Original Fiction - Short
A little late night fiction for you. I had to write it down whilst it was there or I would have lost it.
They lapse into a shorthand when they talk - like a language only they can understand. It becomes so easy to laugh with one another that sometimes a look is all it takes.
It starts so slowly that they don’t even notice. She just thinks he’s happy to have her around. He just thinks she’s talking to him a little more. No-one else notices either.
At first it’s just the talking. He wants to know what she can tell him and she’s more than happy to oblige. He pays attention and remembers things. Remembers when she mispronounces a word because she’s talking too fast and repeats it back to her.
He is the reason she can’t think of some things without thinking of him. She is the reason he can’t do some things without thinking of her. But they don’t realise what it means.
Slowly it becomes about being comfortable around one another. Enough so that she doesn’t mind it if he sits a little too close and he doesn’t mind it when her leg rests against his.
They lapse into a shorthand when they talk - like a language only they can understand. It becomes so easy to laugh with one another that sometimes a look is all it takes.
She doesn’t mind if he rests his arm on the back of her chair or moves her out of they with a hand on her back - because she knows he’s not trying something. He doesn’t mind if she hugs him for no reason or ruffles his hair because he knows she wouldn’t try something.
Weeks, months, after it starts it suddenly becomes real and present. They’re sitting beside one another, chatting about something, when he has to go back to work. He sighs dramatically and removes his arm from behind her chair. He leans close for a moment and kisses her on the crown of her head before standing up.
And it’s so natural that he does that she doesn’t even realise that it’s happened until he’s walking away. Her friend stares at her and mouths ‘What was that?’ She shakes her, she doesn’t know. She looks over her shoulder and sees him standing still a few steps from her. He turns his head to look at her and when their eyes meet it’s with caution. He blinks twice and opens his mouth to say something before shaking his head and walking away.
Later finds them at lunch and he has made an effort to distance himself from her. He doesn’t like doing things he didn’t expect. But she and a friend start pouring over the morning crossword and he can’t resist joining in. He takes the seat beside her and drapes his arm over her chair without even thinking, intent on the puzzle.
She stares uncomprehendingly at the crossword for a few minutes before giving up. She closes her eyes and presses her fingers to the bridge of her nose before letting her head fall back to rest on his arm.
‘I’m so tired,’ she says and she feels him shift slightly so her head slips onto his shoulder. It feels so comfortable that she doesn’t object and when his hand slides down to caress her upper arm she finds it quite soothing.
He continues to work on the puzzle with her friend and it seems natural that he should rest his head on hers as he does so. He reads the clues aloud so that she can try her hand at them as well and it feels right.
‘Time to go back,’ her friend says and the tone of it is strained. She realises then that maybe something is happening that she doesn’t know about and opens her eyes. He lifts his head and looks down at her just as she looks up. He smiles then leans down for a second and presses a kiss against her lips. Her eyes flicker shut for a moment before he pulls away to allow her out of her seat.
He takes her hand and helps her up and grips for maybe a moment too long. His palm is warm against hers and she fancies she can feel his heartbeat in his fingers. Then he releases her hand and the sensation is gone as quickly as it came.
He finishes work before she does. Something she’s always envied but done nothing about as she knows she couldn’t do his job. He passes her on his way to the coat room and touches her shoulder. She looks up at him and he holds up two fingers mouthing ‘Two minutes’. She nods understanding and he keeps walking.
She waits as long as she can - but she knows it’s not two minutes. It’s barely one before she’s up and, glancing surreptitiously about, following in his steps.
He’s standing just inside the door when she enters and he pushes it close behind her. She stares up at him and can feel them both teetering on the edge of something. Her heart beats quicker and she can barely seem to catch her breath.
He takes a step towards her and she instinctively takes a step back. He looks at her with confusion and for a moment she fears he might leave so she takes a step towards him. He hesitates, wavering back and forth on the spot, clenching an unclenching his hands.
Then they’re together and she doesn’t know how - but his hands are in her hair and hers are on his waist, digging in as if he might disappear at any moment. His mouth is warm and strong against hers and she lets him slide his tongue against hers, lets him taste her as she tastes him.
She really thinks she might stop breathing this time when he pulls back and presses his forehead against hers, breathing shallowly with his eyes squeezed shut.
‘What are we doing?’ she asks between breaths.
‘I don’t know,’ he says, pulling back, ‘But let’s do it more’
His mouth covers her again as his hands trace up down her back, exploring every inch of her that he can reach and he wonders why, God, did he never do this before?
She pulls back when it becomes difficult to breathe and laughs. It fills the room in it’s joy and he can’t help but laugh too.
‘I need to see you, outside of work,’ he says, standing tall and running his hands through her hair over and over again.
‘Yes,’ she says and wonders why they haven’t done that before either.
‘Give me your phone number,’ and he removes a hand from her hair and grabs his mobile from his pocket. She recites the number from memory and he smiles as he types it in.
‘I’ll call you,’ he says.
‘I know you will,’ she replies and then he’s kissing her again with a gentle passion before spinning away to don his coat.
In the end, and there’s always an end, they both agree that it was awfully sudden and no-one ever saw it coming.
But inside, so deep inside that neither of them could ever reach there whilst awake, they knew that it had started slowly long before either of them had even considered it.
