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Nothing Personal
Last Updated:
2024-04-22 07:20:18Related chapters
No Return The Guitar
“You have a guitar, right?”Silvia needed a moment to extract herself from her gloomy musing. “Yeah. Do you wanna play?”Jay shook his head with a playful smile. He’d weighted how mean it would be of him to do this, and his inner bastard argued he’d promised to make amends first thing next morning and it was still night, so. The fact that she didn’t recognize him annoyed him more than he was willing to admit, pushing his ego to team up with his inner bastard.“No, but bet you can play,” he replied in his most innocent accent.She stared at him for a moment, like wondering what was with him, then she shrugged and nodded.Jay noticed the rigid case she was opening looked brand new, and the guitar itself made him raise his eyebrows. It was a gorgeous electric-acoustic Fender. Who took such a beauty on a trip other than a music tour? His fingertips tingled to caress the velvet wood and the shiny metallic strings.Unaware of his cannibal-craving stare, she sat the guitar on her lap and che
Last Updated : 2024-04-22No Return Love & Hate
They were playing one of Jay’s old songs when he realized Silvia was singing the background vocals. He looked up at her and raised one eyebrow, both mocking and questioning. She raised both—what?—and nodded for him to keep playing. He did.“Well, what about those BG vocals?” he said when the song was over.“Oh, I love their arrangements. If you can take it, I’d rather go for that.”“Be my guest.”But he still couldn’t bring his inner bastard to behave, so he picked Save Your Soul. And she sang the higher voice along with a contagious spark of joy in her eyes. Jay leaned a little forward to sing:But who are we supposed to be? She smiled in the following pause and leaned a little forward too, chuckling when he sang, like asking her:And who am I supposed to be today?Her lips pursed in an ironic smile as he charged on with the chorus, nodding for her to join him.I give back all that’s been givenI take back all that’s been takenI could never go on this way again…She hit all the rig
Last Updated : 2024-04-22No Return Just a Hit
Silvia sang oblivious to the rest of the universe.This was just like having Jim Robinson playing only for her.Jay was simply irresistible, he played so well, and his voice kept triggering avalanches of chills down her spine.And since they were complete strangers, and would never meet again after they left the bus station in opposite directions, she felt unexpectedly liberated. So she sang along like she’d always sung those same songs back home, in the shower or while she cleaned her house.Loving every minute of it.She didn’t remember ever coming across such an attractive, charming guy, with such a magnetic personality, nice and rude at the same time. A real bad boy, her little sister would have called him. She labeled him as a lovely bastard. Exactly the kind she always fell for.Good thing she still had eyes on her face, even after so much crying, to keep her from overlooking what was in plain sight. First of all, the age gap. Jay looked closer to her sister’s age than to hers,
Last Updated : 2024-04-22No Return Ten Less
Right from the hall door, Silvia saw Jay had fallen asleep, curling up on the couch. It was a miracle he hadn’t knocked the guitar down to the floor in his sleep.She left the paper cups on the coffee table, put the guitar in its case and searched her bag for her trip blanket.Jay’s jacket was still dripping on the back of the other armchair and it was plain to see he was cold. She tucked him in, grabbed her latte and went back to her armchair. Out the windows, the platform lights drew static white cones that the rain pierced in a hypnotic dance.Silvia glanced at Jay and sighed with a mild smile.She’d never been a fan of spite sex, but this gringo sure made the idea appealing.If only she’d been ten years younger and ten pounds slimmer.Then she would’ve felt authorized to wish she were sitting on the couch with him, resting against his side under the blanket.For starters.She turned to look out the windows again, as the endless night crawled its way through the storm toward the mo
Last Updated : 2024-04-22No Return Help Marching On
A soft touch on his shoulder woke Jay up. The first thing he registered was daylight, the next was the man standing by the couch, looking down at him with an apologetic smile. He tried to sit up and found Silvia’s head resting on his chest, and his own arm around her shoulders. One of his legs was stretched over hers under the blanket.The man realized he could hardly move and crouched down by his side to speak in whispers.“Sorry to disturb you. We’re leaving, but I’m afraid we have no room in my brother’s car for you guys. Is there anything we can do to help?”Jay understood this was the father of the family that had spent the night there like them. He tried to move again and asked the man for a minute.“I’ll be at the hall,” the man said, straightening up.Jay turned to Silvia. There was no way to leave the couch without waking her up. He managed the easy part—removing his leg from over hers. But as soon as he tried to gently pull out his arm, trapped between her back and the couch
Last Updated : 2024-04-22No Return The Bruises
