Hey everyone! Once again thank you very much for your kind reviews and messages. Here's the new update (Mojo's being good, would you look at that?).
Enjoy,
So ; )
Act 56: Catherine
"Come in," I answer to the knock on my office door while finishing to write the sentence on my report. I smile when I finally look up and find Sara leaning against the doorframe.
She makes her way around my desk and leans against it as she offers me a cup of coffee and a paper bag. "I brought some snack to make up for lunch."
"Thank you," my smile broadens.
I wish I could stand and kiss her, or at least make a physical gesture to convey some affection but I can't as we are at work. Even if her current position suggest familiarity between us she kept the same distance the boys would, thus avoiding any suspicion.
"Greg said you and Nicky had to go back on the field."
"Actually I had gone to the gym to blow off some steam then we got called back out by Brass."
I refrain myself from frowning at the information. Reading between the line I understand that she was upset. I do acknowledge the fact that she volunteered that piece of information, months ago she would have kept it to herself.
"Rough shift?" I query.
"Poor sleep," she confesses.
I read between the lines with ease now, she stayed at her place the past couple of days and apparently she has had nightmares.
"How's yours?" she changes topic.
"Catching up on paperwork mostly, and I guess I'll wait a little to tell Nicky to redo his latest report."
She chuckles. "If you can, that'd be nice."
Our interaction is cut short by her phone going off. "Sidle," she listens to whoever's on the other end. "Alright, I'll be right there."
She sighs and straightens up. "Duty calls."
"Thanks for the snack."
"Sure thing," she winks at me. "Oh, I'll pick up Linds but I may have to pull a double so I'll drop her off at Nancy's."
"Noted, you be careful out there."
"Yes, ma'am," she kisses the tip of her fingers and blows me a discreet kiss before exiting my office.
Whatever case Sara and Nick are working on was time sensitive and have them putting long hours at the lab and on the field. I barely see Sara for the next four days, because she is putting long hours we don't spend much time together outside of work if at all, when we manage it's only to rest and even that doesn't last long. At the lab, we are able to share one lunch but other than that we barely have time to exchange a few words.
It's in periods like these I'm glad that we both do the same job. The fact that we see each other every day aside, with anyone else this situation would have led to arguments about time management and putting the job ahead of our relationship. Whereas I know that sometimes unfortunately the job consumes everything, and us not spending time together isn't a sign that she doesn't want to spend time with me or that she isn't making efforts, because she does. We both do.
True, for the past few days we barely had time for one another, but she was there for Linds, taking her to school or picking her up when it was her turn. She did spend time with Linds when she should have been resting, she did go out of her way to get me lunch from my favourite place and leave affectionate notes with it, or just leave a note in my locker.
I won't lie though I'm glad that we are both off tonight. Though we had planned to meet later during the day I've decided to go over at Sara's as soon as I've dropped Lindsey off to school, wanting, needing to spend as much quality time with her as possible.
As I had assumed Sara wasn't sleeping and opens the door almost immediately. When I enter, my smile fades away though because I can immediately see that she's upset.
"Hey, I wasn't expecting you," she clears her throat. When her eyes finally cross mine I can see that she's been crying.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing," she dismisses me with a quick smile.
I can feel my temper flaring immediately, but force myself to stay calm. After our fallout and the subsequent efforts to work things out together we made the promise to communicate, it was not so much for my benefit than it was for hers because she's always been quick to shut me out. We've been doing great so far and she has always kept her part of the deal, but this is the first time that she's reverting to her old ways and as I've told her before I will not return to that. I will not accept any flat out rejection.
I know she's been having nightmares, and perhaps her latest case was emotionally rough on her, or maybe something else happened, but whatever it is I need her to be open about it.
"Sar…"
"Nothing, everything's fine," she repeats.
"Do not…" I stop myself when I feel my voice rising. "You're obviously upset, you've been crying so don't tell me it's nothing. If you don't want to talk about it right now, fine, say so, but we're not going back to you shutting me out. We're not taking steps back."
"Cath, it's…" my glare is enough to dissuade her from repeating yet again that it's nothing. She crosses her arms over her chest and looks away before mumbling something.
"What was that?"
She clears her throat again and briefly glances at me. "Mufasa died."
At first I experience panic because the word I hear clearly is 'died', but then my brain catches up the rest and shuts down for a few second.
"Muf…" try as I might the information isn't processed.
I briefly wonder if I heard her correctly but one look tells me that indeed I have, then I briefly go through a mental list of the people I know to be certain that I'm not getting the wrong idea.
"Just to be sure," I start cautiously. "We're talking about…" I let my sentence in the air.
"Yes," Sara rolls her eyes and looks away with a pout. "I blame your brother for that one…" she mutters.
When I finally wrap my head around the past couple of minutes and the reality (absurdity) of the situation, I bite my lips trying not to laugh but eventually lose that battle. I put a hand over my mouth to contain my hilarity but fail miserably, I end up laughing so hard that tears pearl at the corner of my eyes within seconds.
Sara shakes her head and though she seems to brood I can see that she's fighting off a grin.
"I'm sorry," I say as soon as I get my breathing under control. "I didn't mean to laugh at you it's just…"
I wipe the corner of my eyes then close the distance between us, framing her face with my hands thus forcing her to look at me. "It gets to me every time as well," I admit with a chuckle. "Really, it does."
She narrows her eyes at me but this time she's smiling a bit.
"I promise it gets better at the end," I add which earns me a roll of eyes. I capture her lips with mine for a soft kiss.
