After hours

Chapter Six

I couldn't stop crying the rest of the night, and just when I thought my makeup was perfect, I would start crying again the following morning. I was a harlot. I was destroying a perfect and happy marriage. I needed to leave, to quit my job, maybe even move to another state.

"Ryan?"

I looked up to see Daniel in the room. He glanced to the messy bed, and then to my bags on the floor in front of it. He looked about as good as I felt.

"You're leaving?"

I lowered my mascara. I was afraid to speak.

"Look, about last night..." He began.

"We don't have to do the thing." I interrupted him quickly.

"What thing?"

"The thing." I said waiting for him to fill in the obvious blanks. "The thing where we pretend last night meant more than it did." He didn't say anything. "We don't need to do that thing where we talk about it and you tell me how great I am but that you love your wife."

"I do love my wife." He nodded.

I felt a pang of hurt and maybe even jealousy but forced myself to turn back towards me reflection in the mirror. "And I deeply care about Patrick."

"But you don't love him?" He sounded suddenly hopeful.

I turned back to him. "I do." I said as convincingly as possible.

"You don't."

"I do!" I yelled. I could feel the onset of another burst of tears and turned quickly back to the mirror. I focused on my reflection, even when I could see his behind me.

He very lightly brought his fingers across the pink and purple mark on my neck. I shivered beneath his touch. I thought he would let me be, or make some sort of remorseful or reassuring remark but he didn't. He brought his head down and very lightly kissed the mark.

I closed my eyes and allowed the tears to fall.

He rubbed his nose softly up the crook of my neck. "Let's just...take some time to figure things out, okay?" I nodded and turned to face him. He brushed the tears away but more just kept coming. "Please don't cry Ryan."

"I'm sorry." I turned my cheek into his hand, I needed to pull away but I wanted to feel him. "I just, I need to go home."

He hesitated for a moment before putting his hands on my shoulders. "I know, it's a lot to ask. But this is our last meeting on the Benson Project..."

"You can't be serious!" I shrugged my shoulder away from him. "Patrick is going to be there! I can't face him now! Is this all you care about?"

"Of course not!" He said quickly grabbing my wrist before I could run away.

"You're asking too much." I said.

He pulled me into him and held me closely. "Just this one day. I'll get you home first thing in the morning, I promise."

I tried to push away but he still held me. He smoothed my hair down.

"Just this one day."

"Selfish prick!" I said finally pushing away. He waited and watched me get dressed and put my make up on. I tried to pretend I wasn't aware of his presence just a few feet behind me leaning on the end table beside the bed, not daring to touch the bed itself again.

We didn't speak again. I dressed in the bathroom.

"Did you get the dress Benson sent up?" He asked while I dressed.