Although still sleeping, Paul was somewhat aware of movement around him.  He envisioned Charlette, getting ready to leave for her trip to be with her family, not sure how long she’d be gone.  Soft lips touched his and she said something that he couldn’t quite decipher.  She smelled good, but then again, she<i>always </i>smelled good.  An engine sprang to life, and soon after, its note was no longer audible to him, as it disappeared down the road.<br/><br/>A little less than an hour later, Paul’s eyes finally popped open and stayed open.  He remembered returning to Charlette’s room last night, so it came as no surprise to him waking up in her bed instead of his own.  Shuffling off toward his bedroom, he stripped off his sleep wear and welcomed a nice, hot shower.  At least he knew she wouldn’t be joining him anytime soon, as she was quite fond of doing.  He smiled at the thought.<br/><br/>Three mugs of coffee later, and he finally dealt with the inevitable.  A brief text was sent to Jemma.<br/><br/>Forty-seven seconds later, his phone rang.  Why couldn’t she have just answered with a text? Paul thought, already annoyed.  “S’up, Jemma?”<br/><br/>“Where the hell have you been?!” Jemma exclaimed.  “Do you know how many times I’ve been trying to contact you?”  Amazingly, it sure didn’t seem like they’d ever been apart.  And yeah, he did know how many times she’d tried contacting him, though kept it to himself.<br/><br/>“Yeah, sorry ‘bout that,” he replied, seeing no point in offering any excuses.  She’d see through it anyway.  They agreed to meet at a deli in town.  Paul wondered if he was hungry enough to finish one of their sandwiches.<br/><br/>Jemma was already there, sipping from an iced tea when he walked in.  She waved at him just the same.  “You’ve looked better, Paul,” she commented.<br/><br/>He snorted in response.  “Any more compliments you wanna shoot my way?” he asked sarcastically.<br/><br/>A casual shrug, and then she asked, “How’s your little friend?”  If there was one thing about Jemma that he always appreciated, it was that she never minced words.  Paul just looked at her with a blank expression.<br/><br/>“Uh, she’s alright, I guess.  Went to visit family,” he stated matter-of-factly.<br/><br/>“Paul, are you okay?  You look as if somebody stole your favorite toy,” she observed.  When he didn’t answer fast enough for her liking, she went on.  “Are you fucking kidding me?!  Did you knock her up?”<br/><br/>Paul sighed while looking at his pint of<i>Stone IPA</i>, remaining silent for now.  Perhaps instead of ordering that BLT with a side of potato salad, he shoulda ordered six pints with shots of tequila.