When I started working, I figured my writing would take a hit, however I didn't expect to lose writing. I haven't felt up to writing. When I'm not working, I'm sleeping. On my days off, I usually get called in. I rarely get a break.
I will be continuing Apprentice soon. Think of this story as a pallet cleanser.
I apologize if it's rough. This is my first piece of writing in months.
"It's work, Tom. It's a major emergency, I have to go." Liz kissed the man she hardly knew deeply, hands gripping the back of his shirt and vomit slowly creeping up her throat.
"Call when you can, babe." Tom gave a smile wrapped in stubble, another kiss falling upon her cheekand down her neck.
"I will, every day." Liz picked up her purse and car keys, the lie she had wrapped herself in keeping her protected from Tom's following gaze as he left the house.
"I can't go home. Not now." Liz, still within Red's welcoming arms, sighed softly. The music box clinked away, the song on its last leg, the bells slowing. Suddenly, there was no more. Just silence; dead silence. Liz's sobs were louder, now, and Red felt his own cold heart begin to crumble within his chest.
"You'll have to, at some point. Maintaining appearances is the most important thing right now, we can't let him know we have knowledge of his other life." Red stroked her hair, giving her scalp a gentle massage.
"Being my husband is his other life, Red." Evidence of a broken woman laced her voice, her hand gripping onto his leg, trying to keep herself in this reality. She wanted to leave this world, pass out, just forget the harsh reality that was her life.
The moment remained suspended in time, the silence between them deafening. Red's hand slowly began to move against her back in soothing circles. Liz soaked in his touch, taking a deep breath to savour Red's warm scent.
"If you're worried I'll push you away just to send you home, you clearly don't know me. Now," Red slowly pushed back, just far enough to look Liz in her wet eyes ", I have something just for rainy days like this. I'll be back in a moment, make yourself comfy." He left a final, fleeting kiss upon the top of her head before leaving the room.
She slid over to his side of the bed, wrapping herself in the blanket Red had been using as she walked in the room. She pulled it up to her nose, Liz's body safely encased with warm fur and Red's cologne. The older man had kept his work, his moment no longer than three minutes, a sleek black case in his hand.
He exchanged the music box for the mystery suitcase, sitting at Liz's feet, and stretched his hands out. Grabbing Liz's ankles through the blanket, he pulled them over his lap while pulling the table closer with his foot. Red moved the blanket up, exposing her feet, then slid a gentle hand up her pant legs to yank off the knee length stocking.
"What are you doing?" Liz chuckled, watching Red carefully fold each stocking with precision.
"Setting myself up for disaster. Tell me, Lizzy, when was the last time you got a pedicure? If it were anyone else, I would have walked out." His head shook when he spoke, a smile painted on his lips when he looked to her.
"I don't do pedicures, or manicures, for that matter. No point in this job, they'd get all chipped."
"Ever hear of doing something for yourself? Make yourself feel good? A little self indulgence?" Red asked, pumping lotion onto his hands.
"You do enough of that for the entire task force, let alone me." Liz let her eyes watch, another laugh escaped Red before he went to work. He looked so serious; not the deadly serious he was when they were working together. The kind of serious one shows to those they care about when they were in trouble. Red was on a mission to distract her.
He placed her pale foot on his thigh, running a hand along the top to leave a trail of pink moisturizer in its wake. He repeated the motion with the underside, then started to work the lotion in. Skilled thumbs sunk into the sole, liberating the neglected muscles and tendons that lay just beneath the flesh. Using his knuckles, he pushed into her foot and traced down the arch, his free thumb already tracing patterns into her heel.
When Liz moaned, Red couldn't help but look at her.
Her head was in the motion of turning to the left, into the back cushion of the couch, her eyes shutting tight, and lips parted mid-sigh. He was enchanted with her all over again, the raw beauty that was Elizabeth Keen radiated through the room.
Their thoughts were the same; was this how it should be? Was this how it was meant to be? Would it be this way sooner or later? Would it never come to be? Neither knew for certain, but in the moment, both were content with whatever their current situation was.
It's rough, it's short, but it's the first thing I've been happy with for months. So there's that.
xoxoPN