Baby, It's Cold Outside (Completed)

Chapter Nine

The first few days after leaving Daniel's house were the hardest Maggie had ever experienced. She was determined to not be one of those girls that pined after guys who didn't love them but she couldn't seem to help it. Daniel was her Soulmate; she knew it and he knew it –which is what made his rejection hurt even more.

The day after her rescue, she'd returned to his home because she wanted to see him –she was hungry for the sight of him and excited to tell him exactly how she felt but he refused to answer and refused to come to the door. Maggie thought desperately about what had happened and said everything he'd needed to hear but he wouldn't budge. He never came to the door, never let on that there was anyone home. She stood outside in the freezing cold until her teeth began to chatter and she was so cold, she was worried she would get frostbite.

Wondering if the previous day's experience had left him still emotionally raw, she left and promised a return. She'd been back twice and still no change.

The nights were the worst. She couldn't sleep without his shirt beside her but doing so made her cry because she knew she didn't have the real thing. It was hard for her to sleep too because she kept dreaming of his touch and his kiss. Every time she tried to touch him in her dream, she woke up empty handed and that made her cry.

Even the comfort of her own apartment and family was no solace. It seemed that the only thing she could do was cry and miss Daniel. What was worse was that she knew then she'd have to be back at work soon and would have to pretend everything was okay; she'd have to interact with everyone as normal because she didn't want anyone to know about Daniel. He was her treasured little secret.

Maggie sat at her cubicle two weeks after the incident and wiped her hand down her face wearily.

She didn't have to worry about make up. Since the accident, she hadn't felt she needed it. In Daniel's house with him, she always felt beautiful and exquisite without trying. Tears formed in her eyes and she took a moment to calm herself down, gripping her desk painfully hard so she could remember where she was.

Down the corridor, Lincey looked up after her phone call and saw Maggie with her eyes tightly closed and she seemed to be clutching the desk in a death grip.

Lincey twisted her long dark blond hair into a bun behind her head, glad everyone else was out to lunch. She wanted to go over and console her best friend but she didn't know how. She felt so out of depth with this one that she'd even Google searched how to console someone in this state! What irritated her to no end was that Maggie refused to talk about it. Both she and Helena, Maggie's mother, tried to get her to tell them why she was so in pain and how she'd fallen in love with some guy in a week but Maggie wouldn't budge. Helena had told her what she'd witnessed when she saw them together and knew that Maggie was deeply in love with this Daniel guy –Maggie had even admit as much- but she wouldn't tell them how it happened or what had happened.

Frustrated, Lincey tore a piece of paper off her notepad and shoved it angrily in the bin under her desk, having no other way to release her frustration. They were best friends damn it! Didn't that mean anything anymore?

Maggie let out a deep, defeated sigh and immediately Lincey's anger dispersed, guilt taking its place.

Maggie needed her and it didn't matter that she couldn't tell her what was going on. Lincey got up from her desk wiped the creases from her grey bodycon dress and walked over to Maggie.

"Hey," she said with a bright smile, trying to pretend like nothing was wrong, that Maggie hadn't thrown herself into work and pushed everyone aside, "Do you want to grab some lunch? I think we still have a couple of minutes left and to hell with it if we come late, we work hard enough."