❛𝐃𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐓𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒... ❜ | 𝟏𝟖+

𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉ℯ𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓇𝓉𝓎 𝓈𝒾𝓍 | 𝓇ℯ𝓈𝒾ℊ𝓃𝒶𝓉𝒾ℴ𝓃

Sam's POV:
I pace the length of my office, feeling like a caged tiger, just when Hainsley opens the cage door and delivers my morning coffee. "Here you go, Ms Dalton. Black coffee, no sugar, as usual." with a radiating smile on her face, my receptionist places the cup on my desk. In no mood to pretend to care, "Get me Ms Schuyler immediately." my receptionist quickly quivers at my harsh tone, my usual polite one at an easy dismissal. "Y-yes, Ms Dalton. Right away." she scurries out of my office, and when the coast is clear, i take a seat and squeeze my coffee cup in anger, not even minding the searing scolding hot burn it leaves in my hand from the exceeding temperature of it. 'Angry' doesn't even come close to describing the flurry of violently administered emotions racing in every which direction of my body, each feeling not being given the time of day. Every ounce of hormonal energy within me flares at it's roots, my visible skin more than likely turning a deep shade of red. Getting fed up, i toss my warm beverage across the room, the dark maroon coloured liquid splattering fiercely against the pristine walls of the room, and soaking into the floor. I didn't want a fucking drink anyway. For what seems like forever, i wait for Anna to arrive, slowly brooding away at the lingering voices of the conversation we had barely a week ago... "You can't quit, Anna!" "Why not?" "This is your future we're talking about - don't make decisions you'll regret-" "Sam, the decision to not do this would be one to regret. Please try to understand-" the faint beeping noise of the line cutting to an end strays across my mind, and my office door opens. It's time to face the music. "You wanted to see me, Sam?" "Get in. Close the door. Sit down." Anna knows more than anyone what that distinct tone in my voice means, lined with a strong recommendation of doing whatever the hell i say. Despite my harsh words, Anna manages to compose herself fully, sliding her pliant body into the seat opposite me and awaiting further instructions. My fingernails scrape at the surface of my oak-wooden desk, a rage of fury causing them to almost split right down the middle. "Did you ask me to come up here to stare at me intimidatingly or did you actually need me for something?" in one quick, swift movement, i stand my body up on it's feet, my chair being pushed back a few feet at the hit my calves against it, and my palms slamming down on the surface of the table in front of me. Anna's body jolts, a light movement with a great amount of fear. "Sam..." "I won't let you do this to yourself, you hear me?! I won't let you ruin your future!" Anna's startled expression at my strong sense of emotion settles down, and she runs a tired hand down the side of her face. If i had to choose one word and one word alone to describe our entire, wholesome situation as of late, 'tiring' would be the perfect adjective for it. "You just don't get it, do you Sam?" she gazes up at me with glistening wet eyes, a bitten lower lip, and something obvious tells me i'm not the only one feeling big feelings right now. "No, Anna. I really don't get why you're refusing to better your career." as a show of confusion settles across my appearance, one of exhaustion flashes desperately across hers. "Staying at Dalton won't better my career... it'll just worsen my already damaged soul..." noticing the pinkish look on her face, i lift her chin upwards, her face aimed at mine. "What do you mean, Anna?" "I can't stay in New York knowing that you're close by... knowing the temptation's there... Sam..." Anna braces herself for the words about to slip out of her gape, and i feel my breakfast churn within me as a level of discomfort approaches... "I love you..." my body is flooded with an onslaught of emotions once again, ones that merge together messily, and are too difficult to be able to tell apart... everything in me is screaming to say it back, just like i did those couple of months ago as she was laid fast asleep by my side, innocent and unaware. "Oh, Anna..." "I know you don't love me back, and that's fine. I'll get through it... i have no choice. But how do you expect me to get anywhere in life if i can't get away from you to fully come to terms with that?" the sentence may sound harsh, but when spoken in Anna's soft, emotional tone, it sounds all the more realistically demising to me. "You're going to California... i'm going back to Seattle... and maybe that's how things are supposed to be. You have a daughter and a company first, and i have my career to think about." slowly and depressingly, Anna shakily rises to her feet, a clear sense of begrudge hanging in the air. My hand drops from her tearful face at the action. Water runs fastly down my cheeks as well, a fair amount of droplets escaping onto the desk below me, and any possibly hidden feelings being processed not shy of coming out, because at this point, me and Anna have gotten very used to wearing our hearts on our sleeves. But maybe we're a little too late for honesty now... Wiping away the tears, Anna places her hand forward, a weak smile curved on her pretty pink lips to try and redeem her emotional manner. "Goodbye, Sam. You know i'll miss you. Maybe in some other life... we would have worked. But in this one? All we were meant to be from the start was boss and employee." my entire face grows sore at the mood lingering in the air, a sinking feeling in my lower stomach occurring, and my entire body heaving over with pure emotion. Instead of taking her hand, with a few slightly choked sobs, i walk around my desk, wasting no time in pulling her into a deliciously searing kiss, a kiss that feels deeper than any one we've shared before. This is it. This is goodbye. I pull back slightly, long enough to see the look of shock hanging on her face. Anna's arms clasp around my body, and i realise this is my last chance... stop it, Sam. Stop it all. Tell Anna how you feel... stop being a fucking coward and tell her you love her too, tell her you'll quit your job for her, tell her she means more to you than billions of dollars will ever mean in this petty lifetime... but before i know it, she's unwillingly detached herself from me, and she's left my office without a single look back. I've never been good at goodbyes... but i didn't know they could hurt this much.