Hearing his brother’s voice felt like the best thing that had happened to him in ages. He told him about his situation and his brand new plan to leave the bus station in three or four hours.“I’ll call you when I get to town.”“You’re gonna have to spend the night there, ‘cause I can’t go get you right now. They warned us the road to town is flooded.”“Don’t worry, bro. I’ll wait for you.”“Hope you have some fun, ‘cause you’re missing it big here, man. Jo brought Fay and some more girlfriends along, and we’ve been partying around the clock ever since they got here.”Jay chuckled. “Sons of bitches. Tell those babes I expect a nice welcome.” He saw Silvia coming. “Gotta go now, bro.”“Take care, bastard.”Jay disconnected and handed out the latte to her with a bright grin, telling her the breaking news.She took a moment to reply, surprised to see his eyes were actually blue, clear and pale like water. “That’s great, Jay! You’ll be on your way in a while!”“Hell yeah! Can’t fucking bel
Last Updated : 2024-04-22No Return Complicated
Jay rested his shoulder against the window by her side, giving her the latte. She looked so calm, so composed, like she’d never told him what had happened to her, or like it hadn’t happened to her at all. But he’d seen the bruises.“There you go, with that song again,” he said softly.She smiled to thank him for the coffee and shrugged. “Yeah, it’s just catchy.”Break Free? Jay almost choked on the word. “Catchy?”Silvia noticed he’d taken offense and quickly added, “Well, not really. It’s actually gloomy, that’s why it’s catchy for me.”“You make a funny use of adjectives, y’know?”“You think?”“Don’t pull my tongue, ‘cause you don’t wanna hear my inner bastard.”“It’s okay, I like him.”“That’s why you are where you are, woman.”“You’re right, maybe I don’t like him that much.”They chuckled together.After having their coffees, they decided to give a personal touch to their corner of the waiting room. They turned the couch around and placed the coffee table before it. That way, ins
Last Updated : 2024-04-22No Return The Icing on Your Cake
After moving around while they talked, changing spots on the couch, the coffee table, or standing by the windows, they sat together again for a five-fork lunch of snacks and soda from the vending machines. Then Silvia retreated to the end of the couch and curled up there with a cigarette, watching Jay speak.She wanted to remember as much of him as he could. Because, in a very straight and non-dramatic fashion, he’d saved her. His company had allowed her to take the first step to leave the hurt behind and start moving on. He’d given her something to recall on her long way home, other than that insane, violent episode that had shattered all her dreams for good.He patted her feet, pointing at his own legs. “Rest them here before your knees cramp,” he said.She squinted—what? Jay’s smile could’ve melted the iceberg to save the Titanic. In minutes.“Hey, we’ve already slept together, right? No need to be shy.”Silvia could only chuckle, and did what he wanted. They talked for another thi
Last Updated : 2024-04-22
Latest chapter
No Return True Freedom
Silvia woke up to Depeche Mode’s Personal Jesus.The sun was setting and she was alone in bed, tucked in soft sheets that smelled of lemon and the fat white comforter. Jim had left a few hours ago to let her rest, because after those weeks apart, it was plain to see she wouldn’t get any rest with him around.She’d fallen sound asleep, exhausted, and now she had the persistent feeling of being still lost in a dream. But she wasn’t. This was not the Black Rock. It was the Ashtray, her new home, and that music had to be a phone ringing.But not hers. She’d never used that song as a ringtone.She followed the music to the other nightstand, where she found a new phone still inside its open box with a red ribbon. And she laughed out loud when she grabbed it and saw the caller was My Personal J.“Hey, you awake?” Jim asked when she picked up, still chuckling.“Hey, you just woke me u
No Return Yours
They staggered into the bedroom and fell on the bed as they kissed, their hands struggling to get rid of their clothes.Silvia pulled Jim to bring him on top of her, yearning to feel his weight. There was no other body to hers, no other hands to touch her, no other lips to drive her crazy, no other skin to stroke hers. She wrapped a leg around his waist, pushing him down, and moaned when she felt him inside of her, his fire sweeping it all away, and she gave in to his need and his exasperated anxiety.Because that was exactly how he was feeling. He’d never missed her body, he’d never needed her like this. Yet there he was, fighting himself back to keep from going off like a frigging teen, growing crazier with every moan he pushed out of her mouth, every move of her hips, every touch of her fingers, every brush of her lips. Like he would never have enough of her.Why was he feeling this way? Why nothing seemed enough? When had all bodies lost their ap
No Return The Ashtray
Silvia exited the Customs Office feeling stunned and a little dizzy. After such an emotional last week in Bariloche, she’d had to go through the long flight that had taken her to another time zone, another season, another country, another culture, another language. She looked around, feeling she was running on fumes and she was about to pass out any moment now.Jim threw the sign she hadn’t seen into a bin to come stand before her, hands in his pockets and a smile under his black cap.“Looking for somebody?”Silvia just dropped everything to fall into his arms. He held her tight, kissing her hair, and felt her shiver nonstop. She needed a whole minute to fight back her tears and get a little grip on herself. When he assessed she would be able to walk, he took her hand, grabbed the luggage cart with his other hand, and took both to the parking lot without a word.Silvia just let him lead the way. She was there, with him, finally. Sh
