After All This Time ⚢ ✓

Chapter 4

AXELLE was able to find Jackie in the living room. She was trying to fix the zipper to Geneva's dress, that had gotten caught by thread towards the top. Axelle slowed her pace down the steps, as she took in Geneva's attire for the day.

The rich black of her fitted dress, made that ginger colored hair all the brighter, a legitimate sunshine on a cloudy day. She had styled it down, allowing it to cascade past her shoulders. Every cinched area of the fabric, hugged Geneva's full, perfect figure. A figure she had only further grown into over these years.

Axelle hadn't noticed Geneva had caught her staring, until their eyes found each others.

Jackie cleared her throat, bringing Axelle back to the situation at hand. "You look lovely, Axelle! Come on down here a moment, I'm having some issues here. It looks like my fingers are just a little too fat for this- could you come tug this small zipper here?"

Before Axelle could conjure a reply, Geneva was quick with hers. "Oh no! That's really okay, I can just-"

"Honey," Jackie interrupted Geneva, who was already trying to pull away. "It's fully stuck. You won't even be able to get out of it unless you break the zipper."

The immediate disdain for that offer, was more than clear on Geneva's face. The dress honestly looked expensive. Very expensive. But Axelle couldn't tell if it was the dress itself, or Geneva's beauty that made it look that way.

Geneva let out a less than content sigh, but remained where she was. Jackie then stepped away, allowing Axelle to come take a look for herself. It was just a small bit remaining that needed to be zipped up, which Axelle hoped would only take seconds,  so she could go back to putting a healthy distance between her and Geneva again.

Axelle slid her fingers into the inner flap, where the back of the zipper was stitched, and felt for the caught fabric. It looked like some frayed edges from the zipper itself, was what got it jammed.

Being this close to Geneva, gave Axelle a view she hadn't had the privilege of seeing for nine years. It was the beautifully placed freckles from the nape of Geneva's neck... that Axelle knew ran down to the arches of her lower back. Axelle's fingers acting, on their own will, strayed from the task at hand. They slowly extended out to touch the delicate skin there.

That caused a deep shiver to run through Geneva, who was already trying to come to terms with the ferocious beating of her heart. "Sorry." Axelle whispered so close behind her, her breathe fanned the sensitive skin on her back. It made Geneva's knees go weak.

This wasn't okay, Geneva thought.

They shouldn't be this close.

They couldn't be this close.

She was about to pull away, when Axelle murmured something else. "I'm almost done."

Must every word she say sound so downright attractive? Geneva asked herself. As soon as she thought that, she immediately chastised her inner voice. She was an engaged woman for Christ sake, and regardless of who it was, her eyes weren't meant to stray.

That was a unspoken promise she had made Allan, when she said yes.

Axelle could feel Geneva's turbulent energy, as she finally pulled on those remaining caught strings. Axelle always could, ever since she first laid eyes on the girl.

It was difficult to know what pulled her towards Geneva so strongly. Maybe it was that smile. That unexplainable smile. When she genuinely smiled, it was like all of her radiated such harmonic energy.  A smile filled with an abundance of warmth, you'd never want to leave its vicinity...