what happens in Maine, stays in Maine.

12.

january 1st

alex let out a contented sigh as she closed her eyes.
she smiled as she felt the younger woman start playing with her fingers, lacing them together and then admiring her rings, her nails, even the small lines on her palm that she traced ever so gently.
even though both were sticky with sweat, she let bradley lay her head on her chest, their naked bodies entangled together.
alex lazily let her fingers run through the blonde locks, smirking when she found a certain pressure point on bradley's scalp that made her groan quietly with pleasure.

the silence in the room is heavy but peaceful.
they both wish to say something.
but both revel in the rare comfortable silence between them.
however one topic that will forever go unspoken between them is ironically the heaviest thought on their minds in the darkness.
she's not in the room but they feel her presence as if she was stood in the corner, arms folded in her powerful striped suit, her eyes glaring at them and their infidelity.
laura.

you're heading down a treacherous path bradley jackson

it was well into the early hours of the morning and yet neither woman wanted to move nor sleep.
neither wanted to talk but the words were on the tips of their fiery tongues.

you'll have to make a difficult decision that will change your life forever

bradley closed her eyes as she imagined laura's face if she found out.
bradley knew what the right thing to do was.
she knew they couldn't continue when bradley knew the truth of her and alex.
they couldn't continue when bradley knew that her thoughts were constantly clouded over with the woman beneath her.
laura would know immediately why she was breaking it off.
her eyes would find alex somehow and the penny would drop.

someone will be shattered, whilst the other is reformed.

"thankyou for this bradley"
"hmm?" bradley asked, confused.
"tonight was...fucking incredible" alex laughed quietly, referring slightly to how long she'd gone without having sex.
"oh...yeah...it was" bradley said, her shoulders relaxing again.
she could sense the change in alex.
after seeing her unwound, at her most vulnerable, she watched all the tension rise out of those toned shoulders.
the worry lines in her forehead almost evaporated completely.
deep down she knew all this time, alex just needed to be seen completely for who she really was.
at her best, and her worst.
and bradley had done that.
"but-"
bradley knew it was coming.
it had been an unspoken agreement for a long time and now it was about to become verbal.
"this can't continue when we get back to newyork...you know that right?"
bradley closed her eyes as they stung slightly, but she nodded none the less.
"yeah i know" she whispered finally.
she felt alexs hand stop it's movement at the top of her head, her hand moved to bradley's shoulder as she squeezed the smaller woman in closer to her, wanting this moment to last forever.
wanting their bodies to meld into one.
wanting to burn the image of bradley coming undone into her brain forever.

alex could feel the knots in her stomach as she imagined going back to work with the woman on top of her, pretending nothing had happened these past two weeks.
pretending they were just platonic colleagues.
and that's all they'll ever be.

but as their eyes closed finally,
both women knew this wasn't the end.
this situation would be a recurring one.
they were bound together by fate and passion.
drawn together constantly by their wondering eyes,
their knowing smirks,
the soft contact of their hands brushing together slightly as they told america their morning news.

pretending they were just platonic colleagues...because what happens in maine, stays in maine.

as i'm sure you've already guessed by now, this is the final chapter of this book.
thankyou for enjoying it, i really didn't think anyone would read it lmao.
i'm gonna be making a "justifer 2" book next which i'm really looking forward too so keep an eye out for that, and read the first part if you haven't already ;)
thankyou ❤️