A week. It had taken Ariadne a full seven days to snap out of her isolated state and accept the position of architect on their new assignment. A decision that Arthur noted had kept her up rumbling with excess internal debates on numerous evenings. He was well aware of the private struggles she was so desperate to keep away from him. Aware how many sleepless nights she had tousled in their bed, how she struggled for artistic inspiration to pass her days by when he was at work. His wife was so set on believing he didn't care for her, that he rarely noticed an inch of her minimal details that she simply brushed off any possibility of him understanding her self clashes.
He nearly laughed. Oh if only she knew just how concentrated he was on her; whether she be in his presence or not, his mind ventured continuously around his wife. Their days at home once he returned from the team headquarters were quiet. Ariadne was on edge, adamant and stone cold. Ever since the unavoidable kiss he had planted on her, which she had responded so eagerly to, she kept her distance. It was either their bedroom (which he avoided not only to decrease awkwardness but for his physical safety as well) or their balcony, overlooking a valley of cafés and bakeries. There was a time, a couple of months to a year ago, when both locations would have been the birth of her mind-boggling artistic streak.
Now? Now, his sweet architect roamed their home and the city that sheltered them in search of ways to kill time, to distract herself. Arthur grimaced. He needed this strain between them to end; and with all the ideas swimming around so apprehensible in his mind, he was sure that the end was near.
For now though, he would have to focus on not groaning out loud, a mixture of annoyance and disappointment, as Ariadne stood mere feet away from him, a sketch book and pencil already dancing in light speed rhythm.
With every couple of flirtatious strokes her pencil gave the paper, an eraser would emerge and destroy it all. She was frustrated, Arthur could easily note, and it was getting the best of her. He could understand her strain. Ariadne was a woman based off creativity and creation; imitating and building a replica was not in her best interest.
Yet that was exactly what she was meant to do; to form a spot on duplication of the massive and renowned Grand Theatre in Warsaw, Jiro's dream performance location. Only for the poor kid, his experience there would shape him up to hate the place he had come dear to loving.
Shaking the depressive and more than slight guilt vibes, Arthur went back to his laptop and opened numerous windows. He was meant to research and filter through the students and friend's Saito's son associated with him. The bunch, a mass percentage female, were doing him no good as far as providing an inside viewpoint as to how Jiro's personality functioned. And that was crucial, without a clue regarding his thinking patterns or an idea of possible reactions, the team was doomed.
As far as Arthur knew, the only way he could get the proper information needed for a successful mission was to study the boy himself. In person. Saito had better agree to it.
Before he could stand and grasp the attention of their employer, who had stooped by for a day of viewing, Ariadne growled from her seat and rose in frustration. He fought back the aching need to gather her in his arms and comfort her.
"Not enough cream in your coffee, love?" Eames called out from his station not far from Arthur's. "You're just crankier by the day."
"I can't design a replica of something, solemnly based on badly angled photos from the internet. If this is going to work, I have to see this place in person."
"Sweetheart, are aware that this theatre is in Poland?"
"That's for pointing that out, Captain Obvious."
Arthur fought back a smirk. Yes, she was definitely cranky.
"A trip to this building can be arranged." Saito emerged from the backroom, where he and Cobb had been deep in discussion. From what Arthur had gathered over the past week, the team leader had dropped hints, some larger than others, that Saito was making a mistake. With the failure of Mal's inception on his back, it was only proper that Cobb try and avoid a similar action. But Saito was his friend, someone whom Cobb owed deeply for the opportunity he had given him. The chance to be a befitting father again. He wasn't going to deny his most desperate wish, but he would try as hell to change his mind.
"Can that really be arranged?" Ariadne faced the Japanese business man, anticipation and breathless excitement painted on her face. "How soon?"
"I'll have a flight scheduled for the end of this week. Will that be soon enough for you?"
She nodded, a slow smile forming on her lips.
Arthur felt his heart tug, pushing him towards her. It was almost menacing just how badly he wanted her in his arms; the small things he had taken for granted, like the opportunity to hold her or even peck her, were swept out from underneath him. But not even the Great Wall could stand between him and his wife for long. He'd bring her around.
"Could you book a second seat, Saito?" The point man spoke up. "I'm sure this trip could benefit me."
Ariadne jerked up, her eyes narrowing in on him. "I don't think that's a goo-"
"Done." Saito pulled out his phone and stalked off to the back of the warehouse, halting Ariadne's words and leaving Arthur fighting back chuckles.
