XVIII | Apology Accepted

Just do it, girl.

Halle rolled her lips inward, her hand resting on the doorknob to the office at the very end of the hallway. She hardly visited the neuroscience residency, but knew that this had to be done.

It had been easy to cool off about the conversation she overheard when she remembered that she had no right to be angry in the first place. So what if Rowan was chatting up that woman, Halle had done much worse. It's not like she was coming to face her demons anyway; she was here to throw him off of her trail.

Here I go.

With a steady exhale, she twisted the knob, and pushed the door open. Rowan's eyes snapped up from the brain cross-examination sketch in front of him, and then his eyebrows creased. His office was spotless, his station perfectly organized with color coordinated writing utensils and books.

"Hals, what are you doing here?"

"I came to apologize," she rushed to say, intertwining her fingers.

If it were illegal to be a fidgeting, rambling mess, Halle would be doing a 25 to life bid.

"Shut the door." Rowan leaned back in his seat, casually clicking and unclicking his pen with his thumb. She did as he asked, using the back of her shoe to do so.

"Apologize for what?"

"For being so short and dismissive towards your concern over my whereabouts. I should've known better than to stay out all night, whether I was with my best-friend or not."

Rowan took a long look at his girlfriend, twisting his lips as he mulled over the situation. The overhead lights made his brown hair appear almost as ginger waves.

"I suppose we both have things to be sorry for. I met with Nikita yesterday, and she made a pass at me. She was promptly rejected, but I shouldn't have been around her anyway, knowing her motives."

"Oh!" Halle feigned surprise. "I-I'm not mad. We all do... questionable things."

"Definitely." He ran his fingers down the corners of his mouth. "Apology accepted."

"Ditto!" She blew her breath.

"I've got my annual business meeting coming up in a few days, so of course I'll be busy preparing for it. When I get back, however, we can focus more on us. I think we both need to make some major changes."

"Oh-okay!" Halle nodded, backing towards the room's only exit. "That sounds good."

"Let me walk you out." Rowan hauled himself up, leaving the pen on top of his desk.

"You don't have to. I know how busy you are."

"Nonsense. You came all this way just to apologize. It's the least I could do. Plus, I'll be working overtime tonight."

He kissed the top of her head, and her body was rigid when his hand initially found her waist. But with a simple, inaudible countdown, she forced herself to relax all the way to the parking lot.

Rowan's hands were in his pockets as he watched her drive away. Halle had successfully covered her tracks, but in a few hours, she would be making brand new ones.

ꨄꨄꨄꨄꨄ

Crème Vanille or Lait De Coco?

Halle held the two parfums in either palm, giving them each a fourth sniff.

Both. She decided.

She spritzed herself from top to bottom, the mixture of vanilla and coconut notes making her excitement for tonight grow. She was sure that  Chiko would appreciate such a heavenly aroma, and the thought of his reaction brought a smile to her face.

Halle all but skipped through the front door of the penthouse, her joy so thick and palpable that the receptionist in the lobby automatically mirrored her expression.

However, as soon as she laid eyes on his car, parked on the side of the building, the butterflies in her stomach became fierce enough to slow her stride. She was reminded of the events that led up to their three-day separation, and the nagging question had returned:

did Chiko really kill someone?

Nah, that's preposterous!

He would be behind bars, and she would've found actual booking information when she searched his name, right?

The driver's side door flung open to a car she did not recognize, and Chiko hopped out, his eyes softening a fraction when they met Halle's.

Instantly, their bodies collided with one another in a tight embrace, his right hand latched onto her asscheek.

"You smell good as hell." He dug deeper, and Halle's heart soared like she'd just won a medal.

She was so lost in his warmth, her mind blank for a solid minute until she remembered their surroundings.

She pulled away with a peck to his lips, adjusting the soft fabric that was stuck between her buttocks. "Thank you. Let's get away from here."

Chiko stared up at the condominiums as he rounded his vehicle to open the passenger's side door for Halle to climb in. They sped off onto the highway, the music loud enough to bust an elderly person's eardrums.

His fingers rotated the volume's control. "You want to get something to eat?"

Halle shook her head. "Not right now."

What she wanted was answers. Anxiety, lust, and confusion kept her belly full enough.

"Cool. Me neither."

And with that, Chiko raised the volume again.

Halle was unsure of where they were heading. His apartment complex was located in the opposite direction, but she didn't question him about it, comforted to just be in his presence.

She admired his profile as he pivoted to the fast lane, his Cupid's bow on full display with his mustache freshly lined up.

The city of Malibu blurred by in a kaleidoscope of colors, and the gentle sea breeze infiltrated her nostrils through the cracked windows as they neared the beach. The fading sunset blinded her just a tad. It had been setting earlier and earlier as the summer reached its conclusion.

"You have a beach house?" Halle used her hands to shield her eyes, the sun visor not long enough.

"Yeah, for a few weeks. I don't trust my own spot right now."

Halle figured as much. That explained the rental car too. "About that. We need to talk about what happened back there."

"We do, but not tonight." Chiko brought the car to a halt in front of a vacant bungalow, and the temperature in the enclosed space rose.

Her body ached for him, and Chiko knew that.

"I wanna focus on something else." His eyes told her what his words didn't as they studied her mouth. "I need something to take my mind off this shit."

"You... wanna finish what we started before they showed up?" It was a question that she didn't need to be answered, one that automatically induced moisture in her thin panties.

They were on the same page, the smirk on both of their faces indicative of what the night would bring. He leaned over the center console, and Halle met him half way, igniting a kiss that would continue on and off until they reached the porch of the bungalow, and blossom into much more than that she would ever be able to tell anyone about.

Chiko and Halle became one while in the privacy of those four walls, the sound of their bodies slapping against each other harmonizing with the faint sounds of the ocean waves crashing into the shore through the drafty windows, obligations and worries be damned.

~

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Three more chapters to go!

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