- 7 -

Adam gets out of the hospital a few days later and I can't believe how grateful I am to be out of that place. He seems to be somewhat happy at home on his own, so I decide to go into work to make sure I'm not fired. I called in a couple days ago, but I don't think my boss, Lorelei was too happy about me missing work.

I walk up from the subway station and pull the collar of my jacket tighter around me. It's amazing how strong the wind can blow in New York in the winter.

I go inside of Seventeen and ride the elevator up to the 30th floor, which is where Lorelei's office is. I say hello to her secretary and go into her office.

"Hi Lorelei." I say, taking off my gloves. Lorelei's a woman with shoulder length wavy brown hair in her mid 30's. She has a pretty smile and when she's not mad at you, she uses it regularly. "Hi Joan. How's your husband?" Lorelei asks. "Much better. He's still taking antibiotics, but he's at home now, so I'm happy." I reply. Lorelei smiles at me. "Good. I'm glad. This may seem a little too direct, but have you gotten a chance to work on your Downtown article?" "Actually, yes I have. Iris brought in the photographs from the photo shoot on Friday morning and I was able to write a little bit over the weekend at the hospital. I'm almost finished with it." I say, replying. "That's good to hear. Just to let you know, the finalized version is due on my desk on Wednesday morning." Lorelei says. "Okay." I say. Lorelei smiles and I stand to walk to the door.

"Thank you Lorelei." I say. "Your welcome. I'm glad that you're back and that your husband's doing better." Lorelei says, with another smile. "Thank you." I say again. I then, turn and walk out the door.

I ride the elevator back down to the 22nd floor and walk towards my office. Tara sees me from her office and she comes out to greet me.

Tara gives me a quick hug, and then says happily "Joanie, you're back!" "Yeah, I'm back." I say. "Grace called me and said that Adam was coming back this morning. How is he?" "Good, he's good." I reply. "Good. How about you?" Tara asks. "I'm doing good. You have no idea how happy I am to be out of that place." Tara gives a faint smile. "Yeah, I bet. Personally, hospitals freak me out." I smile at her. "Yeah. I'm sorry Tar, but I've got to go home. I just wanted to talk to Lorelei. I'll see you tomorrow?" Tara nods then says "Sure Joan." I nod this time, then I turn and head back towards the elevator.

I put my gloves back on in the elevator and I ride it down to ground level. I pull my scarf tighter, feeling very cold. I walk towards the subway station and go down the stairs. My train is waiting at the station and I run to get on it. Sitting down in one of the seats by the door, I pull my coat even closer around me. I love New York so much, but I hate the cold. It's a sty trade off, but it's what I get if I want to live here.

The train gets to my stop about 15 minutes later and I get off. I go up to street level and cross the street. I take out my key and put it in the lock. I open the door and go inside. I greet the guard, and then go up in the elevator to the 4th floor and I walk down the hall to Adam's and my apartment. I insert my key and turn it.

"Hey." I say, closing the door behind me. "Hey." Adam says, not looking up from what he's doing. I glance over to see that he has a pad of paper and a pen out, his guitar is in his lap. He keeps leaning over the pad of paper to make notes.

I make a b-line towards the cabinet and take the jar of peanut butter out. Adam doesn't even have to look up to know what I'm doing. "You're going to get sick if you keep doing that." he says, finally looking up at me. I have a huge spoon of peanut butter in my hand. I take a small bite of it as I put the lid back on and put it back up in the cabinet. I walk over to him and sit down, looking at his notebook.

"What are you working on?" I ask, licking at my spoon. "A jingle for Nathan's latest ad." Adam replies. "Cool." I say. "You need help eating that?" Adam asks, looking at my spoon of peanut butter. "Sure." I reply, handing him my spoon. He takes it from me then glances up at me.

"Hold out your hand," Adam says, a mischievous look in his eyes. "What are you doing?" I ask, pretty sure of what he's about to do. "Just put your hand out," he says reaching for one of my hand. Adam spoons the peanut butter into my palm, and then he smiles at me, lust in his eyes. He takes my hand, brings it up to his mouth and he slowly licks up all of the peanut butter, his tongue continuing to tickle my palm long after it's gone. Every flick of his tongue sent waves of heat through me and soon I am too hot for anything to be funny. I take him by the chin and kiss him.

Adam opens his mouth and kisses me back. His tongue slips between my lips and touches mine. I pull away quickly and glance towards the window. Adam follows my gaze and stands up and walks to the window to close the blinds. He walks back to me, sits down and turns to face me.

We look each other up and down for a moment, and then Adam leans back into kiss me. He lowers me to the carpet-covered floor and he kisses me again.

His fingers are at the hem of my shirt and he slowly starts to inch it up. The bunched up material is at my neck and Adam pushes it up and over my head. I start to giggle for some reason and Adam looks down at me, desire in his eyes and he kisses me hungrily again. He reaches for the button on my jeans and frees it.

"You taste amazing." I hear Adam mumble. I pull his shirt over his head and he's kissing me in that way that I just can't help but kiss him back...