"Want to keep watching with me or do you need a moment to keep laughing at my expense?"
I kiss her once more "I don't mind watching."
I shed my vest, and take off my shoes then we go into her living room where indeed the screen is frozen on an anguished Simba calling out for help.
We settle comfortably, Sara snuggling on my side as I hold her close, then she puts the movie back on.
It might be due to the fact that we haven't had much time for each other but whatever the reason our hands seem to have mind of their own. She's caressing my stomach while I run my fingers along her side, kissing her crown every now and then to which she respond by kissing my collarbone in return.
Eventually she shifts her position and her kisses become more insistent on my neck, then she starts tracing my jaw with her lips, nipping at my skin before capturing my lips.
The movie is quickly forgotten in favour of languorous explorations of our mouths, when one of my hands eventually sneaks under her shirt she gasps and sits up straddling me, effectively breaking our kiss. She's holding my hand in a vice grip, panting, her eyes cast to the side as she's avoiding my gaze.
I let my head fall back on the arm of the couch and wait for her to relax. When her hold on my hand loosens a bit I start to gently retreat but I'm surprised when she tightens her grip once more forbidding me to move. She closes her eyes tightly and breathes deep.
My heart is thumping against my ribcage and almost against myself I'm holding my breath, not daring to move a muscle for fear of scaring her away.
Slowly, very slowly she moves my hand and rests it against her breast, keeping her hand above mine. Her eyes are still closed and her breathing is now shaky, when she finally looks at me there's uncertainty in her gaze, also a bit of apprehension, she's obviously still struggling with her insecurities.
Still holding my hand in place she leans in slowly but stops inches from my lips. Though my desire is literally burning every fibre of my being right now, I don't want her to do anything she's not comfortable with just for my benefit.
I think my eyes convey that much, but then her uncertainty slowly shift to something different akin to confidence, she has a tiny nod then kisses me, pressing the hand she's still holding prisoner firmly against her chest, then she moves it a bit, silently inviting me, allowing me to touch her.
And touch her, I do.
I rediscover her body, shading layers of clothes one by one, tracing every groove and inch of her skin like a blind taking their world in with every other sense.
I make love to her, attentive to her every reaction like it was our first time. The intensity of her climax travels through me, igniting a fire, unleashing a more visceral need to posses her, to take her.
And possess her, I do.
She welcomes every scratch of my nails, every dig of my teeth on her skin, every rough touch, responding with just as much fire, fuelling my desire even more, sending me into a sensory overload that drives me to the very edge of sanity.
The next hours are a waltz of passionate and possessive embraces.
Waking up later in the day with an aching body, a desire far from being fully quenched, I just marvel at the feel of Sara's body against mine, at our renewed intimacy, at the amazing sensations that it was to finally express my feelings physically.
I enjoy the sight of the fading daylight playing against her skin, I allow my hand to slide against it slowly, reverently.
Sara stirs under my lazy caresses and for a while we just stare at each other in silence, then we start talking. I remember that first week end we had to ourselves after our first time. We had spend it alternating between making love and sharing our past, our memories, deepening our level of intimacy. Back then I had asked her about her scars, I realize now that she had stirred my attention away when for some of them as she does tell me the story behind them when I ask today.
"You know, I've spent my life trying not to think about my past much less talk about it, but talking with you… it brings the good memories forth…all those things I had never thought about in years that had been eclipsed by the bad stuff… thank you, for giving that all back to me," she muses out loud.
I grin softly and kiss her in response and snuggle closer to her. "I have another question," I state after a long silence.
"Ask away."
"Why do you dislike pet names?"
"I don't… dislike them it's…" she pauses trying to find her words. "My dad… he'd almost only use pet names for us, honey, sweetheart, lamb shop, buttercup, bunny…" she chuckles. "The list is so long it seems endless."
A smile plays on her lips as she reminisces. "Like I said, the good things are easy to forget. For some reason this is one memory that stayed intact all those years, clear as day. I can hear his voice, the love behind those words, I can see his eyes, his face, his adoration for us when he'd use any of them."
She licks her lips. "I don't want to share that, to trivialise it. Pet names are a good link to my dad, something that's mine. I just want to keep it that way. It might be weird but…" she shrugs.
The silence stretches on as I take in her confession. "I'll call you Roger," I say out of the blue deciding not to let the mood turn melancholic.
She huffs in confusion. "What?"
"Well, if I'm going to be Jessica, you have to be Roger," I explain as if it's was obvious. "Unless you plan on playing patty-cake with someone else and in that case we have a problem," I add sternly.
A boisterous laugh erupts from her throat, the glorious sound filling the room. I smile broadly happy to have hit my mark. She props herself up to look at me. "What did I do to deserve you?" she asks seriously.
"You lost a bet," I reply immediately with a tilt of my head, which makes her laugh again. "Well, technically we both did."
She brings one of her hands on my face to caress my cheek. "Best loss ever."
"I agree," I nod before she kisses me.
"Jess?" she calls me playfully trailing her lips against my skin.
"Yes, Roger?"
"Can we play patty-cake again?" she waggles her eyebrows.
I laugh. "Absolutely," I reply before capturing her lips and giving free reign to my desire again, ecstatic to be able to let our bodies talk in that oldest language that is love.
Finally.
The movie they watch is the Lion King (of course) and if the relevance of the Roger Rabbit reference is lost on you go back to chapters 10 and 12.
I shall be back next week :).
Thank you for reading.
