“I see,” Sarah said, eyeing him cautiously. “I can’t say I find it very delightful, though. More disturbing.” Joe glanced up from his plate, mainly to see if she was mocking him. But when that didn’t seem to be the case, he ate some more of his breakfast and then continued. “Anyway”, he told her, “
When Joe put down his fork, his food all gone, Sarah looked up at him again. “You know, to me it’s still hard to understand how you ended up with her in the first place,” she said. “She really didn’t seem like your type. More like the type that you’d always joked about.” Picking up his coffee cup,
Sarah took this as a confirmation. “You’re such an id–” she stopped herself before she said it. “Why the hell did you fill out all the forms for the exchange year application and make plans and act as if you were really into it?” She was getting louder now. Avoiding eye contact, Joe shrugged again
“Let’s blame it on the timing then!” she said with sarcastic generosity. “The timing and Dad and D for being oh-so-pushy and – oh, I almost forgot – probably some incredible sex on the side. Right? I mean, you didn’t explicitly mention it, but judging from the woman involved, I assume sex played a r
Sarah shrugged. “Where else?” Joe still looked baffled. “I was at home that morning,” he said. “I definitely was at home. By myself. And I tried to call Danny from Mom and Dad’s landline because I couldn’t find my phone.” Suddenly he turned pale and looked like he had just had a very scary vision.
In the café’s parking lot, Joe told Sarah that he needed to go by an electronics store on the way home to buy a charger for his phone. That was only half the truth, of course. Even though he hadn’t brought his charger, he still had the one for the car. And with his phone currently being turned off
Of course, if something like that had happened, he had only himself to blame. He had been at Liz’s flat several times during the month leading up to the party. Only the first three times had really been purely to help her with her computer troubles. She had kissed him when he had been about to leav
Anyway, there she had been, purring like a cat, batting her eyes and persuaded him to meet her later for dinner. Over the course of that dinner he had had way more to drink than he should have. Right in the middle of the dinner he had received a message from Danny saying that he needed to contact t
“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