The silence that followed was hard to take. D had to fight her first impulse to take a step back now; do something to make her feel less guilty and make him feel better. Such as offering him to come by sometime next week; in the evening; not just to pick up his stuff but also for dinner. She could
Joe took another appetizer from the tray that the lady from the catering firm was holding out to him. It was SCANY’s annual summer party where everyone – including all the business partners – seemed to be invited. He wouldn’t have come to Amsterdam just for this, but since he was in town and Jan kn
From the moment D turned on her computer at work, it was clear that this was going to be a crazy Monday morning. It started with the computer system being down for reasons that even the IT department didn’t seem to know. And while the experts were frantically trying to fix it, everyone else was feel
After a ten-minute walk he found a nice-looking bistro with an appealing menu and stopped there to have lunch. His hand was fine today, but he was still a little freaked out by the overwhelming effect the painkillers had had the previous night. That stuff had surely helped fast, not just to make th
They took off from Schiphol Airport with a delay of almost 90 minutes due to some technical problems. The guy in the seat next to Joe was nervously flipping through a printout of a PowerPoint presentation and scribbling notes on the pages. Joe closed his eyes trying to tune him out. He really coul
Joe had blocked all attempts to talk it over. He had just walked away or slammed doors shut between them. It had been a real dilemma, however. He had really wanted to punish Dad, but that would have meant telling Mom. He hadn’t been able to bring himself to do it. So, for a while there, he had ju
D returned home after work and a quick stop at the supermarket, feeling almost a little lightheaded. Harry had called her around noon, sounding really pleased that she was interested in transferring to London after all and saying that he still thought June and her over there would be perfect. Her
“Oh, I don’t doubt that one second.” “They made me feel great,” she hissed. “Fantastic! I’m glad I did it! And Bob was the best I’ve ever had!” “Good for you!” he cheered. “Glad you found someone. Did he like your stupid games? Huh? And what a great choice, Liz! I just hope for you that Linda neve
“Let’s try,” she whispered and moved her hand down to his stomach.“Okay,” he put his hand back ontop of hers and slid his fingers between hers.It took only minutes until her breathing slowed down and a slight twitching of her hand told him that she was asleep again.Listening to her breathing and
Joe woke up around three, feeling really thirsty.It took him a second to grasp where he was (not in the cabin anymore) and that he was not alone.The realization caused a flash of excitement.D was sleeping far on her side of the bed.He remembered how she had always used to do that. No matter how
He was going for a mind-sweeping kiss here – one that would swipe her mind of any reservations there might still be. Even if, right now, she didn’t seem very reserved anyway. But he’d rather be absolutely sure…His own reservations were all gone by now. And having her so close just confirmed that ke
Three minutes later Joe returned, a chocolate bar in his left hand and a glass of milk in his right.“I see chocolate,” D chirped with a greedy grin. She had sat up and was leaning against the headboard. “Come here…” Like a lazy princess she waved for him to come over.Stopping at his desk, Joe set
“I don’t wanna mess this up…” he said, his gaze on the bedcover beside her head, his hand tracing one of the lines in the pattern.“Didn’t exactly feel like you were in the process of messing things up,” she said softly and reached out to touch his face.“You don’t think so, huh?” He leaned into her
Joe pushed himself away from the windowsill.“Guess I’ve really earned a jerk medal,” he contemplated as he stepped around the bed to her. “I’m sorry I didn’t pick up.”“Mhmm,” D growled, trying hard to unwaveringly hold his gaze as he came closer. “And you’re hopefully also sorry that you didn’t ca
He shrugged and kept glaring out the window. This had become kind of a habit - turning his back on people and staring into space. It was a bad habit he had developed thanks to Liz. It just helped him focus or stay composed, and it made it easier to get through situations he would rather avoid altoge
What she had before her, was part of the job ads from Saturday’s paper. One of the ads had her company’s swan logo on it. It was the ad for one of the jobs in London.Joe had gotten up from the bed again and returned to his desk. He pulled out the chair and sat down on it backwards so he was facing
D was rising from the bed with the intention to follow him. Only that she was momentarily strangely overwhelmed by something. Something indefinable that affected her more deeply than anything had in a long time.When it only got worse once she stepped out on the landing, a moist wave from the bathro