Chapter 35

  "No...definitely maybe, he reads often" She shrugged and fought back tears, her eyes were starting to sting.

The place was open, what reporters wouldn't do for clout right now even if it meant selling their souls or painting a bad picture, he wondered what jerk pulled up a phone camera and captioned this and probably exchanged it with the newspaper house for change.

"You're making this sound more severe than it is" 

"Really"

"We'll get through this"

"They'll be flocking us"

"It's nothing_"

"Okay, you don't give a hoot, I give two hoots alright? We're not the same"

"You'll get by"

"Here you go again"

"Well it's the truth isn't it?" He shrugged and she put her bowl aside and covered her face.

"I'm no longer in the market"

"Who says this is real!?"

"It's not real, you're right, remember what I said back home? maybe you don't want this as badly as I do..."

  She softened at that and touched her head, she was having a bad headache, angry and uncertain.

"It seems like I can't get away from you"

"What?"

"We're not doing this," She said to warn him, she wasn't going to let him sway her with words. "I don't want you, I want my store back so I can go back to my normal life and forget about you"

He thought about it, she was being fair but she wasn't being frank, he watched her slowly crawl back into her shell and he was alone, what self-respecting lady would want to be with him?

  Somehow he thought she wouldn't have a care in the world. She never demanded for too much and the sight of anything that cost a lot made her shudder.

"So you're going to push me away and hurt me even though I know deep down you're lying?"

"What did you expect? You get a taste of your own medicine"

He nodded "I should've known, you're a bit of a worrier and you sabotage every chance you get because you're afraid that a shoe might drop and you're afraid to lose"

"You don't know that"

"You said it yourself at the store."

"Maybe I am_"

"That's exactly what I'm talking about" He sighed and raked his hair. Keira looked up when he dropped a set of keys in her hands.

"What's this?"

"There's been a breach"

She fingered the keys and there was a reindeer tag on them. "You're giving it back to me?"

"You've suffered enough, just let me take the first step. I don't mean to rush you, I'm just excited. I've never been serious about anyone, as silly as it sounds, I'm crazy about you" he rubbed the back of his head.

"I'll be in the physio department," He said and locked the door, she swallowed and watched him leave through the window.

   She couldn't believe her ears, he was being upfront and direct with her.

She smiled at a comical picture of the Grinch holding his dog with a lazy smile. The keys had been changed and she remembered what Jenny said.

Her phone buzzed and Jenny was on the line, she picked up and a video of her appeared, she was poking at Ben with a stick while he was asleep and he slapped himself awake.

"gosh Jen, you just_" His blue eyes rounded at her and he waved with a drip in his hand "Oh hi, Keira"

She laughed, he still had his old haircut and was healthy as ever.