Taking a deep breath, January quickly whispered, “Deckard’s stayed with me the last two nights and he’s helping me host Christmas Eve dinner for my parents tomorrow.” It was all said in one breath that left January slouching in her seat when she was finished.
“Wow. I’m so proud of you.”
“Don’t be. I think I’m crazy for pursuing something with a man I barely know and who is leaving in two days.”
Samantha sat in a chair across from January’s desk. The cheerful smile that had been on her lips morphed into a frown.
“So he still plans on leaving? He won’t change his plans?”
“Not that he has mentioned to me. But why would he? Pineville is in the middle of nowhere.”
“You’re here,” Samantha pointed out, but January cocked her eyebrow and shook her head.
“I knew all along that he wasn’t staying. It’s why I didn’t want to get tied up with him in the beginning.”
“Ah, so he tied you up? How was it?”
“What? No. Samantha, focus.”
“Sorry. He’s just so hot.”
“I’m aware. Anyway, I knew better and now it’s time to face reality.”
“And what reality is that?”
“One where I become a lonely crazy lady that celebrates a holiday that doesn’t exist and pines away for a man she had a week-long affair with.”
“Well, that sure is depressing.”
Leaning her head on her desk, January replied, “Tell me about it.”
A knock sounded on her office door and January looked up to find her boss’ assistant standing with a notebook in her poised hand. She informed them that there was a staff meeting in five minutes with some changes to the current issue.
When the assistant turned away, both women groaned in unison, and January found herself slamming her head back on the desk repeatedly.
~
January wasn’t sure what time to expect Deckard. They never discussed their working schedules; she just knew that he stopped by his grandparents’ house to change then he would arrive at her home. Shame overcame her as she added another layer of cheese mix on top of the layer of noodles for the lasagna. January had been taking all of Deckard’s time away from his family. From what she could tell, they didn’t mind, but she imagined that they were probably wishing that he would spend at least a few hours with them.
Maybe tonight she would suggest that they spend it apart. She figured that she should start getting used to the feeling of not having him around instead of filling every second and place with memories of him.
With the lasagna set up, she put it in the oven and made her way back to her bathroom to catch a quick shower. Her body and mind were aching after learning that they were going to cut some of the staff at work. She wasn’t afraid for her own position with the Pineville Gazette. Her articles always received the most reads and accolades on the online and paper forms of the newspaper. But some of the older staff were worried that they were going to be forced into retirement. She only hoped that they kept Samantha on board. Her friend wasn’t assigned the best items to report and she spent a lot of her time assisting on the research for January’s assignments. She hated the worry that came with the wait.
The warm water felt delightful on January’s sore muscles and she allowed herself a few extra minutes just to stand under the spray.
A moan echoed in the shower stall as her body started to relax. Turning around under the spray, she let the water perform the same relief on her front as it had on her back. With closed eyes and head tilted back, she let the water pound against her skin all the way up to her neck.
The squeaking of her shower door being opened caused January to twist around too fast and lose her footing. She felt herself free fall in the tiled shower stall and she envisioned that this was how she was going to die. Another addition to those statistics of people tripping and falling to their death. Except she didn’t fall. A pair of strong arms caught her around the waist and lifted her back onto her feet.
“Are you okay?” the deep voice asked as he took a step into the water spray and caressed every inch of her body looking for a cut, scrape, or bruise – some indication that he had harmed her.
Despite being scared to death, January thought it was sweet how he was checking her over.
“I’m okay. What are you doing here, Deckard?”
He stood under the water and let it sleuth down his muscled frame. How she longed to be one of those water droplets. “I always come over after work.”
“Yes, I know. But what are you doing here, in my shower?” she emphasized.