WHO: A man and a woman. WHEN: Late Friday. WHERE: An apartment. SUMMARY: Ominous Discussions. WARNINGS: None.
“Quite the little stunt you pulled.” Her voice was clipped. Appraising.
“What stunt would that be?”
“Don’t play dumb. We have the Mayor Elect riding horses and the Sheriff has taken to the ocean.” Her back was turned to him as she poured herself a drink.
“Oh, I see what this is,” a long silence stretched on before he finally finished the thought. “Accusing me, like you had nothing to do with it. That won’t work." A pause. "Who do you think you’re dealing with?”
“You’re good, sweetheart. You’re very good. But I,” she turned to face him and, taking it a step further, walked up to him. It wasn’t often he allowed himself to be without his Glamour. He trusted her. She assumed, after tonight, that would change, “am onto you.”
A grimace formed on his mouth as he looked up at her with unsmiling eyes. “Are you now. What is it you think I’d be hoping to accomplish with this?”
Her hand went to rest on his chest, fingers tugging at the buttons of his shirt with the beginnings of a vague promise. “You’ll tell me.” She sounded sure of it.
His gaze didn’t waver from her face, but after a few seconds of silence his hand reached to brush hers away. “I think that you were hoping to out me.” A beat. “But it failed, just like all of your other little schemes.”
Her hand struck his cheek. “If I wanted to out you, there are easier ways.” She took a step back, a finger pointing at him scoldingly.
As he stood he almost appeared to be holding back a laugh. “You were never big on easy, direct methods. If you were I might not be here now.”
Whereas he held back his laugh, she did not.
“You’ve always been so theatrical.” She lifted her hand again, this time to cup the cheek she had struck. Her thumb ran over his cheekbone. “How is your little friend getting along with her little… project? Or has she been affected, too?”
He stood stock still, eyeing her coldly. There were some things that she didn’t need to know. “If you don’t know, you haven’t been paying close enough attention.”
She glowered, hand dropping to her hip.
She couldn’t deny that he was right. She did need to start paying closer attention to his goings-on when she wasn’t around…