-X—
By the time the day ended and the two made their way home, Arthur dully noted that his wife had her mind set on chopping his head off for dinner. The fact that she assumed he'd let her go off on her own for a trip, despite how short or long it was, was beyond him. He didn't want her out of his sight, not when he wasn't there to protect or assist her. If she was planning on this trip to be a chance to free herself of him, she was wrong.
He ate dinner in his office, shuffling through sheets of paper in the midst. Ariadne had ate on the balcony, giving her the time away from his presence. He avoided her throughout the evening but finally resorted to their bedroom when it came time for sleep.
It had been more than a week that he had slept in his bed; with his wife redeeming control of the master bedroom, he had fore taken a guest room and left her to the comfort of their king sized bed. That was over with now. He wanted –no, needed- to hold her tonight, and he'd be damned if she didn't let him.
He took cautious but casual steps when entering the room, his jacket already off. A part of him hoped for a smooth transition, that she would simply give up this profound tactic of tormenting him and allow their relationship to fall back into its heart-warming state. That part of him had no hopes of winning.
She lay in the silk duvet in glorious disarray, outrage flashing across her gorgeous, Sleep Beauty face. Between the breeze from the open window and her tumble with their bed, her hair had escaped its intricate knot and long, loose curls fanned out around her head. Her eyes in the dimness of the room were hard to read. Her expression was not.
Color bloomed in her too-pale cheeks while indignation animated her face. "Have you lost your mind?"
He snagged the ends of his tie and yanked. "Not that I'm aware of." His shirt studs and cuff links followed and he dropped them carelessly onto the bedside table, followed by his BlackBerry. "I've wanted to be back in our bed from the first night we arrived home from Cannes."
She sat up. The light filtering from the hallway cut across the upper portion of her face, highlighting the incredible power of her eyes. The odd forget-me-not browns, a shade as sweet as caramel, had haunted him since the day he had met her. And if he had his way, they'd continue to do so.
"You can't believe I'm going to simply fall into bed with you."
"That's precisely what I'm hoping for." He stripped off his cummerbund and shirt, followed by his shoes. His hand dropped to the fastening of his trousers. "You feel it, Ariadne. Don't pretend you don't. It's gotten so strong that it hurts to breath. I can't think about anything but you and I have no complaint. Tell me it isn't the same for you?"
Her breath quickened and those eyes, those amazing eyes, darkened with raw clandestine passion. "Unless you've been unable to wrap your mind around this, let me remind you. I am mad at you." Every syllable fell from her lips with ease. "I refuse to sleep with you."
Humour had his mouth curling upward. "I'm not asking you to make love with me, Ariadne." He raised an eyebrow. "Unless, you'd prefer to go there."
She waved his statement aside. "There are other rooms in this house for you to choose from, or I'll go."
His trousers dropped at his feet, leaving him impacted in boxers and from the color flushing on her face, she noticed. "No need for neither of us to leave, love." Folding the pants, he dropped them in a pile with the rest of his clothes and slipped into the bed.
The warm comforter, thick and heavy, was a much needed sensation against his skin. Bringing it up above his shoulders, Arthur became prisoner to the complacency and sighed. His arms instantly reached out and wormed around his wife's waist, holding her delicate skin against him. "I refuse to sleep without you again, Ari. It's torture."
"Yeah, well. You deserve it." She countered, struggling to move away. He refused to loosen his grip. Instead, the point man moved closer, until her back was moulded against her his chest; their figures curving in together as if personally chiselled for one another. He had no doubt they were.
"Dammit, Arthur! Let me go."
"Nope." Her body twitched and swirled but he held her in place, occasionally pressing a gentle kiss or two to her shoulder. Just as he hoped and suspected, she gave up after a few attempts, falling back onto the pillows with exhaustion. Silence filled the room, only heavy breathing and the seductive city chatter from their open window circling the air around them.
Content, Arthur pressed another kiss to her shoulder, refusing to acknowledge how she groaned with the contact. He dully noted how tired she was, how weak she seemed and desperately her body craved sleep. His arms instantly loosened around her. Instead of a grip, the point man simply dropped his hand onto her stomach, keeping a full embrace around her as he watched his wife fall into sleep.
Never again would he fall into this room without her. Ever.
-X-
"Cobb is going to murder us." Ariadne groaned as she fell back into the leather seat of Arthur's BMW. The sleek all black interior channelled her depressive and agitated emotions as she struggled with worry. She had overslept, something she never did when she was working. Her alarm clock had never, in the span of its 3 year life, failed her. Yet this morning, it had missed her regular 8 o'clock dial up, leaving her and Arthur in frenzy. Two hours. They had awoken two hours later, and not with a minute to spare. They would have stood a better chance, had more opportunity to make it to the warehouse sooner but no, Arthur just had to insist they eat breakfast before they leave.
