She blinked in surprise before looking at him over her shoulder with a smile. "I love you too," she replied, drying her hands. "Is everything okay?"
She beamed and turned to face him, draping her arms over his shoulders. "I'm certainly not going to complain about that."
She kissed him lightly before her watch beeped and she frowned. "Ach... I'm sorry, my darling. That means I have to go."
She held his face in her hands and kissed him deeply before pulling away and heading for the door. "Thank you for breakfast," she said kindly, slipping on her coat. "Your lunch is in the fridge."
"Love you too, darling," she said, throwing her bag over her shoulder and pulling up her coat collar. She blew him a kiss teasingly and left, closing the door quietly behind her.
When Francis got home that evening, the apartment was dark and quiet as the winter wind blew outside. Tom's ears perked up as he entered and the dog padded over to him, tail wagging.
Tom bent his head over his bowl and began to eat quietly. The wind outside rattled the windows and rain pounded down angrily.
Perhaps about 15 minutes passed before the door opened and Poppy entered, her coat and hair soaked. Her cheeks were rosy pink from the cold and her teeth were chattering. "H-h-h-hello, Craw," she said, hanging up her coat on the hanger, revealing that her dress was soaked through as well. "How a-a-are you?"
He stood, turning to face her before going approaching. "Jeez. You really ought to bring an umbrella."
