Sorry
Chapter One
Ray had made no secrets about his feelings for Neela, but he had respected her respect for her marriage and now he respected the pain she was going through. It had been two months since her husband died and she still wouldn't talk to Ray for more than a minute. It killed him to know that his best friend didn't want to talk to him. He knew that she might feel like she was betraying Gallant by being anywhere near Ray, but he couldn't give up.
After Neela came back to work, she had requested to be put on a shift without Ray on it. She just thought that it wouldn't be right to move on with her life so quickly. She felt really guilty for ever thinking about being with Ray, but she felt even guiltier that she wasn't listening to the words that Michael had said in his video. He wanted her to move on with her life. Exactly two months after Gallant had died, Neela showed up at Ray's door.
"What are you doing here?" he asked as he yawned.
"I'm sorry to bother you. I know that you just got off your shift and it's late, but I needed to talk to you."
"Come in," he said motioning for Neela to come and sit on the couch.
"I couldn't stand to see you for so long because of how I'd felt for you, but I can't hide from you forever. I got myself switched over to be on shifts with you."
"That's great!" he said with a smile.
"I just want you to know that I do care for you, and I don't know if I'm ready for a relationship quite yet. I hope you understand that. I just needed to let you know that I really do have feelings for you. I just don't know how to deal with them. I couldn't see you before Michael died because that would have betrayed him. I couldn't see you right after he died for the same reason. Now, I'm trying to move on with my life, and I want you in it. I just don't want to rush into anything."
"We don't have to rush into anything at all," he said as he brushed some hair out of Neela's face.
"Good," she said quietly before kissing him softly on the lips.
He pulled away. "I thought you didn't want to rush into anything."
"I'm not rushing into anything, Ray. I just kissed you. That's not rushing into anything. It's not like I'm going to have sex with you tonight. I just wanted to show you that I do want a relationship with you. I just wanted to show you that I do have strong feelings for you."
"You didn't have to kiss me to let me know that."
Neela became flustered. "So should I leave?"
"Only if you want to."
"I don't want to."
"Okay. I would love to stay up and talk, but I'm completely exhausted. I really need to go to bed, but you can hang around as long as you'd like."
"Can I sleep with you?"
"I thought you said you didn't want to have sex."
"I didn't mean it that way. I meant just sleeping in the same bed."
"Oh. I don't know if that's a good idea."
"Why?"
"I just think that that might make things speed up."
"I think I can handle a little bit of a boost. We don't have to kiss; I just want to be next to you tonight."