I am so sorry about the long, longwait. I hope I still have some readers left! And if I havn't said it before, your sweet words get me through the day. K, here it is...

Ch 7

He held the door open for her. "Ladies first." She heard him say as she slipped past him. Without looking at him, she knew he was smiling. She could hear it in his voice.

"What?" She asked, a hint of a smile playing at her own lips. She glanced quickly at him, and he turned away from her to jiggle the door handle, double checking that it was in fact locked securely.

He shrugged, turning to her again. He held the key card out to her and the tiny smirk never left his face. She stared at him a minute waiting for an answer. "Nothing." It was the sort of nothing someone said when they wanted to string someone along.

She was suddenly and inexplicably annoyed with him. If he wasn't going to tell her, she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of asking twice. She took the key that he still held between his fingers and turned away from him as she shoved it in her back pocket. She walked brusquely down the long corridor of the 23rd floor, past discarded room service platters and "Do Not Disturb" door tags.

Jack met her speed, but walked just a pace behind her. When they reached the elevator, she pounded rapidly on the down button with the palm of her hand.

"I heard the more you push it, the faster it comes." She heard him say behind her. She ignored the comment and crossed her arms, tilting her head up to watch the arrow slowly move to indicate which floor the elevator was on.

He took a step forward so he was standing just behind her. His hand was at her waist and he bent his head and spoke low. "I was only going to say that you clean up nice."

Before she could respond, they heard a ding and the elevator doors slid open. They stepped in and simultaneously turned to lean against the railing in the back. The door closed quickly and Jack leaned forward to hit the button for the first floor.

Rationally, she knew he had only meant it as a compliment. But there was something about the phrasing that just hit her the wrong way. Her body tightened and she angled herself away from him.

Three walls of the elevator consisted of floor to ceiling mirrors. As they jolted into movement, her stomach gave a tiny lurch and she met her own eyes across the small space.

She took the two of them in, Jack leaning comfortably against the brass railing, holding her jacket under one arm. His fingers tapped lightly as they moved slowly towards the first floor. He looked so at ease, so comfortable in his well tailored suit, his tie tied just so. He was made for suits like that.

And she, in her charcoal wool pants, a half size to small, spike heeled boots, arms crossed in front of a sleeveless black shell.

They painted quite the picture. And they looked good together, better than good she thought, they looked Right. Flawless perfection in Armani and Dolce and Gabbana. Beautiful and enviable. But what were they really? Strip them down to their bare essentials and not only were they trying to fool onlookers and passersby, they were trying to fool themselves. Something they had succeeded at for a long time. Hell, they were both pretty good at denial, and she better than anyone.

She looked at them again and all she saw were the tiny fissures and cracks on the canvas. The distinguished doctor and his what? White trash, criminal girlfriend cleverly disguised as an upstanding member of the social elite?

She could put on the insanely expensive clothes. Clothes, she reminded herself, that he had bought for her. She could tame her wild, dark curls with a flat iron. Even try to cover her freckles with some impeccably tasteful makeup. But they both knew the truth.

At heart they were so different. Probably too different to work. How long could they keep going like this?

She took a deep breath. She felt herself being weighed down by these thoughts, and that simply wouldn't do. She needed to focus, and she needed to do it quickly. Far too much was at stake for her mind to be elsewhere.

She brought a hand up behind her neck, then nervously tugged at her ear, twisting the small diamond stud. "Details" he had said as he unceremoniously handed the earrings to her this morning. He hadn't wanted to make a big deal out of it. They weren't even in the box. But she had seen him steal nervous looks in her direction as they got dressed.

She turned the earring and she could feel it come loose. But before she could stop herself or prevent it from happening, the stud came out of her ear and she heard it bounce on the floor. She was on her hands and knees in seconds, searching for it in the dim corners. Jack bent over to help her, but it only served to block her light. She went to stand up and search another corner but crashed into his chin. The whole thing was just absurd.

Jack hit the red stop button and the elevator halted abruptly. But the small space and the nearness of Jack in combination with loosing the earring was causing her panic to rise. She took a deep breath and waited for her frantic heart to stop pounding.

Searching for the tiny object, she was unexpectedly reminded of her dream the previous night. She had been looking for something then too, something small but unusual. It couldn't have been a pea? That was ridiculous. But as the dream slowly reformed itself in her head, she was reminded of something she hadn't thought of in years. Despite her tomboy leanings, she had secretly adored The Princess and the Pea. It had been her favorite fairytale as a child, her only fairytale really. Even as a five year old she had understood that this princess was not like all the other ones. She didn't sleep for years in high towers or wear glass slippers silently waiting for rescue. She was bright and spunky and even messy. Showing up at a castle soaking wet and muddy was something little Katie could somehow relate to.

She had begged her dad to read it to her over and over again. And he had obliged nearly every time. Partly because it was the one sure way of keeping her still for two minutes, but mainly because he had indulged her every whim. After he had gone, she sort of lost her taste for being read to. Not that anyone would have been willing to read to her anyway. Well, maybe her mom had offered once or twice, but Katie had brushed her off insisting that she'd much rather play outside.

Who comes up with a plan like that anyway, a pea under the mattress? She couldn't remember but she assumed it was the sort of maniacal plan only an evil step mother could hatch. But she had been completely enraptured with the idea that someone was so special that she could identify the tiniest of variations.

Of course even at five she had known she couldn't have felt so much as a bowling ball hidden beneath her mattress.

Still, it was a nice idea.

And it was at that precise moment that her eyes lit upon it. Right in the center of the floor, delicately rolling on its side. She picked it up and quickly hit the button to get them moving again.

She tilted her head and reinserted the earring. As she brought her arms back down to her side, he caught her hand in his. She glanced at him, but he was facing forward and his features were unreadable.

She let him hold it all the way to the bottom floor, then across the wide, bright lobby and out the front door.

When they emerged onto the city at dusk, he moved to release her hand. She squeezed his hand and he looked at her puzzled, but didn't let go.

She knew that maybe it wouldn't last or work or ever be what it should be, but she was going to hold on as long as she could.