His voice hovered in the background, a low incessant hum that just barely reached her ears. Ororo sat in a daze as her hands deftly moved to apply a layer of foundation over her now fully mature bruises. She grimaced as the bristles scraped across her skin but felt nothing else as her movements continued. Nothing to her seemed real, since the previous day's events she had been running on autopilot her mind void of any other thoughts than what was needed to survive. All other energy was devoted to suppressing the images that pressed against the back of her eyelids their presence being just as detrimental as her physical pain.
She moved slowly her sore limbs throbbing with every motion they made. She flinched when she felt the man's hands touch her bare shoulders the unexpected contact causing her heart to pick up speed within her chest. Kent looks at her in the mirror and she shifts her eyes downward in an effort to avoid his. When he speaks to her it is as if she is listening to someone else.
"I've got some time off coming up" he spoke.
"Oh" was all she said. "We should go on a vacation somewhere" he went on. "How does Florida sound"? Ororo nodded absent mindedly her thoughts drifting elsewhere. It seemed that Kent had suddenly become a different person but she could still see the darkness that lay beneath. She thought of Victor pushing the image back almost as quickly as it came. She wasn't ready to even imagine him, not now, maybe never again. The woman winced as a hand cupped her jaw pulling her from her trance as Kent forced her to face him. "Don't you fucking hear me talking to you" he shouted. Ororo nodded quickly the onset of fresh tears building beneath her eyelids. "Yes…I'm sorry" she surrendered.
Releasing his grip the man's eyes softened as he looked down at her. "Why do you always have to do things you know piss me off"? Ororo fell silent once more. Her emotions were blank, not even enough to register how his words affected her. He took her shoulders again and she turned her head allowing him to kiss her lightly on the cheek. She made no response to his actions only remained in the same position until his hands left her skin. A breath of relief came when she heard the timer on his watch beep alerting him that it was time to leave. He moved away from her collecting the last of his belongings.
Authors Note: I am so sorry everyone for being away for so long. I've been going through a rough time the past few months and lost the will to continue my stories but reading over all your comments I was encouraged to continue on. Hopefully I will be able to get more than one chapter out a week. Hope you all are still interested in reading this and still enjoy