Here comes chapter 10. Any feedback appreciated :)

Chapter 10

Beth woke up with a start. Rio was gone. She sat up and clutched the bedclothes around her and checked the time. 2am. "Rio?" she called out.

Just then Rio walked in, glass of water in hand. "Hey," he said softly, "I'm here, I just got some water. You want some?"

He sat down on the bed. Beth took the glass and drank.

"I thought you'd left" she said, sardonically, handing Rio the glass back.

"You miss me already?", smiled Rio, licking his lips.

"Kinda" smiled Beth.

"Kinda?" said Rio, kissing her arm, working his way up to her neck.

Beth closed her eyes. She could get used to this. Oh wait. She needed to talk to him about Noah. "Rio?"

"Mmmmhhh?" came the muffled response.

"I need to talk to you about something…" continued Beth

"Mmmm?" replied Rio.

"Rio" said Beth in the sternest voice she could manage.

Rio stopped kissing Beth and looked up at her, displaying his best innocent school boy face.

Beth managed to stop herself from giggling. "Listen, there's something I wanted to run by you tonight. I was talking with the girls, and –"

Rio rolled his eyes and sighed.

"What?" asked Beth

"Nothin'", smiled Rio, "I just got the feelin' I ain't gonna like this, is all"

Beth rolled her eyes this time, but then continued "we were thinking… how about we reach out to Noah?"

Rio raised his eyebrows "Noah? Who da fuck is Noah?"

"The FBI agent who used to work for Turner. He was, well, he and Annie were –"

"You wanna bring more cops to this party?!" asked Rio, incredulously. "Are you fucking with me right now?!" anger flashed across his face. Gone was the soft, attentive Rio from five minutes ago.

"Well – I – ", began Beth.

"You are somethin' else, Elizabeth Bolan. You know that?!" said Rio, his voice elevated. He tutted and got up, pulling on his pants.

"Wait – are you leaving?" cried Beth. "Wait, let's talk about this."

"What is there to talk about?" said Rio, buckling his belt. "I have a veto, do I not?"

"Well… yes" replied Beth "but – "

"So. I veto. End of story" barked Rio, in clipped tones.

"Won't you even listen?!" cried Beth

Rio shook his head and chuckled. "Nah, Elizabeth. Nah. Because if I listen to you, I suddenly find myself agreeing with you. And I don't want that. Not with this. It's too damn risky."

"Noah was in love with Annie. He was pissed how Turner was running things. We can use that", urged Beth.

"I said no!" screamed Rio.

Beth nearly jumped out of her skin.

Rio sat on the bed in front of Beth, he was angry. "You push, and you push, and you push, Elizabeth. You told me you would respect my decision. Yet here you are. Pushing again. You think Noah loved Annie? Bullshit. That is bullshit. He was doing his job. That's it."

Silence fell on the room. All Beth could hear was her own heartbeat.

Suddenly Beth felt a wave of rage crash over her. "You know what, Rio?" she cried, "you might not believe in love but some of us do."

"Oh yeah?" scoffed Rio. "You believe in love? Even after your husband cheated on you? Repeatedly?"

Beth stared at Rio, tears welling up" "Yes. Yes, I do" she said, her voice breaking slightly.

Rio's eyes narrowed and he shook his head. "I don't know what's going on in your head, Elizabeth, but I'm not the white picket fence, church on Sundays, PTA kinda guy, you know. You and I are never gonna have that. Okay?"

Beth stifled a sob. It felt as if Rio had shot her through the heart. He'd cut right to what had been eating her all this time. "You don't think I know that?", she said quietly. "It doesn't mean other people don't fall in love? Noah will have access to files we don't. Have you thought about that?"

Rio shook his head. "You have my answer Elizabeth. Now I think I should leave. Let you get some rest". He got up and started to head for the bedroom door.

"Just like that?!" cried Beth incredulously.

Rio nodded. "Just like that" he replied. His face sullen, serious.

Beth looked away, blinking the tears away. She didn't want him to see her cry. Again.

"I get that you're not husband material" said Beth, addressing the wall in a subdued voice. "But… what are we then? What am I to you? What are we even doing?"

Rio sighed and wandered back over and sat down on the bed. "Elizabeth", he said softly.

Beth turned around, eyes puffy and red. "Do you even care about me at all?"

Rio looked as if she'd slapped him. His face hardened "I think I should leave. Let's talk later. When you've calmed down". He got off the bed and made his way to the door again.

"I think we should keep things strictly platonic from now on", said Beth in a faraway voice.

