SLOW HANDS

It was written in the guise of an article announcing the deal brokered between Packard Enterprises and Golden Gates promotions. It detailed her job history, colorful as it was, to the present and hinted broadly about there being a relationship between her and Timothy. Nothing was left to the imagination. Everything she’d worked so hard to overcome had been splashed in excruciating detail.

She should be angry. Furious even. But what she felt was….. resignation.

She looked up into the worried eyes of Bryce as the realization hit her. It would always be something. Timothy was right to be angry that she’d placed more importance on what others thought of her than she did what he thought of her. As long as the people she loved knew the truth, it shouldn’t matter what some stranger thought. Evan believed in her and her abilities. She had the backing of her agency. She had people who loved her unconditionally. Timothy evidently didn’t care who knew they were involved, so why should she?

For the first time in a long while, she looked at her life with a sense of deep gratitude. For so long she’d been shaped by external forces. Her desire to shed the problems in her family. Her need to escape from the scandal at her former job and prove herself to everyone around her.

The only person she’d been proving anything to was herself. Everyone else had known all along what kind of person she was.

“Oh, Bryce, I’ve been so stupid,” she whispered.

He cocked his head in confusion. She responded by throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him fiercely. Then she drew away and kissed him on the cheek.

“Thank you.”

He still looked supremely puzzled. “For what?”

“For opening my eyes. I’ve been so very blind to what was in front of me all along.”

He grinned crookedly. “Well, okay. Do me a favor and the next time Peter and Edwars start riding my ass, you remind them that I opened your eyes. Whatever that means.”

She smiled back. “What it means is that I’m through with trying to please others. I’m through with caring what they think about me. The only people in this world who matter to me already believe the best of me. What more do I need?”

“Don’t let these bastards get you down, Chloe. You’re right. We love you to pieces and nothing anyone ever insinuates is going to change that. Furthermore, I know good and damn well that you are not a manipulative, calculating bitch who doesn’t care who she hurts on her way up the corporate ladder.”

She hugged him again. “Thank you, Bryce. You have no idea what that means to me.”

He leaned away, still holding her arms. “So what about Timothy?”

She pressed her lips together. “He told me not to bother crawling back if I changed my mind. Well, too bad. I made a mistake. It’s not the end of the world. We all make them. I’m sure he’s made his share. He was angry and I’m sure he didn’t mean half of what he said. I’m going to make him listen to me. Then I’m going to take the leap and tell him I love him and hope like hell that doesn’t make him run for cover.”

Bryce touched her cheek in a tender gesture. “If he does, he’s a fool who doesn’t deserve you. Remember that, okay?”

She glanced down at her rumpled appearance. She shuddered to think what her hair looked like. She’s spent the last few days moping. “I need to go jump in the shower and then I have some apologizing to do in person.”

Bryce got up, leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. “Good luck.” He held his hand out to help her up. She hurried inside, determined not to waste another minute without telling Timothy she was sorry and that she loved him.

She took a while in the shower mainly because she was working out just what she wanted to say to Timothy. Simple vanity also made her want to look her absolute best. I mean, who went and groveled when they looked like a hag with a hangover? She pulled on a robe and twisted a towel around her hair. Then she walked through her bedroom and into the hall on her way to the kitchen. She needed something to eat, and she needed to tell Darell she’d be leaving in the next hour.Property of Nô)(velDr(a)ma.Org.

When she rounded the corner into the living room, she looked up and nearly fell over in shock. There, sitting on Bryce’s father’s couch, was Timothy. Bryce and his father were nowhere to be found.

“Oh, no,” she whispered. “No, no, no.” This wasn’t supposed to be the way she confronted him.

She turned, intending to make a mad dash for her bedroom and shut the door until she could make herself presentable. He caught her before she’d gone three steps.

He grabbed her arm and pulled her into his arms. “No, Chloe, don’t go. Please.”

She moaned in frustration. “Dammit, Timothy. You’ve ruined everything. I was going to look nice when I came to apologize. Now I’m in my bathrobe and my hair is all wet and in a towel. I don’t even have any makeup on.”

Then it hit her. What was he doing here? At Bryce’s dad’s? How had he even known where to find her and, moreover, why would he care?

He chuckled and pulled her even closer. “I don’t give a damn what you look like. I need to talk to you. Personally I don’t think you’ve ever looked better to me.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “What are you doing here, Tim? How did you know where to find me? I was about to leave to go find you.”

“Then it’s good we found each other,” he said softly.

He tugged her back into the living room. “Come sit with me, Chloe. Please. There’s so much I need to say to you.”

“Ditto,” she murmured.

She let him pull her down beside him on the couch, even if she was still horrified by the fact she was wearing a robe, with nothing on underneath, and she was wearing a wet towel on her head, for God’s sake. But when she looked at him, she promptly forgot all that. All she knew was that she loved this man, and she’d do anything to make things right between them.

“I’m sorry,” she said in a low, shaky voice.