HAPPY FOREVER AFTER

Daniel led Michelle into his office.

It had been a while since he had seen her and they had been a thing before. She had filled a need, but that was a while ago. That was before he met Emma and somehow she had obliterated every thought of another woman right out of his mind. He had never wanted to be with just any woman the way he wanted to be with her. Which surprised and sometimes scared the hell out of him.

The past three weeks had been hell for him. He had wanted so badly to drive to her apartment and demand to know why she had pushed him away after they had spent such an amazing night together. Whatever it was between them, he knew she felt it too. He just didn’t understand why she did everything thing in her power to push him away.

It was funny. He thought. Funny how the tables had turned. With the other women he had been with, he was always the one who ended things. He was the one who was in a hurry to get out of bed the next morning. He was the one who came up with a reason why they couldn’t be a couple.

He understood Emma. Understood that she had probably been through something that made her build those walls around her. She was just trying to protect herself. And it was because he understood that he gave her some space. But three weeks was a long time. And he was so damn tired of waiting.

He turned to Michelle. She smiled at him. He couldn’t deny her beauty. Of course she was beautiful. But he had decided to keep their relationship professional and so he had ended things between them. He had told her that and she had agreed to the decision.

“Oh Daniel, honey”. She said, “I have missed you so much”

Her fingers played with his shirt buttons, and she lifted her lips to his, expecting a kiss.

Daniel moved away from her, his hands found hers and moved them away from his chest.

“I thought we decided to end that part of our relationship, Michelle,” he said.

“Well, you can’t blame me for wanting you, Daniel,” she replied, her hands on her hips. “It’s been a while. And now you are looking at me like you don’t know me. Did I do something wrong?”

“Of course you didn’t. Why would you ask that?”

“Because I really can’t understand how you could just forget about signing those papers I told you about because you were too busy. What could you possibly be so busy doing to forget something like that… Of course I would think you are mad at me… Or avoiding me. You never said no to me back then… And you used to look happier to see me at least. Now I can’t even get a kiss from you? What is up with you…. unless… There is someone else… There is someone else… Isn’t there, Daniel? I really don’t understand you at all..”

“Put that way, ” he said.” I’m sure it must be hard to understand ”

“And how would you put it then?”Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

“I have already explained that I forgot about it. I was busy, it just slipped my mind. I have also apologized for forgetting. Either accept it, or don’t. I won’t spend the day justifying myself to you”

“You still haven’t answered my question… there is someone, isn’t there Daniel?” she asked

“I am not going to discuss my personal life with you either, Michelle,” he said. “Can we just go straight to the reason why you are here? We have work to do”

He moved to his desk and sat down. Michelle stood in front of him. He stared at her. She looked really pissed now. If he told her that anger enhanced her beauty, she would no doubt throttle him, but it was true. The faint pink of anger that tinged her creamy skin was as flattering as the most artfully applied cosmetic. It was her beauty that had attracted him to her in the first place. But they were done, he had made it clear to her. And she said she was okay with it. He didn’t understand why she was acting this way now. He wasn’t in the mood for any kind of argument or confrontation.

He averted his eyes from Michelle.

“It’s that Emma girl, isn’t it?” Michelle said ignoring his last comment. “I saw the way you both looked at each other. You could cut the tension in there with a knife. Is she the reason you ‘forgot’ to meet me? Because just so you know, I don’t buy that excuse one bit”

Daniel ignored the question.

“Oh I see” she said, moving closer and resting both hands on his table. “You are just going to ignore me, is that it?. Wow, she is not even your type, Daniel. What exactly do you see in her? She is so below….”

“Enough, Michelle,” Daniel said suddenly. The tone of his voice made her keep whatever she wanted to say to herself.

“You will not speak about her that way,” he continued. “Like I said before, my personal life is none of your business and I will not discuss it with you. Now, we will go straight to the reason why you are here. If you insist on sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong, I’m gonna have to ask you to leave”

“It’s a character flaw you have”. She said, “You know that, don’t you? Your head is always up in the bloody clouds. You are not grounded in reality.”

The charge wasn’t exactly new. He thought, staring at her. When they had first become partners, she had teased him about mentally disappearing. Gradually, the teasing started to get a bit of an edge. It wasn’t until they had started sleeping together that she had taken to calling it a character flaw.

He opened his drawer. There was a bottle of whiskey in it. He could do with some solitude right now. He thought, with a glance at Michelle. He poured a little whiskey into a couple of glasses and handed one to her. She downed it in one gulp, then dropped the glass on his desk.