Business And Pleasure

6

I couldn't concentrate as I tried to go through Bassey's case. It was late at night and I didn't trust myself to go home alone so late-not after what happened with Aurel. I made up my mind that I was sleeping at my office tonight.

Someone knocked on my door and checking the time, I realised that it was almost 12 am. Oh my goodness! I grabbed the pepper spray from my bag and walked to the locked door.

"Who is it?"

"I saw that your light was still on and I thought maybe you had forgotten to switch it off."

Trenton? What was he still doing here at this time? I threw the pepper spray under my desk and opened the door. Trenton was looking just as disheveled as I was. He had that tiredness in his eyes and his pale skin couldn't look any more pasty.

"You good?" I asked as I opened the door wider to let him in but he stood in the doorway.

"I'm leaving. Do you need a ride to your place? There are no cabs available at this time."

He was being too nice, I thought. What did he want from me? "No. It's OK. Antoine is coming to get me. But thanks for offering."

He came in and sat on the couch, laying down and closing his eyes.

"What are you doing?" I asked, closing the door.

"I'm going to wait here until Antoine gets here. Just to make sure that you're safe." Even his voice sounded tired. "Wake me up when he gets here, alright?"

I stared at him in dumb shock. What the- "You don't have to babysit me and you're becoming too nice for my liking. What the hell do you want because if it is that nasty BDSM stuff, you can get the fuck off my couch straight to your momma, do you hear me?"

He opened one eye and cocked an eyebrow, clearly amused at he sat up. "So you know about my sexual preferences?"

"Everybody knows. You have literally slept with almost every woman in this freaking hellhole."

He smirked. "Everyone but you and the married women. I don't do married women. Pun intended."

I glared at him. "Ever since your wife passed, you're like...like a sex machine. Do you have nothing better to do than seduce women? It's like you're trying to fill a void...and sex won't do that."

"Why are you so uptight?" he retorted. I had clearly struck a nerve.

"I'm not uptight. You're the one that's uptight, trying to replace your emotional needs with materialistic 2 minute things. When was the last time you actually made love to a woman or before you even did that, you established some kind of connection to her? Do you even know what making love is?"

He chaffed and glared back. "I do not need any emotional connection to anyone. I'm fine just the way I am."

Deciding not to argue, I sat down on the couch beside him and looked at the floor. "You said you've never truly been happy. That means you are not fine just the way you are. What makes you happy?" I looked at him. "What's the one thing that you want in this whole world that once you do...you'll die a happy man?"

He stared at me, his whole face just tired. "I want to have my wife back but I can't do that now, can I? That was the only thing that made me truly happy." He lay back down on the couch and closed his eyes. "She was the only thing or person that made me happy because she understood me. She understood that I was two different people at home and at work but I was still the man who fell in love with her. She was the only person who understood the real me."

"I guess we're not much different. Two different faces in two different places. I guess that's what our profession wants from us. Once you become the same person at home and at work, you lose the meaning of who you truly are. I hate my work face."

"I hate mine too but hey, it's just business. Are you sure that Antoine is still coming?"

"Yeah. He'll be here soon," I said, a little too quickly and being the lawyer that he was, he caught on.

"He's not coming, is he?" he said, sitting up and looking at me. "You were planning to sleep here, weren't you?" He stood up. "Grab your things. Let's get you home."

I couldn't let him know where I lived so I asked him to take me to the first place I thought of. Aurel's place.

He walked me to the door and like I usually did, I searched underneath the pot plant for the key and unlocked the door. I almost turned back as the familiar whiff of Aurel's apartment scent hit me, a faint hint of his cologne still present in the air. I hadn't thought this through and I turned back towards the door. I wasn't ready to face this so soon. This had been a bad decision.

"Are you alright?" Trenton asked as he watched me with concern. I wish he would stop being like this.

I quickly nodded. "Um...thank you for the ride," I whispered. "I'll be alright."

"Are you sure? That you'll be alright?"

I nodded and watched as he walked to the door.

"Call me, OK?" he said.

I couldn't say anything as I suddenly felt a lump lodging in my throat. I opted to just nod and Trenton left. As soon as he was in the elevator, I closed the door and ran to the bedroom where I took off all my clothes and slipped on one of Aurel's shirts.