Guilty (BWWM)

Unexpected Chemistry

Past

Monday, November 16, 2012

9:30 p.m.

The brisk, chilly November air nipped relentlessly at Corrine's already numb nose. Numb. That's all she'd been feeling since she'd left the hospital five days ago. How exactly was she supposed to feel knowing that a child, her child, had died inside of her?

She should've been at home with her husband grieving. However, due to his new position, Richard had been swamped with work so she hadn't seen much of him since the incident. It wasn't like he didn't care though. In his earnest mind, he felt so much guilt it suffocated him. Richard always had trouble with empathy, seeing as how he'd grown up with no siblings or other people he'd had to care about aside from his mother.

Never had he seen Corrine as weak and vulnerable as she was in the hospital. Seeing her in tears broke his heart; it killed him to know that he was the cause. Yet, emotions weren't his forte. Providing comfort and emotional support for anyone, himself included, was like a foreign language.

Richard had never felt so helpless, or guilty, in his life. The feeling had began to weigh on him— so he stayed away and surrounded himself with as much work as he could whether it was at the precinct or Bleu.

Corrine had just finished locking up the studio and was heading to a home that she knew would be empty. She trudged through the tiny blanket of snow that'd began to fall, while searching for her car keys in her purse. Courtesy of the windchill, the numbness of her gloveless fingers caused her to drop the keys in front of her car. Kissing her teeth, she sat her bag on top of the snow covered roof of her car, before bending down slowly to retrieve the keys.

Once her frozen fingertips came in contact with the cooled metal keys, she picked them and herself back up— again, slowly due to the pain she still felt. The sound of snow crunching quickly caught her attention. She snapped her head in the direction of the where the noise was approaching from. Too much shit happened to women this time of night.

Her eyes widened at the sight of the male figure standing only a few feet away from her. She must have really been out of it if he'd gotten that close to her without noticing anything.

"Does your husband usually let you out this late alone? It's quite reckless you know." A taunting tone accompanied his words.

For a second, Corrine had been petrified with the realization that Bleu was close to her. Bleu smirked arrogantly as he observed her reaction. She blinked rapidly three times, snapping herself out of the trance of his captivating blue eyes. Pressing the unlock button, she hurriedly opened the door.

"I was just heading home." The shakiness of her hands caused her to fumble with the keys creating a loud jingling noise. Her attempts at hiding her fear had done her no justice.

Just as she was about to shut the car door, he caught it with his hand. "What a coincidence, I was headed there as well. Richard and I have some business to discuss. How about giving me a lift?"

Though he made it seem as if it were a question, Corrine knew otherwise. Silently, she nodded in compliance. "I would prefer to be the driver. Unless, of course, that would be a problem with you." He raised an eyebrow daring her to disagree.

As much as she wanted to curse him out, she knew that he was unpredictable and wasn't willing to take that risk just because of her short fuse. With more silence, she slid over into the passenger's seat of the car. The sooner she could get home, the better— and possibly safer.

The car ride was filled with silence as Bleu drove and Corrine focused on the buildings that passed by. She was alerted when she noticed a lone black car trailing them. Just as she was about to say something, Bleu chuckled.