This is some sort of an experiment I wanted to try. I have never been a big fan of second POV stories but when this story began to form in mind I felt it would be the best way to tell it. You'll soon realise who is the person I'm "talking" to, but don't worry. This fic is 100% Baxley.
I would love to know what you think
As usual, sorry for any grammatical errors you can find. Hope it doesn't interfere with the reading.
Disclaimer: I don't own DA and Baxley (I wish I did)
Of all the creatures
Of all the creatures that live under the sun, you were the blindest and without any doubt, daftest. Your belief that you had everything under control, that you had her life under your control, was exactly what led her away. And of course, you have no idea when was the exact moment your control over her started to fall apart. But I will tell you. It was the day you decided to go with her to his book shop.
Five minutes of interaction between them were more than enough for his gentle manners to be carved into her heart and his shy smile and warm eyes took her from you forever. But of course, you didn't see that.
You didn't realise that the picture frames and small ornaments that had decorated her bookshelves had begun to be replaced with books from his shop. In no time she become a regular customer who listened attentively to his thoughtful recomendations on what she should read. He opened her mind to a wide range of genres she had never thought about reading before.
Her renewed interest in reading was the perfect excuse for them to exchange emails addresses.
"I'll let you know you as soon as I know when they deliver that book"
And that's what happened the first weeks but books were soon forgotten in their conversations. He started filling out spaces that you, has her husband, had decided to neglect deliberately. He listened to her, he made her laugh, he cared for her. And one day, one that any of them won't ever remember, "Mr Molesley" and "Mrs Coyle" disappeared from their minds to become simply "Joe" and "Phyllis".
If it was up to you she would have been as unhappy as usual on her birthday. Your platinum credit card handed to her and your "You go and buy yourself whatever you want. I didn't have time" didn't fail. But it was different this year because of that simple flower. From him. To her.
He had made her extremely happy with that and well… with his other gift, which it also made her laugh. She was a faithful customer, after all.
"Oh. And you have a 80% discount on the next book you want to buy"
Her birthday had been the silver lining on her miserable life, but two weeks later when he shyly suggested that maybe she would like to go with him to that amateur theater play, the dark clouds hovering over her somehow vanished and she realised what was happening between them. And it absolutely terrfied her.
"I'm sorry Joe. I really can't. My husband won't… he's waiting for me at home"
She had refused. Because she was afraid of you and how her life would be if she started living it. And he completely understood and downplayed it with his usual politeness. She was determined not to divert herself from the right path inspite of having his sad smile imprinted on her mind. But once again you, with your obsession to turn your lives into something she loathed, made her change her mind.
"I can't go to that dinner. I have plans with a friend".
You were upset, of course. You don't like when things go as you planned, but left anyway and soon as she was alone she searched for the phone hoping it wasn't too late.
"Of course, it isn't too late Phyllis. Shall we meet in an hour?"
It was late and they couldn't find a table to sit so they had to stay at the back, next to the bar, her sitting on a stool and him standing next to her. But it didn't matter. She enjoyed the play and having him close to her, whispering witty remarks to her ear. They stayed afterwards and the discussion over the play was soon followed by a light chat about anything and everything. He insisted on paying both their drinks and before she realised, their date had ended.
You were still at your boss' when she got home so you didn't get to she her facial expression. On an impulse, she had kissed him when he dropped her at the corner of your street. It had been a simple peck on his cheek, but it meant much more. For both of them.
That radiant smile she wore didn't fade until she fell asleep.
The relationship between them changed drastically after that. There weren't more night dates (you had started to come early from work) but they began enjoying more and more time together; after work, early in the mornings, during the weekends for coffee…
Both of them knew what was going on between them. They could feel it everytime they were together, in their looks and smiles and the way they had to repress themselves from any harmless physical contact. But the night you called her saying that you would be late as you had loads of work at the office, the inevitabe happened. You were stupid enough not to cover your tracks as the feminine laughs she could hear at the background showed that you were anywhere but at the office.
He was at the book shop late at night doing inventary and got worried when he received a call from her asking if she could go over there. But as soon as he unlucked the shop door, she eased him by launching herself into his arms and kissing him hungrily. They made love frantically that night in the floor of his office, unleashing all the pent-up desire they had kept a tight control on.
After that, it become impossible for them to stop. They simply couldn't get enough of each other and everytime they were together, nothing else mattered. Gone were the walks in the park or their meetings in the coffee shop. Now, they secluded themselves in the backseat of his car, behind the last shelf of his shop, out the customers' sight, in his office and eventually… in his place.
