walks up to me, I’m still surprised at how short she is even with her heels on. I expect a kiss, but she ignores me for the coffee.
“Gimme, gimme, gimme.” She removes the cup from my hand and takes a long sip, letting out a tiny moan that sends a shiver down my body. “I could get used to you making me coffee in the morning.”
“Yeah, well I have a thing for sexy baristas, so I thought I would try it out myself.”
She rolls her eyes as she savors her drink, humming in delight. “You do look pretty hot right now. We just need to get you an apron.”
Honestly, I’d do anything to make her happy, even if that means wearing a silly apron to get a smile out of her. I grab her bag off the hook by the door and slip it onto her shoulder. “You are going to be so amazing, baby. I love you.”
“I love you too.” She stands on her tippy toes to kiss my cheek, and I pull her into me.
Kissing her deeply, I slip in a tiny bit of tongue, and she blushes underneath me. Her mouth is sweet like her coffee, and it pains me to let her go.
She walks out the door, and I yell after her, “Don’t forget, we are celebrating your new job tonight.”
“Can’t wait!” The last thing I see is her smile before she slips out the door.
I lean back on the counter, feeling lucky that I can call her mine.