Toxic (H.S.)

2

Harry

A week later my cuts had almost disappeared and most of the bruises had turned almost yellow, gone in most places. I woke up this morning hard, I couldn't quite remember my dream, but it was sexy. I rolled over in the bed to kiss Emily. She groaned and pushed me away. "Darling I'm hard," I whispered. "Please."

"Take care of it then in the bathroom. Brush your teeth while you're at it." She rolled onto her stomach. I sighed feeling frustrated and a bit sad that she wasn't ever in the mood. She was gorgeous and used to let me make love to her all the time, but now it was like we're strangers sharing a bed.

I went to work still a bit frustrated since it's been so long without intimacy. I felt like I hadn't been hugged or loved in a long time. I reached my desk and sat down with a slump. A few minutes later Marlene walked in and I had almost forgotten she was sharing a cubicle with me now. She smiled at me and set down a cup of coffee on my desk. "Hi neighbor, hope you like plain black coffee." I smiled. "Just a little thank you for letting me move my 'office' here."

"Oh that's sweet, thank you, and you're welcome again." She nodded setting down her stuff. All week we had been working on our presentation and were waiting for Louis and Liam to get back on their notes for it. Marlene was very smart and I had learned a lot about her.

She was the oldest child of three and had a cat named Polly. Her favorite color was teal and she absolutely hated the smell of the office, which I personally had never noticed until she pointed it out. She was very sweet and kind to everyone. "Hey, Harry?" I snapped out of my thoughts and turned to face her in my chair. "What are you and your girlfriend doing on Saturday?"

I shrugged. "Hard to tell." Considering this morning, I had no idea what Emily's mood would be like. Most Saturday morning she was at hot yoga, she'd come home and get straight in the shower.

"Well there's this art gallery, it's my friend's, he's a photographer and I thought maybe you'd like to come." She handed me a flyer.

"Well I'll check with Emily, I love art galleries." She smiled.

"Me too, I really would like if you came, I go every other weekend to these things and I'd love if I knew someone there besides the artist. They're usually busy being the center of attention." She giggled. "If you can't make it to this one like I said I'm always there." I nodded.

"Well, I'll definitely try." She smiled and then we both turned to get our work done

*

By the time the day was over, I kept getting distracted so much that I had to stay late. I kept getting distracted by Marlene but in the best way. She would ask me something and we'd go off on a tangent.

I texted Emily and she said she was out anyway. I sat at my desk checking my work when suddenly I heard footsteps walking around. Marlene walked back in and jumped. "Jesus, I thought you went home." She laughed opening her cabinet pulling out a stack of papers. "Forgot all my paperwork." She joked.

"I'm about to go, I needed to finish up." She nodded. My stomach growled and I sighed. I would have to probably buy something on the way home. God, I wouldn't hear the end of this.

"Hungry, bet you'll have dinner waiting at home." She joked.

"Actually she's out so I'll have to fend for myself." She nodded looking at me for a second as I put my stuff away. I closed my laptop carefully and placed it in my bag.

"Hey Harry do you maybe want to come to my house, I made a lasagna last night and I have leftovers?" She said shyly. "That's not weird is it, we're friends, I just hate having dinner with just Polly?"