Detective inspector Jack Robinson sat down heavily at his desk. He took a brief moment to glance over the mounting pile of paperwork beside him. He quickly disregarded it. Instead he opened his bottom drew and removed a now mostly empty bottle of whiskey. It had been another of those cases,one he had worked with her. He lived for the times they worked together. Their two minds working as one,balancing each other out. But as always it ended with a flirtatious smile and swish of her dress and she was gone once again. Each time she left she took with her a chunk of his heart. The void that was now forming within him had become all consuming. The only thing that helped to keep him together , dull the pain was whiskey. The vice of over indulging was one he normally despised, yet it had quickly become his sole lifeline.
He couldn't continue like this and he knew it. Something had to give. Him, her, them...there was no 'them'. Not as he wished it, there never could be. She could never be what he needed, and he couldn't be what she wanted. They where constantly being thrown together and it was tearing him apart. He loved her, he knew he did. He'd known for a long while now. She loved him too, he was certain of it. But it simply wasn't enough, why wasn't it enough?! In a flash of anger the bottle in his hand hurled across the room and shattered against the wall. He couldn't continue like this, he knew he couldn't. In a swift moment, refusing himself a second to think he grabbed his overcoat and hat from the stand and stalked out of his office. Things couldn't go on like this he had to do something
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He gently rapped on his front door, how had he gotten here? It appeared that his legs had enough him here with no conscious thought. His knock made only the slightest sound, but Mr Butler heard. As the door opened something in his face must have conveyed urgency , as without a spoken word he was hustled into the front Parlour. And there she was, casually sprawled across the love seat. She looked up at him from her book. A smile graced her lips, he liked to think of it as 'his smile', a smile reserved only for him. He knew it probably wasn't, but there was no harm in wishing. His heart, well what was left of it sung at the sight of her and it nearly killed him. His face must have given away more of his inner torment than he ment. Her smile slowly slipped from her beautiful face
"Jack? Whats the matter?" He shook his head, he couldn't bring himself to speak yet. He stood and listened to the silence surrounding them.
He took a deep breath "I can't do this Phryne" her given name was out of his mouth before he even thought. Although with hindsight he knew it really wasn't a 'Miss Fisher' moment
She looked concerned...confused.
Jack continued "I can't do this anymore, it's more than...more than I can bear" silently she offered him a seat. No, he needed to stand for this, by the door, close to an exit. He felt like such a coward, but he knew what he had to do.
"I love you Phryne" there he'd said it aloud. She starred at him, her face frozen in shock. She stood and tried to close the distance between them. But he stepped back, away "I can't... I love you Phryne Fisher. And it's destroying me. I can't" nearly sobbing at the last he turned away to leave
"Jack" it came an anguished whisper, desperation,hurt and love tinged her voice. But he couldn't, they could never be.
"Please, if you care for me, even a little, you'll stop. You'll let me be. We can't be together. We want different things. I beg you, stay away. I'm just not strong enough" and with that final plea he left. Out of her house- out of her life
