Forever yours

Chapter 7 Part 8

Marie thought about Jeff often. They had spent one fantastic night together with no strings attached and she could not forget it. He was right. They had made a mistake. She wanted more and tried to be as normal as possible when she answered his text messages. Two days later he invited her to dinner. They had a pleasant evening and when he dropped her off, he kissed her cheek and left. They had not talked about their night together and it suited both of them.

Jeff had thought that inviting her out would be awkward but she was her normal pleasant self and showed no signs of wanting more from him, which put him at ease. She had slammed her finger in the door when he picked her up, which did not surprise him at all. She swore under her breath and then laughed at her clumsiness.

She and Robert left at the end of the week and he had left on business again. Washington turned out to be an interesting city that they instantly fell in love with. While Robert was at his interview, she spent the time writing and afterwards they explored the city and the suburbs.

Robert was offered the job which meant moving there as soon as the necessary paperwork was sorted. The agency would arrange everything which took a load off his shoulders but Marie was not his wife and she would have to make her own arrangements if she agreed to come with him.

'What do you think?' he asked.

'I think you should take it. It is a great opportunity.'

'What about you? Will you come with me?.'

'I'm not sure Robbie. I hate the idea of being so far away but I think it is time to let go of the apron strings. I'll be fine.'

'What is happening between you and Jeff?' Robert had deliberately avoided the subject for a few days although he had wanted to ask her since that first night.

'We had one night together and that is all. You always nagged that I need to get laid and I did.'

'You have feelings for him, don't you?'

'I am attracted to him but I am not in love with him. I knew he was not ready for a commitment when I started it.'

'You are going to get hurt sis. You are not the type that can have casual relationship.'

Robert did not want to tell her but he was convinced that Jeff was in love with her but probably holding back for some reason. The way he looked at her was not the look of someone who wanted a casual fling.

Jeff had spent the week sorting out work issues and then there was Sienna. She had been calling him for the last few weeks and he had been very vague when she called but he needed to make it clear that he was no longer interested. She was in town and he had agreed to meet her for supper that night.

'It is her isn't it?' she demanded when he told her he did not want to pursue their agreement. 'I knew that woman was going to be a problem. We used to have fun Jeff. She is not the type to have fun you know.'

'Marie had nothing to do with this. I am just not interested anymore and we had agreed that this was always a casual thing and you know that.'

'But I love you.'

Jeff got up. 'I think you knew this day was coming. Let it go.'

Sienna watched him leave, seething. She was not going to lie down and let that bitch take him away from her.

Mike and Tanya threw Robert a congratulations dinner at their place, inviting Jeff to join them. Marie managed to control the urge to jump on him when she saw him. She had missed him when she was away but dared not tell him. He avoided her and spent most of the night chatting to Jack and Mike.