"It's the most important meal of the day, we're not leaving without it. "
As if she didn't already know that, having had a health obsessed mother. Either way, she had sat herself down and stuffed her face with food, something she passively noted amused Arthur, and finally, after what seemed like forever, they were on their way…or they should have been.
"This isn't the way." She instantly sat up, and than groaned when her seat belt contracted against her stomach. Arthur instantly slowed down.
"Are you alright?"
"I will be once you tell me where we're going." Somewhere between the 'I' and 'once' her voice had risen to a roar. Instead of being frightened or even taken back, Arthur smiled. Oh, what she would do to wipe that off his face; it didn't matter how warm and welcoming he looked with it on his lips, or how damn beautiful it made him out to be. Not that he already wasn't…
She groaned and shook her head. "We're late enough as it is. We don't have time for any detours."
"We're not going to work today." Arthur took a turn off the busy street and into a much quieter avenue with plenty of signs.
"What do you mean we're not going in today?"
"I told Cobb you and I are taking a sick day."
"I'm not sick and neither are you, although I can gladly change that right now."
One again, he smiled. Driving into a concealed parking lot, he stepped out and walked over to open her door. "We're going to take a trip down memory lane today."
"Now why the hell would-" he halted her speech as he gripped her hand and helped her out of the car.
"I'd prefer if you kept the unnecessary commentary to yourself."
"You're the one to talk about unnecessary." Pulling her hand away, she folded it over her chest and followed with a stern face as he led the way. With every step, her heart fluttered, contracting inside of her chest as familiarity filled her. Her head whipped from the direction to direction, as vivid images replayed in the space of her mind, a specific scenario with nearly every corner of what she finally concluded was a park.
"This is…" her voice failed her momentarily. "This is where we got married."
Arthur came to a stop, his hands warmly secured in his pockets as his eyes darted through the semi empty public property. "Right over there to be precise." She followed his gaze to a secluded sector, shadowed by dark over hedged trees and massive bushes of imposing colours. A tiny but lively pond bordered with growing daffodils and a grey brick bridge completed the scenery as Ariadne's mind ventured to the memorable and pivotal day in her life.
"I still remember how you looked that day." Arthur reminisced. "A wide confident smile, bright eager eyes and a glow that shone brighter than the sun and we both know it put in overtime that afternoon."
She gave a small chuckle. He was right. Ablaze and golden, the weather had set high records in Paris for springtime heat, and the majority of their wedding party had fore taken to waddling their feet in the photogenic pond as relief. She herself had found relief in the form of ice cubes and her husband's lips. The combination lethal and scandalous for a wedding.
"You were a vision of perfection," he turned to face her. "And you still are."
She cocked an eyebrow. "Even when I'm pissed at you and contemplating ideas to bleach all your suits?"
His smile froze. "You were planning to bleach my suits?"
Dropping her head, Ariadne refused to see let him see her chuckle as her locks shook with amusement.
"Yes." He captured her chin in his hand and turned her face up to his. "You are still perfection in my eyes, even when you're royally pissed at me and contemplating bleaching my favourite suits."
And than he leaned in and stole a fast, devastating kiss, an uncompromising one that smashed through her defences and warned that he wouldn't give her any quarter. She wished could resist him, tried to resist. But something deep inside responded to him, rendering her utterly helpless to his touch. The instant she recognized the sensation, she pulled back.
No. Never. She would never allow a man to make her feel helpless. She'd never be dependant on a man for her happiness. She'd already risk enough falling in love with him to the extent where her world revolved around his, but she would not give him control over her mind, body or spirit.
She shuddered at the thought.
Arthur snagged the jacket off his back and instantly draped it over her shoulders, mistaking her actions for lack of warmth. She didn't correct him.
"Let's keep moving." He suggested, evidently avoiding her rapid withdrawal from what had been somewhat of a beautiful moment. "We've got quite the day ahead of us."
Author's Note: I'm sick. Extremely sick. The stomach flu is draining me of energy and leaving my stomach rumbling with hunger, so writing has been my distraction from what is turning out to be a day full of temptations. Have you guys ever had those moments when you're told not to eat certain foods but yet they're the ones your craving the most? I'm having that right now. It's 10:30pm and there is nothing I want more than pancakes, with whipped cream...and maybe a strawberry or two. Putting that aside, let's all excuse this chapter if its a bit...weird and poorly written. Just know I tried. :) Once again, thank you guys for being awesome. Can't wait to read your reviews and constrictive criticism.
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