They lapse into a shorthand when they talk - like a language only they can understand. It becomes so easy to laugh with one another that sometimes a look is all it takes.
It starts so slowly that they don’t even notice. She just thinks he’s happy to have her around. He just thinks she’s talking to him a little more. No-one else notices either.
At first it’s just the talking. He wants to know what she can tell him and she’s more than happy to oblige. He pays attention and remembers things. Remembers when she mispronounces a word because she’s talking too fast and repeats it back to her.
He is the reason she can’t think of some things without thinking of him. She is the reason he can’t do some things without thinking of her. But they don’t realise what it means.
Slowly it becomes about being comfortable around one another. Enough so that she doesn’t mind it if he sits a little too close and he doesn’t mind it when her leg rests against his.
They lapse into a shorthand when they talk - like a language only they can understand. It becomes so easy to laugh with one another that sometimes a look is all it takes.
She doesn’t mind if he rests his arm on the back of her chair or moves her out of they with a hand on her back - because she knows he’s not trying something. He doesn’t mind if she hugs him for no reason or ruffles his hair because he knows she wouldn’t try something.
Weeks, months, after it starts it suddenly becomes real and present. They’re sitting beside one another, chatting about something, when he has to go back to work. He sighs dramatically and removes his arm from behind her chair. He leans close for a moment and kisses her on the crown of her head before standing up.
And it’s so natural that he does that she doesn’t even realise that it’s happened until he’s walking away. Her friend stares at her and mouths ‘What was that?’ She shakes her, she doesn’t know. She looks over her shoulder and sees him standing still a few steps from her. He turns his head to look at her and when their eyes meet it’s with caution. He blinks twice and opens his mouth to say something before shaking his head and walking away.
Later finds them at lunch and he has made an effort to distance himself from her. He doesn’t like doing things he didn’t expect. But she and a friend start pouring over the morning crossword and he can’t resist joining in. He takes the seat beside her and drapes his arm over her chair without even thinking, intent on the puzzle.
She stares uncomprehendingly at the crossword for a few minutes before giving up. She closes her eyes and presses her fingers to the bridge of her nose before letting her head fall back to rest on his arm.
‘I’m so tired,’ she says and she feels him shift slightly so her head slips onto his shoulder. It feels so comfortable that she doesn’t object and when his hand slides down to caress her upper arm she finds it quite soothing.
He continues to work on the puzzle with her friend and it seems natural that he should rest his head on hers as he does so. He reads the clues aloud so that she can try her hand at them as well and it feels right.
‘Time to go back,’ her friend says and the tone of it is strained. She realises then that maybe something is happening that she doesn’t know about and opens her eyes. He lifts his head and looks down at her just as she looks up. He smiles then leans down for a second and presses a kiss against her lips. Her eyes flicker shut for a moment before he pulls away to allow her out of her seat.
He takes her hand and helps her up and grips for maybe a moment too long. His palm is warm against hers and she fancies she can feel his heartbeat in his fingers. Then he releases her hand and the sensation is gone as quickly as it came.
He finishes work before she does. Something she’s always envied but done nothing about as she knows she couldn’t do his job. He passes her on his way to the coat room and touches her shoulder. She looks up at him and he holds up two fingers mouthing ‘Two minutes’. She nods understanding and he keeps walking.
She waits as long as she can - but she knows it’s not two minutes. It’s barely one before she’s up and, glancing surreptitiously about, following in his steps.
He’s standing just inside the door when she enters and he pushes it close behind her. She stares up at him and can feel them both teetering on the edge of something. Her heart beats quicker and she can barely seem to catch her breath.
He takes a step towards her and she instinctively takes a step back. He looks at her with confusion and for a moment she fears he might leave so she takes a step towards him. He hesitates, wavering back and forth on the spot, clenching an unclenching his hands.
Then they’re together and she doesn’t know how - but his hands are in her hair and hers are on his waist, digging in as if he might disappear at any moment. His mouth is warm and strong against hers and she lets him slide his tongue against hers, lets him taste her as she tastes him.
She really thinks she might stop breathing this time when he pulls back and presses his forehead against hers, breathing shallowly with his eyes squeezed shut.
‘What are we doing?’ she asks between breaths.
‘I don’t know,’ he says, pulling back, ‘But let’s do it more’
His mouth covers her again as his hands trace up down her back, exploring every inch of her that he can reach and he wonders why, God, did he never do this before?
She pulls back when it becomes difficult to breathe and laughs. It fills the room in it’s joy and he can’t help but laugh too.
‘I need to see you, outside of work,’ he says, standing tall and running his hands through her hair over and over again.
‘Yes,’ she says and wonders why they haven’t done that before either.
‘Give me your phone number,’ and he removes a hand from her hair and grabs his mobile from his pocket. She recites the number from memory and he smiles as he types it in.
‘I’ll call you,’ he says.
‘I know you will,’ she replies and then he’s kissing her again with a gentle passion before spinning away to don his coat.
In the end, and there’s always an end, they both agree that it was awfully sudden and no-one ever saw it coming.
But inside, so deep inside that neither of them could ever reach there whilst awake, they knew that it had started slowly long before either of them had even considered it.