Fleeting Gossamer (James Wesley)

[2] And Yet Here We Are

She felt a weight shift on the bed and the smell of aftershave and crisp soap filled the room. She dared to open her eyes and before her was a face, dark and shadowed eyes boring into hers. There was no malice, no Ill-intent in them.

"I thought the conditions of our agreement were set," she snapped, rolling away from him,  "and clear."

Wesley drew in a sharp breath, but snapped his mouth shut before he had the chance to utter a word. She was, of course,  right. "I know," was all he could muster, his voice light and almost anguished. It was more than he'd ever given away to anyone else, even to Fisk.

There was a light scoff in the dark and her body shuddered. "And yet here you are."

He allowed himself a small grin,  "Yet here we are," he echoed her words in a tone more somber and wounded than her bitterness allowed.

Rolling her eyes, she turned to face him again. "What is it you want, James?" she blinked at him, knowing full well how his first name made him twitch in his own skin. "You know we're past whatever it was we were before. After all this time, if you're still-"

"You're still my wife, Leta."

Another hearty chuckle. "Barely even in name!" she roared,  sitting up and gathering the sheets about herself, almost instinctively, protectively. "I was." She replied, all cutting tones dampened by the pain that bled through her voice. "But that was a long time ago. We're different people now."

He reached out a hand to rest on her arm,but she shrank away faster than he'd expected and she averted her eyes so she didn't see the pained look on his face. And then his phone buzzed in his trouser pocket. He swiped it out and glanced at the screen. He let out a sigh.

"It's him, isn't it?" Leta didn't even sound curious. She already knew the answer.

"Leta," he pleaded softly as the phone continued to ring. His heart jolted with every second that passed without him accepting the call.

"You better get that," She was completely cold. With a huff,  Wesley slid out of the bed and moved swiftly out the door, pressing the phone to his ear as he did.

"Yes,  sir. Understood.  I'll meet you there in-" the door closed shut behind him and when Leta was sure he was far from her, when she heard the engine roar and clatter outside as the car pulled out of the driveway, she let out the breath she'd been holding the moment he'd entered the room.

"And never come back," she cursed in a ragged whisper, watching the shadows dance along the curves of her ceiling.