Tainted Love

Cigarette Break

IRIS

It was a blisteringly hot day. The summer was winding down - it was almost the end of August now. It was funny how the hottest days of the year always came when the hottest season was supposed to be ending.

But she supposed it made sense in a sort of terrible way. The worst things in life never let you go easily - their last breaths are their fullest.

Not that summer was the worst thing. It was just hot and smarmy and she missed the laziness of summers back at school when she didn't have to work or study or worry about anything.

Speaking of work, Iris was late. She wasn't sure how she had slept through her blinds going up, but she didn't have much time to think about it. Being late would invite petty comments from Draco, and she didn't much feel like having to incur his stupidity first thing in the morning.

She did a sort of half-walk, half-jog from her apartment to the phone box she used to call in, conscious of how strange she must look to the other people on the street.

She let herself take a couple of breaths outside of the Love Chamber, composing herself slightly and muttering the nose-blocking charm as soon as she walked into the entrance hall.

There, she took a couple more breaths, told herself she was being ridiculous and that she'd be even more late if she didn't go in right now, and pushed open the doors.

Her eyes immediately flicked to the gold clock on the wall, seeing how much damage she had done. Fifteen minutes late. Not terrible, but definitely not a small enough margin to avoid Draco's snide commentary.

She sighed, her breath coming out louder than she meant it to, and moved her gaze from the clock to her desk. Unfortunately, Draco's eyes intercepted her.

She let herself stare at him. He looked for all the world like a team of stylists had just descended on him - perfectly pressed suit, not a hair out of place. It was unfair, really, that people got to look like that. Especially him.

Iris felt sweaty and inferior in comparison. Her hair was pulled up in a messy ponytail, strands hanging out and probably sticking up from the top of her head. Even in her short sleeves, she could feel the beads of sweat cooling under her arms and on the back of her neck. She was still breathing audibly.

Draco raised his eyebrows at her.

"What, did you run all the way here?" He asked, tone tainted with condescension.

Iris felt a blush spread across her face that had nothing to do with the heat outside. She didn't care what he thought, but the fact that he was so obviously disgusted with the state of her made her stomach feel funny.

She wasn't sure what to say back to him, so instead she let him give her a disapproving glance and turn back to whatever he had been doing earlier.

Taking the hint, Iris walked over to her station, blinking a couple times before she remembered exactly what she was supposed to be doing.

It was Friday, a little over a week since she had gotten the nerve up to go and ask him about what exactly their situation entailed. At first, she'd been happy with the results of the conversation. Despite sounding as though he hated the idea, Draco had concurred that he wanted to keep fucking her.

And that's all she had wanted, genuinely. She didn't have any feelings for him beyond her obvious attraction to him. Well, not him. She was attracted to the way he looked and the things he could do to her. She loathed his personality.

So everything had seemed good. Sorted.

Only, since then, he hadn't made any mention of it at all. When he told her he would have her when he wanted, if he wanted, she had assumed that the emphasis was on the when, not the if. She assumed that it would happen more often.