Dark Femme (BWWM)

Chapter seventeen

Thaddeus Spade

Kissing her last night released this deeply hidden longing I'd kept locked inside my chest.
It rose up to my tongue and tasted suspiciously like loneliness.
Just the thought of seeing her and knowing she isn't mine makes me feel a gut wrenching loneliness.

How long have I been avoiding thinking about this taste and well, her.

she's all I can think about. Her flowery scent, the taste of her lips and her inquisitive nature and kind eyes. her presence settles me in a way no one has before.

I pressed a button on my phone calling down to the kitchen where I'm sure Cheryl is prepping for a late lunch today.

"Cheryl, please tell Anita to come to my office."

"I'll get right on it, Sir."

I must come up with an excuse as to why I wanted to see her before she showed up.

I heard her gentle knocks at my door and beeped her in.

"you missed breakfast, surely you know you must excuse yourself before hand." Although I tried to keep my voice that tended to drift towards dispassionate... light, the look on her face tells me that she hadn't received it the way it was intended.

"Usually when someone doesn't want to eat breakfast they just don't show up. I wasn't told I had to get someone's permission before not showing up to eat." Her tone was rash in a way I'd never heard before.
I wanted to know this side of her too.

The prickly stem of a velvety rose

"It was impolite as your portions had already been prepared."

She crossed her arms, arming herself against an attack she assumes I'm going to make.
If she didn't feel as though she had to inform me that she was not going to show up for breakfast, then she didn't have to.

All I'd have to do to get her to change her tone is to abandon her there with them another morning.

My lips twitched up alittle at the idea that this tiny gorgeous woman in front of me was my shield against the kozlovs nonsensical rambling.

Their maundering way of story telling did not intrigue me the way Anita's did. Their mind numbing antidotes about the most irrelevant things.

It's all in complete contrast to the way her eyes lit up the more she talked and talked, trying desperately to connect with me.

To know me.

"Are you alright?"

It occurred to me as the words left my mouth that maybe she hadn't closed her arms around herself to defend herself from me but was rather crutching her stomach.

"I'm fine."

"Are you on your cycle?" I asked despite knowing the ambush that would be coming my way if I was completely off.

"Oh because I disagree about calling before not showing up for breakfast, that means I'm menstrating.
Oh look at me I'm the irrational woman on their period, don't listen to anything I say or respect me, not that you were even planning to because I'm all filled up with hormones."

I opened my mouth to say something, apologize for assuming since it's put her in a mood but then closed it when she started to mumble,

"But yes... yeah." She confirms meekly. I almost smiled at how adorable I found her. I stopped myself because I would hate for her to misunderstand.

"It was only a lucky guess, I haven't noticed any particular change in your behavior. I just assumed it'll come around eventually." That was a lie, she was acting out of character as we speak but I won't point that out to her because I imagine it'll only escalate this further.