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— Intentions —
12# - Stray Hearts
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"Just when you think it can't get any worse, it can.
And just when you think it can't get any better, it can."
― N. Sparks
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— A. Misaki
Hours, calls and meetings later, my day was soon coming to an end when I received a call from Shizuko. Or should I say, several calls from Shizuko.
I instantly replied. "Is everything going fine?"
"Uhh, Misaki..." her voice sounded like trouble. "Mr. Walker wasn't really happy about the new arrangement, he wants to meet you as soon as possible."
This didn't sound good at all, indeed. "Can't he make do with a phone call?"
"Well, it doesn't seems like it..." she nervously muttered. "Please, can't you come right now? He's still in the meeting room with his legal team."
I shrugged. And when she didn't get my answer, she insisted, "It was really... an awful meeting here, Misaki."
"They were totally clashing against each other in our presence, it was terrible..." And she added, "The other party just had no shame, Mr. Walker is seething right now, they didn't settle for anything in the end." I could feel her grimace from the other side of the line. This must've been hell for her.
I eyed the clock, the promise of getting back home early only a distant dream now. "I'll be there, I'll call you when I arrive," I alleged.
Hastily turning off the computer and grabbing my laptop to stuff it into my handbag, I scribed down a few last words on a written report I was working on and enclosed it away. Quickly grabbing several documents about the Walker case, I greeted my co-workers goodbye and headed out to my car.
Stress and strain slowly rose as I drove. Attending to an upset ―and elegant looking― client wasn't a pleasant encounter at all. All the more when facing someone of the Walker Corporation's CEO standing; it felt heavy. Expectations, humility and respect were the key to this society, but I wasn't sure I was emotionally ready to bow down and take all the blame just like that. Nevertheless, I still had to secure this case to my firm, if not, things would get pretty ugly for me, and that was the last thing I wanted. I only hoped he wouldn't demand any unreasonable clauses because I wouldn't be able to fulfill his needs.
Starting with being his representative lawyer.
Furthermore, I couldn't help the little voice nagging about something else in the back of my head. Someone else, precisely. I knew he attended to the meeting there and I hoped he would be long gone whenever I would step into the District Court building.
But I had yet to realize that, after all, misdeeds always caught up to me, no matter how far or fast I tried to run from them.
It was in this kind of mindset I rode to the Court building. Split between apprehension and fear.
When I finally turned in front of the imposing edifice, I parked the car in the closest lot and made a beeline for the entrance gate. My feet leading me to the reception desk, I presented my ID and attested for the appointment with my client in an interview room. I passed through the security and soundly walked until I navigated inside the confined interview room area, my heels clicking on the soft wooden floor.
Coming from afar came a body frame I knew well enough. His head was slightly tilted down, his blonde hair brushing his forehead as he was focused on his phone's screen. The pace to which he walked was brisk enough to hint that he was not anywhere near calm and serene; his stiff steps were coming to my direction and panic started to bubble up, sticking me into place.
What to do? Where to go? How to act?
I bowed my head low, and opted to pass him silently, casually hoping his eyes would stay on his screen.
Hoping was living, wasn't it?
―
— U. Takumi
I sidestepped, refraining her from crossing over before glancing up from my phone to her downturned eyes. Her hair was splayed on one side, and she was as neatly dressed as always.
"Why, hello there," I called.
I was not sure I could still play the gentleman with my current temper though.
I doubted my ability to hold on my restrain tight enough not to act on impulse and unleash all the pent up frustration I gathered throughout the distasteful meeting. In the same view, keeping in check the desire I had for her, fueled over the past weeks, was as easy as walking on the edge of a sharp knife in the fuming mood I was. I had to get away from her as soon as possible. I set my complacent expression in place, the usual spark of glee overtaken by the furor I concealed with my best make-believe smile.
"Misaki," I said to her silence, my voice earning a slight startle and a quizzical look from her. I clenched my jaw, drowning back the impulse to misbehave.
She glanced up, finally making eye-contact. And the initial fear that coursed her eyes suddenly turned into something else.
"Something... Something happened?" Her voice was so soft and low spoken that I barely heard it.
I shrugged.
She furrowed her eyebrows, as if she was wondering why I was trying to hide something displayed so blatantly. I was pretty sure my expression remained mild enough. But she was the kind of person who took attention to details, who the slight change in the eyes or a twitch of a lips wouldn't remain unnoticed.
"Nothing much. I just need some time to cool off," I gritted, my jaw clenching with every words. "I appreciate it, though."
Her eyes bore into mine, her expression filled with ounces of worry and soft fondness. It was as if she knew everything, knew so much that I could see my own strained face —hidden behind the stiff smile I wore— in her eyes.
