Vacant Heart

Chapter Twenty-Seven

I'm surrounded by warmth.

It's midnight, just past actually.

My sheets, once cool and crisp are tangled around our limbs, wrinkled and twisted to our will. I'm not sure if he's fallen asleep, or he's just sustained enough orgasms to make speech nearly impossible. I lift my head from his chest, discovering his eyes are in fact closed. However, at my slight movement, his fingers glide over the rigidness of my spine, showing me he's just as awake as I am.

"Did you tell Victoria you were leaving?"

His smirk confirms that.

"I bet she was thrilled."

"Ecstatic," he replies, sarcastically without opening his eyes. "You know, she really loved you..."

He laughs when I shove him, turning, catching me fast enough to pull me right back. I glare at him, and he finds me frowning when he finally peers at me in the darkness, which is not really darkness, because the sky is bright with artificial light, even if it is below my window.

"It's not a good thing that she doesn't like me."

"It's not that she doesn't like you, per se. She just doesn't trust you."

"Same thing."

"It's not though. With time, she'll learn to trust you."

With time.

"And in the meantime, she'll continue to try and persuade you to realize how hard all of this, how were not compatiable..."

"I already know all those things," he says, nonchalantly. He regards me squarely, witnessing as his words strike me like a blow. His hand stops its ascent over my skin, and lifts to my face, gently pushing my waves of golden hair from my eyes. "I know it and I'm here, Jo."

I blink, dropping my gaze down to his collarbones. "I...can't imagine how difficult today must have been for you."

"Reintroducing yourself to a world forgotten is by no means easy, but it's not impossible. You just have to have the will to follow through."

"And you do?"

"I'm trying." He caresses the curve of my cheek gently. "How will you explain this to your co-workers, your boss?"

"I'm not sure." I groan, closing my eyes, curling my arms around his waist. I lay flat on him, concealing my face in his chest. "I don't think I'll tell them just yet. I don't want their problems."

"Do you think it'll be a serious negative?"

I sense the suspicion in his tone, and quickly speak to rid him of it.

"No, it won't. It's just...I just told them I wasn't doing a story on you. It's the first time I've ever done that."

"Wouldn't that make them understand why you rejected it? Maybe it will help."

I shake my head. "It won't."

"Why?"

We're borderline arguing. I hadn't even realized it until now. I push up, slowly onto my palms, knowing what I should say.

Because they won't care.

Because I turned down a partnership for this.

Because to them, you are a missed opportunity for the company.

I refuse to tell him any of that, knowing all it would lead us, and more importantly him, to only guilt and reluctance. I'm not going to tell him anything that could convince him to leave.