Once more. Just one more goddamn time. Then... then, that's it. I'll never lay my darkened eyes on her again, never think about her again... never touch her beautiful, ample body the way i used to ever again. I press my figure up against the length of the glass windows perpetrated all around my esteemed office, taking a solem gander out onto the mid-morning New York traffic below me, cars zooming past as if running on air, and i notice Anna walking out of the building's entrance, a box filled with her work belongings inside. "Goodbye, Anna... maybe we'll meet again someday..." i refuse to tear my eyes away until i know for a certain fact she's left my company in absolute safety. I won't settle for anything else. As if taking the first few steps as a new woman, she readies herself with a sharp intake of breath, and walks across the road toward her car, a simple task easily carried out... except it wasn't. Just when yet another car comes flying across the road, barely touching the ground at its impeccable speed, Anna's innocent body rolls flippantly up in the air, being beaten to the point of breakage and used as a human football as it's bones begin to snap and break, just when it comes crashing down onto the pavement for the final time, a position of stillness resulting after her rickety upheaval caused by an irresponsible driver who would rather scroll through their phone than spare an innocent person their valuable life... and at the mere snap of a finger, i feel my entire history slowly repeating itself... a tale as old as time...

𝒶／𝓃： 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓃𝓀 𝓎ℴ𝓊 𝒻ℴ𝓇 𝓇ℯ𝒶𝒹𝒾𝓃ℊ．
ℋℴ𝓌 𝒹𝒾𝒹 𝒮𝒶𝓂 𝓂𝒶𝓃𝒶ℊℯ 𝓉ℴ ℊℯ𝓉 𝒽ℯ𝓇𝓈ℯ𝓁𝒻 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓈𝒶𝓂ℯ 𝓅ℴ𝓈𝒾𝓉𝒾ℴ𝓃 𝓉𝓌𝒾𝒸ℯ？
𝒜𝓃𝒹 𝓇ℯ𝓂ℯ𝓂𝒷ℯ𝓇 ℯ𝓋ℯ𝓇𝓎ℴ𝓃ℯ， 𝓈ℴ𝓂ℯ𝓉𝒾𝓂ℯ𝓈， 'ℊℴℴ𝒹𝒷𝓎ℯ' 𝒹ℴℯ𝓈𝓃'𝓉 𝓃ℯ𝒸ℯ𝓈𝓈𝒶𝓇𝒾𝓁𝓎 𝓂ℯ𝒶𝓃 𝒻ℴ𝓇ℯ𝓋ℯ𝓇...
𝒲ℯ'𝓇ℯ 𝓃ℯ𝒶𝓇𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒸𝓁ℴ𝓈ℯ𝓇 𝓉ℴ 𝓉𝒽ℯ ℯ𝓃𝒹 ℴ𝒻 𝒜𝓃𝓃𝒶 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒮𝒶𝓂'𝓈 𝓈𝓉ℴ𝓇𝓎，𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽ℯ ℯ𝓃𝒹𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒷ℯ 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓂ℴ𝓈𝓉 𝒹𝓇𝒶𝓂𝒶𝓉𝒾𝒸 ℴ𝓃ℯ 𝓎ℯ𝓉...