Smile for the cameras

ERIKA2

"Nothing you'll say to me will make me stay!"

"And what if I tell you that I.."

"What?" Erika's breath caught up inside her chest. It bundled up and made her almost sweat because the expression he was making made it look like he was about to say something that would alter her entire brain chemistry.

"That I.. want you.. to stay.. and not because of the revenge or any tricks up my sleeve or keeping you as a plaything or an act of humiliation or anything I've done in the past. But I want you to stay.. because of how I feel for you," he said with an exasperated voice that sucked all the air out of Erika's lungs. It was so evident that she was frowning that she could tell he hesitated on whether he should go forward with what he was about to say or not. And even if she was dying for him to continue, she knew that once he was done, he would be asking her to give an answer to that or at least that's what she would be expected to do and she was not ready for that.

And she wasn't s