Interlude

Chapter 13

- Present day -

I'm in Dev's apartment. Her mind echoed, early next morning. Yesterday, if someone had predicted that this is where she would wake up, Rose would've felt sympathetic to the madness.

And yet, here I am. In a bed which is right across the hall from his. She padded to the living room and found Dev on the couch, his feet resting on the coffee table ahead. The television screen on the wall in front of him played a Formula 1 race. He glanced over his shoulder and turned off the television.

"Don't mind me. You can watch the..."

"I wasn't really paying attention." He looked calmer and more like his usual controlled self. "Coffee?" He was already headed to the kitchen before she could say yes.

Rose sank on the couch, reclining sideways, watching him. He was in his pajamas - loose sweatpants and a relaxed printed t-shirt. His hair was tousled, thick locks grazing his forehead. Sunlight had filtered through the white curtains casting a line of glow across his cheek and a part of his hair.. Gone was the thin, lanky teenager. In it's place stood a man with smooth ridges of muscle, strong arms and broad, heavy shoulders. His body exuded strength, vitality, action and purpose.

The untouched honesty of your teenage years was still present on his face but now something else lurked beneath it; something a little dark and a little dangerous. Between the sharp angle of his jaw and the scatter of a dark stubble, his innate boyishness carried with itself a possibility of sudden, quiet conquest. As if, any moment now, he would break into a smile and wink, charming his way into the heart of every onlooker only to get inside and wield his power before they had to chance to recognize or stop him. They were left with no choice but surrender.

A restless sleep which broke at the crack of dawn, is what Dev could manage at best. But that was enough time for him to think and calm down. Handing her a cup of coffee, he took a seat on the arm chair.

"I'm sorry about last night." he said, quietly. When she looked astonished, he continued, "I shouldn't have yelled at you and said all those things. You already had too much going on and I..." He sighed, regretfully, pressing his lips.

Rose understood right then that he would forever be a contraction. Because even when he apologized, she felt like it was an insult; an insult to herself that he should have to apologize at all.

"I didn't want to take that job. It was my third evening and..." she shook her head, "It wasn't the right decision. I admit. I just got desperate."

"I shouldn't have blasted on you...not without knowing everything. I'm sorry."

"It's alright. A lot happened yesterday. Let's try to move on."

They sipped their coffees in silence. Rose took this time to send a message to Samantha saying that she was visiting a friend for a couple of days. It wasn't entirely false, after all.

"What am I going to do now?" she whispered, mostly to herself.

"We can get something to eat. There's a bunch of..."

"No, I mean, about my job."

"Oh." He thought for a moment. "We'll figure something out."

We?

"First, lets get changed and head out."

"But..."

"You can't plan anything on an empty stomach, can you?"

It was strange to shower in his bathroom and dress in his guest bedroom, all the while aware of his presence across the hall. It was strange to see him standing by the window, when she stepped into the living room; beads of water still clung to the ends of his freshly cleaned hair. He was on the phone, rapidly giving instructions while they put on their shoes and left the apartment.