No Return Storm Alert
Silvia left before her friends and siblings even registered what she was doing. One minute they were all toasting to her for the hundredth time in the bar, and the next minute she was hugging every one of them, telling them how much she loved them. And then she was gone, all alone.She walked down the street, gazing up at the sky, admiring the colors in those minutes before the early sunrise. Her feet didn’t need to consult with her brain to head straight to the downtown beach, walk down the stone steps and take her right up to the lake shore.She sat down on the cold pebbles and lit a cigarette, face to the east. It was her last sunrise of the only life she’d ever known. The last sunrise with her lake and her mountains. Like so many times before, she wished she could capture every little detail as far as her eyes could see, carve it all in her memory and keep it inside of her, true and unchanged, forever unfading.She watched the sun come up behind
No Return December
Tobias and Leandro had done their best to clean up the Black Rock before Silvia came back home. And the outcome made her smile, because the house was squeaky-clean and smelling of flowers. They were surprised to see Mika there too, but Silvia’s look kept them from asking any questions.Knowing the siblings needed time alone for their reunion, Leandro left for Beltane, to have dinner with Claudia. At the Black Rock, Mika went to the supermarket, to restock the fridge with something that wasn’t trash food and make dinner for the three of them.The moment she walked out, Tobias asked Silvia what had happened to their sister to make her lower that proud head of hers, admit her fail and come back home. It was just natural he would take mortal offense when he learned why Mika was actually back. But Silvia would have none of it.“I’m telling you the same I told your sister,” she said. “You don’t want me to keep treating you guy
No Return Lil' Sister
It’d been six months since Silvia had last seen Mika, and one look was enough to tell her all her little sister had been keeping from her.Rob and Juan had planned a Saturday night out after dinner, but Silvia resorted to the such-a-long-flight excuse to stay behind.“Would you lend me a hand with the dishes?” she asked Mika.The others understood and took off, leaving the sisters alone.“I thought Lorena was coming too,” Silvia said as they picked up everything from the table.Mika hesitated, found her sister’s eyes and shrugged. “We broke up.”“Oh. You never mentioned it.”“It happened three days ago. I didn’t wanna write to you about it. It was your last days with Jim, and I knew we were meeting today.”They took everything to the kitchen and Silvia asked Mika to make mate while she did the dishes. The girl knew better than trying to beat
No Return The Thing
Silvia almost missed her flight, too absorbed staring at the tiny thing on the table before her.What on God’s green earth was that thing doing there, and in her keep?That white-gold band with a little, discreet diamond.An engagement ring.That frigging coward! Throwing it at her from ten feet away!But no matter the delivery method, Jim had given it to her.His mother’s, he’d said.Bring it back, he’d said.She felt lucky her brain was able to register the last boarding call. She looked up, startled, and jumped to her feet. She was about to hurry away when she remembered the ring. Actually, it was more like feeling a leash tugging at her neck, stopping her from walking away from the table.She spun around on her heels and scowled down at the damned thing.“You…” she growled.The moment she had it in her hand again, she realized how small and light it wa
No Return Catch
It was sort of weird. Being with Jim usually involved having people around, but now they were all alone, making their way through the usual crowd in LAX. Come to think about it, both of them loved having an active social life. Maybe that was why she hadn’t needed any major adjusting over the last ten days in LA.…?Silvia would’ve punched herself best Fight Club style. She had only minutes left with him and she was pondering about their social habits? Really?She checked in for her flight and they headed to the boarding area in no hurry.“So you think you can be back by January ten.”“Yup. I gotta report to work with Jo on the fifteenth, but I want a couple of free days before that.”They walked a whole minute in silence.Silvia wondered why all of a sudden they didn’t seem to have anything left to say. Why were they avoiding eye contact? Why did she feel like getting into the boarding
No Return Jam
“Hurry up or I’m calling a cab!”“Bet you’re dying to do it, you chicken.”“Please, Jay!”Silvia finished raiding the master bedroom one last time, to make sure she wasn’t forgetting anything.“Jay!”“Coming.”She snorted and went to canvass the ground floor. She was just done when Jim came down the stairs in no hurry.“Can we go before I have a heart attack, milord?”“Cool down, woman, we have plenty of time,” he said, grabbing her duffel bag on his way to the front door, where she waited with her rucksack. He paused at the doorway to poke her nose. “Really, such a rush to leave me.”Silvia wasn’t about to explain she was always that upset whenever she had a bus or a plane to catch, so she just scowled at him and followed him out.“Got everything? Tickets, passport?”Silvia ch
