__________________
She was right next door and I'm such a strong persuader
But she was just another notch on my guitar
She's gonna lose the man that really loves her
In the silence I can hear their breaking hearts
_______________
He hesitated at the door to the staff kitchen. For two days now he had managed to avoid running into her, but the brewing coffee had masked her scent.
Her gaze flicked to him and then away. She was as impeccably dressed as ever in high heels and an elegant skirt, but her eyes were pink and puffy, the slight lines around her mouth engraved more deeply than he had ever seen them.
She still wore shades of red and he wondered if she chose them deliberately this morning, hoping that he might come back, or if she simply didn’t even have clothes in any other color.
Feeling foolish, he knew she had sensed his hesitation -- that both of them knew he would have ducked away if she hadn’t seen him first.
“Hey, Jeannie,” he said with an air of casualness, pulling a mug from the shelf and moving toward the coffeepot.
“Hi, Logan,” she answered back, her voice flat, dismissive. He felt himself bristling, but when she looked up her eyes were shocked -- devastated. He felt his anger disappear, the shame and regret that had been present in his belly for two days now rising up, threatening to choke him.
He took a deep breath, clenching his fists until the adamantium knuckles cracked. “I’m sorry, Jeannie.”
He was dreading her response, half expecting her to launch herself into his arms and cry on his shoulder. His body was already tensing against it -- god help him but his skin crawled at the thought of touching her again -- but instead she just took another sip of her coffee.
He stood there uncertainly, expecting something more. Recriminations, tearful confessions -- he wasn’t sure what -- but not this. This blank silence.
Strangely, he was the one who felt the pressure to speak. To offer her something.
“I shoulda left you alone, Jeannie. If I hadn’ta chased you so much...always tryin’ to persuade ya...”
Her face lifted from her coffee cup, and his mumbled words stumbled to a stop. Now there was a hint of contempt in her eyes.
“Do you really think this was about you, Logan?” Her voice was cold and crisp, with just a note of astonishment.
She shook her head, a slow side-to-side movement, and her expression changed to pity.
She meant to hurt him, that was clear enough, but all the same he couldn’t smell a lie on her -- her clear green eyes looking directly into his.
“It could have been anyone.”
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Author's Chapter Notes:
I promise, the next chapter is much longer and very Roganish, but this will have to tide you over...
Chapter End Notes:
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