How strange was it to make such a connection in hardly a few weeks? The kind that could make you tell what the other was thinking with only a glance, know how he was feeling with a single touch. How unlikely such a soul reaching and yet so simple thing as eyes locking could tell on the other's mind?
It was only exceptional. Unique.
I glanced down to the floor, avoiding her insidious inspection.
Suddenly, I could feel her hand softly nuzzling my head, her fingers entwined in my strands of hair. If her act was supposed to be soothing, then, it only fueled furthermore my burning desire and stired something deeper within my heart.
"If you need anything, I'm here," she murmured. Her words were hard to believe, when a few hours ago, she just ran away like a thief. Yet, I found solace in them.
Slowly, I lifted my head. My eyes sank right into hers and I took one step closer, our feet connecting as my height towered over her body. She suddenly looked at me warily, aware of the sudden closeness. Her hand slightly stiffened in my hair, but I paid no attention to it, because my focus was elsewhere.
Her lips. She was nervously licking her bottom lip as she made a movement to step back.
I quickly caught her forearm, holding her into place.
"Escaping again?"
"Uhh... No, no—..." she hesitated, before glancing away. "Maybe..."
My eyes narrowed. "Are you afraid of me?"
She glared at me as if I had just spouted nonsense. "Should I be?"
Her defiance made my lips curl into an amused expression. "I wonder..."
We both held our gazes, a silent inspection as we searched for our answers within one another eyes.
"I don't think I am," she eventually whispered after a silence.
Brushing her cheek with the back of my fingers, I drawled, "Then, why are you running away?"
She abruptly glanced away. The blush that crept up on her face was already telling long on the reason, but that was nothing compared to the moment she spoke.
"That's because..." Her eyes flickered to my face, my eyes, and slowly dropped to my lips. It quickly drifted back to my knowing gaze, and she gasped; the realization of being caught making her try to shrink away from me.
That totally gave her away.
My fingers lingered down her cheek and grabbed her chin, tilting it up as my grip around her arm tightened. She looked away. I bent down to her ear, my warm breath faning against it as I spoke.
"Fight me," I whispered, my voice gruff with want. "Fight me, because I won't stop, Misaki..."
She started to open her mouth to retort, but I bent down and stopped her.
Kissing her.
Right in the middle of the empty corridor.
It only was a light touch; our lips brushing together. Once. Twice... Each time, we backed away only to reunite back, the pressure firmer with every touch. No matter how stiff she was, she'd respond more and more eagerly to each of my kiss, as if she couldn't refrain herself from doing so.
It felt as if everything just fell apart. I pulled her to me, my hand shifting to her waist as the other one moved to cup her cheek, her hair curling around my fingers. A gasp escaped her lips, and that was all it took for me to devour her whole.
My tongue skimmed across her bottom lip, tasting her and eliciting a shiver when it grazed hers. Soon enough, we melted into our kiss, not caring about anything else but us. It started as needy, desperate, even frantic; our mouth searching for every inch to explore, our tongue longing for every spot to discover. We were hopelessly trying to quench this thirst we had, shriveled over the past weeks. She fisted my shirt, crumpling the fabric when I flushed her against me, my hands wandering to the small of her back, my fingertips running up her arms and slowly down her spine in their wake.
Through my half closed eyelids, I noticed her eyes were closed, tightly, her expression tense. She was seemingly fighting something in the back of her head, or within her heart, but in vain. Her grip was a mixture of confusion, as if she didn't know whether she wanted to push me away or pull me even closer to her. She didn't know; but I did. And I couldn't help but feel elated by how needy her soft moans were, or how labored her breathing had become.
I closed my eyes, losing myself in the depth of our kiss, savoring what we wanted all along but never dared to, always afraid to break the thin edge we were walking on; that frail delusion we were trying to build: A world where we weren't attracted to each other, in where we'd never be more, but could only be less.
And slowly, so slowly, she relaxed into my arms, and only that could appease my stiff body. Our kiss gradually turned into something else, less lustful and more passionate. Gentle even, but never losing its intensity.
Something I searched for, but never found anywhere else.
Only with the two of us.
Only her.
When it came to an end, slow and steady, pure and yet so hot, our mind came down from their height as our dreamy gazes met once again. Her eyes were damp, and she shakily exhaled, before nudging her head inside the crook of my neck. I pressed my cheek on the top of her head, and held her tightly, protecting her from everything; anything she was fighting. My heart felt heavy but my feelings were so much more genuine than a while ago.
I wanted her and she wanted me.
That's what I initially thought, until something I had forgotten struck me hard.
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Author's note:
I love you people!
I've been thinking of writing bonus chapters when the story will be ending, like, every 100 reviews :D
Anyway I hope you liked this chapter! *grins*