Rio paused but didn't turn around. "As you wish, Elizabeth". He left without another word. Beth lay down on the bed, waiting to hear the front door go. As soon as she was sure he'd left, she sobbed like a baby and cried herself to sleep.

Beth woke the next morning, a sense of doom clouding her mood. Then she remembered the fight she had with Rio. They'd spent such a wonderful night together. Then suddenly everything went wrong.

Beth felt miserable. Just when she felt they were making some progress. Progress? Towards what?, she scoffed inwardly. Rio had made it quite clear yesterday that whatever was going on with them had no future. She had said things should be platonic to hurt him. But perhaps it would be for the best.

Well, she couldn't lie here feeling sorry for herself all day. Besides, her stomach was giving off some very strong hunger pangs. If she didn't get some food in her soon, she'd be hugging the toilet. She got up and waddled downstairs to the kitchen.

Ruby and Annie were at the office early going through the orderbook for Christmas. "This is awesome" said Annie, "we are raking it in sister!".

"Mmmmh" said Ruby, glancing at the roster. "I think we might need to take on some more people to fulfil all these orders. Beth can barely move at this stage".

Annie nodded, her mind clearly wandering. "What should I say?" she said suddenly.

"'Bout what?" replied Ruby absent-mindedly, concentrating on typing in her password into the office laptop, trying to find the right keys with her index finger.

"To Noah" replied Annie, sighing and picking nervously at her nails.

Ruby looked up. "We might not even need to call him. Just… push it out your head. Pack a few gift baskets before the staff get here. That'll take your mind off it" smiled Ruby, clearly worrying about the work mounting up.

"Fine" replied Annie doing an excellent pouty teenager impression. She left the office and disappeared to the packing room.

Ruby's phone rang. It was Beth. "Hey girl" said Ruby in a cheery voice.

"Hello" came a sullen voice in response.

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Goddamn what is it with you girls? You all pouty and sulky this morning. What's wrong, now?"

"I'm not coming in today" sniffed Beth. "Rio and I had a big fight. Noah is a no-go. He vetoed it without even hearing me out."

"Well I can't say I'm surprised. Is that all?" asked Ruby gently, clearly hearing the heartbreak in her friend's voice.

"Yeah" lied Beth. "And I'm just… hormonal ya know"

"Yeah, course" said Ruby. "You go have a rest. Annie and I can man the fort. Talk soon, sweetie". She ended the call and went to find Annie.

Ruby found Annie in the packing room. She was leaning on her elbows, daydreaming, surrounded by luxury food items and an empty gift basket.

"Glad to see you're hard at work" said Ruby, sarcastically. "Well you can stop moping because Beth called. Noah is a no-go. Rio vetoed it."

Annie stood up, looking disappointed, and then angry. She shook her head "that fuck. Who does he think he is?! He can't do that!"

Ruby raised her eyebrows. "Honey, he can. That was the deal. And to be honest… he might be right. This is a delicate situation we got here. A lot's at stake."

Annie's rage just intensified at these words. "Great. That's just. Great. So, you're siding with Rio on this?! Unbelievable. Unbelievable." Annie shook her head and started violently packing the gift basket, just throwing items in there.

"Annie" began Ruby, in an attempt to placate her.

Annie slammed the basked down in response. "Just. Don't" she muttered through gritted teeth. "I need some air."

Ruby sighed and rolled her eyes. She could do without all this drama.

Annie paced back and forth in the park around the corner. She was livid. How dare they judge Noah?! At least he was an FBI agent. Not a criminal. Or a dirty cop. Annie felt guilty at that last thought. Stan had been trying to help them after all.

Why shouldn't I be allowed to call him? I mean, I don't even have to talk to him about what's going on. Just a friendly chat between old friends. What's the harm?

Annie had been diligently pushing Noah out of her head the past couple of months. After pining for him and almost going to see him, almost calling him, she'd convinced herself it was pointless. Long distance relationships never work. She thought a clean break might be best.

But ever since Beth mentioned him the other day, she couldn't stop thinking about him. Imagining scenarios where they would meet up and somehow, they always ended up in bed. She missed him. Not just the sex – although it was fucking amazing with Noah. She missed his smile. His cheesy jokes. How great he was with Sadie.

Annie closed her eyes and sighed. She retrieved a scruffy piece of paper from her pocket and stared at the number scrawled on it. She seemed to reach a decision and pulled her phone from her other pocket. "Fuck it", she said and dialed the number.