Unintended Consequences (Act One) Completed

Chapter 19: A heart to heart

The moment before Unique wakes up is like the magic every time I see it. She always inhales deeply, as if reclaiming her soul from some unseen receptacle and then her eyes open as she exhales. Always. Her expression is one of exasperation as if her sleep was a chore that she undertook begrudgingly. It only lasted a minute and then it was gone, replaced by her shy smiles and teasing looks.

I told myself not to watch this time. It would be the undoing of all of my intentions. I'd given myself a stern lecture about my tendency to fall in love. It wasn't that I was a player, it was just that I tended to rush into these things. The affair would burn white hot for as long as it lasted, and then fizzle out just as fast. The kind of women I kept were used to that kind of thing. Nobody got hurt. But Unique was different. If I didn't mean to keep her by my side it would have been better to let her go her own way when we were in Vegas. I could've written a check and walked away and nobody would get hurt.

"What are you doing? Watching me sleep?" She sat up looking concerned.

"No. I just had some things on my mind."

Unique crossed her legs under herself and leaned forward.

"I wanted to talk to you about what's going on here. I mean not just here in this house but between me and you."

"Okay, what's going on?"

"Do you like me?"

"You know I do. Stop asking stupid questions."

"Do you feel more than just like?"

She hesitates, wrinkling her forehead as she puzzles through an answer.

"Survivors of domestic abuse often have complicated relationships. We tend to cling to people. Often the wrong people. We want to feel safe and protected but we have trust issues and boundary issues and," she waved her hand in front of herself as if dismissing all of the unspoken facts. "The point is that I can't trust my heart right now. The situation with SMoochie is too fresh. I'm just now beginning to accept that fact that he won't come bursting through my door at any moment."

"So is that a no?"

"No, its a wait and see. If I still feel this way in six months then maybe its real."

I laugh, "I have to wait six months for a maybe?"

"No, you don't have to wait at all. " Her tone was lighthearted but her eyes were sad.

"You're worth waiting for. you know that, right?"

She smiled at me, the same obliging smile she gave me whenever I tried to compliment her or tell her what she meant to me. It was obvious that she didn't believe me but thought it was nice of me to say anyway. For all of her strength and beauty, it was always a surprise to me to see how much of it she didn't see.

"What I'm trying to say to you it that I am losing myself here. You aren't an employee, and you aren't really my wife. I mean., we're really married, but it's not really real," I struggled for the words.

"I know," she patted my hand and then laced her fingers through mine. " I was there, remember. I was the one who drew up the contract."

We both chuckled at the memory of that.

"Where the heck is that thing now?"

"I don't know. Probably in a drawer back home," she said. My heart fluttered as she referred to that loft as home.

"Right, so I like you, more than I can really put into words. I know we haven't exactly had a great romance or anything, but since we are here and you like me...at least a little bit," I wasn't sure anymore what I was asking for.