Elizabeth

You can. I mean, I give you permission. Superior office or whatever, that's not how I think of you. What I really mean is it's okay if you want. You can get off this roller coaster whenever you need to. Or want to. I won't be able to make it then, but that's okay with me. It's not okay with you and that's where I start lying. You can't get off, can you? We've tied you to your seat with duty and office. Hm. But you're glued there with something else. And I'm such a greedy man, wanting to keep you here for my needs. But it's becoming more than that. More than me reaching the top, more even than support. It's just you. I need you. For me. And nothing binds you to that, I swear, I can't command another's heart, not like you can, not like you command mine. That sounds so, well, characteristic of me, but cliché, and dammit, you don't listen to cliché, but please, listen to me. What do the men call you, my babysitter, what else, who knows? But they're right. All this time, I thought a woman was something to take care of, that a woman was something to protect, that a woman was something I could hold, who needed me. And you are undoubtedly a woman. But a woman who takes care of me, who is someone who protects me, who is someone who holds me, who I need more than anything. And dammit, that was cliché again but it's true. I'll set it up now, reiterate just like I always do, dish it out and reinforce, how you're used to hearing things from me, though I never need to repeat it for you. If you ever need to stop, get out of this mess I'm making, I'm okay with you leaving. And I'm in love with you but if it's unrequited, I'll ask nothing of you. Save that you cover me.