You couldn't care less about the clothes she had in her wardrobe and that's why you never found out all the new clothes she bought, including those beautiful, hugging dresses and the sexy lingerie. For him. But especially for her because for the first time in years she felt beautiful. And strong. And confident.
And that evening at the company anual dinner, you were so busy trying to impress your boss and ogling the new secretary that you forgot that she was there too. That's why you fail to notice her biting her lip when she received a certain phone message from him.
"Are you wearing the dress that looked ridiculously better in my bedroom floor or the one it took us one hour to find because it had fallen behind my sofa?"
Your laughs at that stupid, sexist joke from your boss prevented you from hearing her excusing herself from the table to go to the toilet. And even if you had heard her, your stupid ego wouldn't have guessed in a million years that her reason for leaving the table was because his question needed a proper answer. And not through a message.
"It's the new one that you are going to help me take off as soon as I'm back at your place"
She began to feel more confident with herself as a woman. Her sexual needs had died down years ago, but you had never cared as you had what you wanted, whenever you wanted without thinking of her. But being with him awoke all the fire within her. Whenever she was alone in bed at night or in the shower, her hands began to wander and explore, rediscovering what she liked, what it made her moan, with all the joy (and fun) that entailed.
But one day his father died suddenly and his cry over the phone tore her apart. He had always understood her position and never asked for anything she coulnd't give but now he needed her beside him and begged her to attend the funeral.
You still had no clue on what was going on but had begun noticing the change in her, how she had started to slip away from your grasp, and you couldn't have that. That's way you took her to that bussiness event in Paris for a whole week. You stupidly thought that you had under her control again, "forcing" her to be at your side at every conference, visit, dinner…
She had learnt to behave as the perfect bussinessman wife. Always smiling, always dutiful. But on the inside, she was dead. He thought about him everyday and missed him every night. But even if she had had one minute by herself, she wouldn't have been able to contact him, as you had taken her phone from her bag without her noticing and hid it away before heading for the airport.
When both of you came back home and you left for the office, she ran to him. He said he understood and that he had no right to demand anything from her. But there was something else within him he wasn't saying and as soon as they were alone in the shop, she took him by the hand to his office and asked him.
"This is not enough for me anymore".
"I want you in my life".
"Hiding is killing me".
"I don't think I can go on anymore".
"Maybe it's better for us not see each other for a while".
The nightmare she felt in Paris came back, hitting her harder. She barely left home and cried herself to sleep. But you didn't see that. You were mild aware of her turning to her old self and decided that if something was wrong, it wasn't worthy of your time.
Two months later they saw each other casually in a local fair. They instantly new how much they had suffered but tried to hide it to spare each other from more pain. Being the gentleman he always was, he insisted on carrying her bags to her car, but as soon as their hands touched when he handed them back to her, their feelings resurfaced with the force of a hurricane.
"I'm so very sorry. I love you. I love you so much".
Being apart made them stronger and she became bolder. Braver.
Your loyalty with the company was regarded with a new, higher position that implied more money, more decision influence and also more time away from home. You thought her happiness had to do with the better and more luxurious life ahead proving again how wrong you are.
And while you decided to invest more time at work, he decided to hire someone to run the shop in the afternoon. The money he got from renting his late father's house and the increasing success of his shop allowed him to began to enjoy life. With her. So everyday from three in the afternoon until nine in the evening she stayed at his place, living the life she had dreamed for so long. Within those walls, nothing mattered rather than making each other happy. They cooked, watched films, made love, took baths and showers together and little by little, all that intimacy between them began to impregnate everything else.
From a spare toothbrush, to a small cabinet for her wide selection of tea blends; from a small drawer for her stockins and undergarments to half of his wardrobe for her dresses and jeans. From small spaces here and here for her ornaments and books to emptying a whole room for her to use.
"I want you to have your own space here"
And one night after sharing a glass of wine, she uttered the words that had been lingering in her mind for months now.
"I don't want to leave you anymore, Joe"
She would never be able to describe her happiness the moment she began to pack all her things in boxes and suitcases with Joe at her side, helping and supporting her.
And all that happiness, all that support turned into an unwavering strenght the moment you walked through the door and she confronted you and told you everything. You have been so blind all this time that didn't have time to react and fight back. She wouldn't have let you though, as for the first time she knew what she wanted and wasn't willing to let it go.
In your bussiness you had been taught that you had to kill even when you are being killed and as she was about to walk through the threshold you assured her that she wouldn't get any of his money or the house.
She never asked for anything from you as she had found that she had everything with him.