Everything Is Blue

Chapter 23

 Maybe we're not supposed to be without each other.

The C.O.R.E project would be completed next week, and Bud had no clue how to confess his feelings to Kimbra. He doubted that the scientist even felt that way for him. He was getting a massive headache just thinking about it all. He did not need this right now.

Bud hunched morosely over his desk.

He hadn't met anyone like her in a long time, and wasn't sure he would again. He had never been more baffled in his life.

He knew what it was.

Love.

How the times had changed.

He wanted to try. To try and be more than friends with the woman he loved.

Wishful thinking, I suppose.

He was sure she never thought of him that way. He knew that he irritated her at times. She might not even handle the news all that well.

The very idea of it was preposterous.

Kimbra was probably the first woman he'd met in years who wasn't impressed by his public persona, celebrity status, or wealth. She didn't care for any of it. No matter what he tried, that purple haired scientist refused to succumb to his charm.

It just made him want her even more.

Why does it have to be you?

Usually, Bud could buy anything he desired. Pay off people to get his way.

But not this time.

A low groan escaped his mouth as he placed his head in his hands. These sort of fantasies rarely come true in the real world. People don't magically end up with the person of their dreams. It hardly ever happens.

This was real life, not some sappy Hallmark movie. Bud Flud had been such a blind, self-centered idiot. He most likely ruined any chance he had with the scientist.

He couldn't be around her. Whenever he saw her, he couldn't breathe.

He really was doomed.

***

Kimbra quietly opened the door, grinning with excitement. She expected Bud to be deeply invested in paperwork, or yelling at one of his employees over the phone. Instead, she found him slumped on his desk with his head in his hands. It saddened her to see him look so defeated. That wasn't like the salesman at all.

"Bud?" Her voice interrupted his moping.

Bud raised his head up, looking pitiful. He said nothing.

Kimbra stepped into the room. "Something wrong?"

"It's nothing," he replied, not reassuring her in the slightest.

She approached him, box in her hands, with an expression of concern. "No... what's wrong?"

He bit the inside of his cheek before spewing out an answer. "Just nervous about next week."

It wasn't a complete lie. He was nervous, but not about the project.

"I get it," she gave a half smile, but her eyes were full of worry too. "I think we all are."

He waited a beat, unsure about whether or not to admit his feelings right then and there. He hated the life he was living. Keeping secrets. Telling lies. Being miserable.

"What's that?" He gestured at the box in her hands.

"Oh!" She quickly looked to the box and back to him. "It's a few cinnamon rolls. You said you never had time for breakfast, so I baked you some." She placed it on the desk in front of him.