Bittersweet | Simon Riley

TEN

Ghost glared at his phone as he read through the report which he'd managed to get his hands on. Apparently, Captain Price had decided to get Belle to write up reports on each of the men and women who she'd be giving sessions to. And apparently Belle had nothing good to say about Ghost. He scowled as he read over line after line, getting more and more frustrated but he paused as he landed on one specific sentence.

Then he took actions into his own hands. Ghost was starting to hate how often he was returning to this hall. Returning to her little office which she had spent so much time decorating. It was so, her. So Belle. And he was starting to hate it. He stopped in front of the door which had her name next to it and glanced inside the window, seeing that she was talking to someone. He didn't really care.

"Heartless?" Ghost scoffed as he opened the door, storming towards Belle's desk with a frustrated look on his face under the balaclava. He was supposed to be off duty, so he wasn't dressed in his normal uniform, but he as more focused on addressing this issue before it got more out of hand. Belle looked up, her eyebrows furrowing a little.

"Hello?" Belle gave a little scoff at how he had just stormed into her office while she was clearly in the middle of a session with a different solider. Ghost didn't move and Belle gave an angry little huff, shifting her attention to the soldier who she'd been talking to. "One second," Belle said, sound apologetic before she stood up. Ghost gave a little grunt as Belle got to her feet, grabbing his arm, and tugging him out of her office, clearly unhappy with him showing up. "I'm in the middle of something." Belle said with a little glare.

"I don't care." Ghost said unapologetically, his gaze not leaving Belle as he practically towered over her in the hallway. Belle crossed her arms, glancing back into her office, knowing she was wasting time by entertaining whatever Ghost had come to her for. She gave a little huff and Ghost shifted a little so she was looking at him. "Heartless." Ghost repeatedly, just as angrily as before. "That's what you called me in your little file." He said, his voice practically seething, and he watched as Belle went a shade lighter at the realization that he'd managed to get into the files which were meant for her and Captain Price's eyes only.

"You're not supposed to have access to that." Belle responded, her jaw tense as she looked up at him with a hint of frustration in her eyes. In her defense, she had been angry when she'd written up his file, a sour taste in her mouth. So yeah, she'd described him as heartless. Not that she didn't mean it, but she knew it was a little mean. But she wasn't going to go out of her way and apologize for her thoughts which he wasn't supposed to even see.

"That's not the point." Ghost responded and Belle glared up at him. He didn't back down as he stared right back, his icy blue eyes filled with equal frustration. The power struggle between them never truly coming to an end even as they stood outside of her office, people walking past sending half curious glances before hurrying on their way, not wanting to be involved with whatever argument was happening.

"It's exactly the point." Belle retorted, going right back at what he was saying. Ghost was so extremely frustrated with her. With this situation. With the words she had to say about him. He had never met a girl like her, and she was quite frankly impossible to deal with, in his mind. Ghost felt like everything was an argument with her, neither of them able to come to an agreement no matter what the situation was. Belle sighed, putting her face in her hands and Ghost glared down at her, waiting for whatever smart comment she had to say. After a moment Belle glanced back up. "I am not having this conversation with you right now, Simon." Belle finally said, frustration in her voice as she glanced back to her office. She went to push past him, not wanting to even argue with him when she had better things to do but Ghost grabbed her arm, pulling her closer.

"I may be heartless but you're naïve, Isabelle." Ghost said, tilting his head down so there were only a few inches between them. He watched as Belle's brows furrowed even more, clear frustration in her eyes as she frowned up at him, feeling a warm sense of satisfaction in his chest at her little reaction, even if it wasn't verbal. Ghost kept his arm wrapped around her forearm as they remained so close to each other. He could practically see the way her mind was racing, the battle between wanting to argue with him but also wanting to be the bigger person who was able to walk away. A small huff left her lips as she tugged her arm free, her little glower not falling from her face for a second.

"You're lucky I don't report you." Belle finally said, her teeth gritted as she glared up at him, taking a small step back to create space between them. When Ghost didn't respond she gave one last little huff, pushing past him and storming back into her office. Ghost turned as she passed, watching as she shut the door on his face. He knew it was a silent threat but at the same time he knew in his gut that she wouldn't report him. Ghost stared at the door for another few minutes before finally turning his back on the door to her office and storming down the hall again, heading to the gym to try and work out his frustration.