Another Love Story

Thirty four

"Hey."

I tilted my head back so that I could see Tiger's face. I had been lying awake with my head on his chest for about ten minutes. He had probably sensed by my breathing that I was awake.

"Hey," I replied softly.

"Missed you. I hope you don't mind me showing up unannounced," he said. I tightened my arm around his waist.

"I do not mind one bit. If I could, I would keep you hostage in Rwanda until my assignment is up," I said. He laughed and rubbed my back.

"You have me all to yourself this weekend so that's a start," he said.

I sat up in bed and looked at him over my shoulder. "I'm not letting you out of my sight." He laughed and sat up too.

"I'm going to make us breakfast while you hit the shower," he said.

"Who said I intend to shower this weekend? I'm having a pajama party," I said. He tossed a pillow at me.

"Go and shower or I'll bathe you myself."

I stuck out my tongue at him and headed to the bathroom. I bathed quickly and washed my hair. In the kitchen, Tiger was laying out our breakfast plates as I walked in. I kissed the center of his back as I passed by him. I made our tea and sat beside him at the breakfast bar. When we had said grace, we began to eat. I was hungry enough to stay silent through breakfast. I washed our dishes after we had finished.

Tiger was in the living room flipping through channels. I was about to sit down next to him when he stopped me.

"Get your hair oil from your room," he suggested. I reached up and touched my hair. It was mostly dry from my earlier washing. He was right; I needed to oil my scalp. When I got back to the living room, he had put a movie in the DVR and it was paused at the opening credits. He took the hair oil from my hands and gestured for me to sit on the carpet in front of him. I was surprised enough to plonk down my behind without asking questions.

Tiger pressed play on the movie and then I felt his hands sift through my hair. When he applied oil through the first line in my hair, I grabbed his wrist and looked over my shoulder at him in surprise.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"You can trust me to oil your hair correctly. I have a sister, remember? Plus, I've watched you do it many weekends before," he replied.

"I didn't think you would want to do it," I said as I released his wrist and faced forward again.

"As much as I play in your hair, I have to participate in taking care of it," he said and put his hand through the hair at the back of my head. He tugged and I leaned back to meet his eyes.

"Relax," he said in a soft, commanding tone. He released my hair and proceeded to oil my scalp through the first part of the movie. When he finished, he tied it up in a knot. I got up and curled into him on the sofa. I kissed his cheek in gratitude and settled back into the movie.

We made butter popcorn and orange juice to go with the movie. One movie rolled into the next. Towards the end of the second movie, I dropped off to sleep. I woke up about 45 minutes later to a silent room. Tiger's arm was still curled around my shoulders and he was running his palm up and down my arm. I straightened away from him with an embarrassed smile.

"I keep dropping off to sleep on you."

"I'm not complaining."

"Well, you didn't fly all this way to be my pillow. Let's do something fun this afternoon," I said as I stood up. He caught my hand before I could turn away.