It Hurts When It's True (Affaire de Coeur, #1)

Chapter 29: Ready

Maggie was ready.

Maggie had never felt as ready as she had been feeling until recently. Damian was consistent with his presence in her life —the kind of presence that was neither suffocating nor controlling. He was always there when she needed him just the way he said he would. He had not completely recovered from his fatigue, but that did not hinder him from being devoted to his aim which was to be by her side and cater to most, if not all, of her needs.

Aside from that, there was also that constant pounding of her heart. Whenever he was around, she would feel like her heart was going to jump out of her rib cage. There was that uncontrollable feeling that was ever so ready to explode every time he was near her.

Maggie felt as if she could not breathe when Damian was by her side — the feeling of breathlessness that was not entirely in a bad way. Then again, she would also have that painful sensation in her chest in his absence. With or without him, she felt like she was out of breath. He was already becoming a constant in her life, and without him meant like losing the nurturing air that she needed to breathe in.

If he ever asked again, she would confess her feelings to him. She would worry about where they might go from there. One step at a time, Maggie thought.

Having finished a six-day-in-a-row duty at the hospital, she was again given three days off from work. Life in the pediatric ward had been monotonous since months ago when she had finally stood up and faced her two female adversaries. Work had still been challenging, and forever it was going to be, but the load had somehow become more balanced as they were now closely supervised by their head nurse. At a professional level, the Odette and Helga had been considerably civil yet she could still feel their indifference towards her. Not that she truly cared.

Maggie arrived at her apartment at quarter to eleven in the evening, and she was feeling quite famished. Although she had received Damian's regular supply of dinner, the remaining hours had been busy; hence, the growling of her stomach.

While fixing herself a meal, she suddenly heard her phone ringing. Lowering the heat of the stove, she swiftly made her way to her bedroom. She made a dive to her bed where she had carelessly dumped her bag just half an hour ago.

Just seeing Damian's name on the screen brought about Maggie's palpitations. Her hand trembled and her face had instantly gone beet red. Sliding her thumb over the answer button, she lifted the phone to her ears.

"Hello."

"Are you home?" Damian's tired voice reached her ears.

"Yup! Just got home a couple of minutes ago. What's up?"

"I'm parked here in front of your apartment. Can I come up?" And that had made Maggie's heart pump stronger than she could remember.

"Well...building policy says 'no men allowed.' So I might just come to you, if that's fine with you." Maggie suggested with hesitation evident in her sound.

"Like I have any choice," he retorted.