Love for Love

"What do you mean, he's getting inside your head?" Tom replied as he thought to himself for a few seconds. "You're not seeing him, are you?"

"God, no," I retorted, resting one of my hands upon his perfectly toned chest. "The only person that I'm seeing is you." He smiled at me weakly, cupping my face in his hands and searching my eyes. "He's just decided that you're not a person I should be seeing."

"Is he the only one that's been saying that?" Tom asked and I shook my head as a response. He sighed and embraced me, his diminished manhood hovering close to my sex. "There is no truth in what Benedict, or whoever else, might say. I love you and you alone. There is no one else I would rather be with."

"You're sweet," I said, my head buried in his chest and my eyes closed, trying to focus upon his scent. "But it doesn't help erase the memory of Benedict I had while we were making love or his constant harassment of my phone. Only God knows what will happen at work on Monday. He probably won't even leave the office!"

"Just get security to stop his entrance," Tom said as he lead me back to the couch and lowered me down so that he was squished against the back of the chair and I lay down flat on my back. "He's nothing to be worried about. It's Benedict, he wouldn't hurt a fly."

"Well, I happen to be a fly that he wants to hurt," I whined, stressed about the appearances people might make tomorrow. "Or pester, anyway."

Tom kissed me on the forehead and said, "I'll look after him."

And with that, Tom clambered over me and began to redress himself. There was nothing that I could really do to stop him and I was also kind of tied up in my own thoughts to realise what was happening.

Once he was properly dressed once more, he kissed me on the lips and headed for the door. When he opened it, he found Matilda standing there with her hand raised and ready to knock.

"Matilda, is it?" Tom asked politely.

She slowly lowered her hand and gave him a slightly nod followed by a weak smile. She moved to the side and Tom slipped past without a backwards glance. Matilda then turned to her attentions to me, lying naked on the couch to the side of the room. She raised an eyebrow.

"I think you might want to put some clothes on," Matilda said. "The furniture you bought with Miss. Audrey and your belongings from New York have arrived."

I nodded, slowly pulling back on the clothes that Tom and I had pulled of in our hurry to make love to one another. Matilda cast her eyes aside as I changed and made my way over to the lounge room door.

"And if you could refrain for undressing outside of your bedroom, that would be pleasant for myself and the neighbours," she said with a slightly annoyed tone.

"As you wish," I said, floating past her and down the stairs. She eyed me as I did so.

When I appeared at the front door, there was a gruff looking man dressed in a fluro yellow t-shirt and holding a notepad. He approached me asked if I was Nicole. I said I was and he made me sign the notepad that he was holding.

And with that, he began to usher the workmen that he had brought along with him into the house. I directed them as best I could, despite the fact that my mind was elsewhere. I was thinking about the time that I had just spent with Tom and the thoughts of his best friend recurring in my mind, despite how hard I tried to block it out.

The workmen had finished placing whatever they were carrying in the assigned rooms and disappeared into the trucks that they came from. I never left my spot at the front door, just watching them go in and out of the house.

Those who walked down the street stared in curiosity as the workmen went about their business. I ignored them and delved deeper into my shrouded thoughts of Ben, Tom, and the firing of Criss. All I knew was that tomorrow was going to be a tiring day.

_________________________________________________________________

I managed to rearrange the new furniture that I had bought recently and the old that I had shipped over from my New York apartment quite quickly. I was proud of my efforts as I sat down for dinner at eight o'clock.

I ate it quickly and left the dishwasher to clean my bowl. I hurried up stairs, changed and went to bed. My dreams were thankfully Benedict-less and full of Tom. I was more refreshed the next day then I thought I would have been, thanking the 'sweet' dreams that I was had the night before.

I dressed quickly for work and grabbed a piece of toast as I was leaving for work. It was nearing nine in the morning and I was determined not to be late. I rushed over to the buidling that I considered my work and arrived only two minutes after nine, and I was very proud of that.

I took a deep breath and made my way over to Damon at the security desk. He smiled widely at me and greeted me on approach.

"You've lasted more than a week!" Damon exclaimed. "Never would have expected that. You must be made of tough stuff."

"What do you mean by that?" I replied. "How is it surprising that I've made it longer than a week?"

"The last one that I had couldn't cope and went crazy after the first day," he said in return.

"So that's why Missy was so quick about getting me on the next flight out of New York," I muttered to myself, thinking a moment before I shook my head and reminded myself of why I had approached Damon in the first place. "There's someone I don't want you to let into the building."

"And whom would that be?" he said, interested.

"Benedict Cumberbatch," I said firmly.

"Well, you should have told me that earlier because his right over there with a bunch of red roses for you," Damon said, motioning to the gates that we had to swipe our cards to get through.

And as Damon said, Benedict stood there not a bunch of roses, but a single red rose and looking directly at me.

Damn.