Page 78 of As They Are
“I’m sorry boundaries are hard for you,” I replied. “Hopefully, over time, you figure out that they’re helpful for making a peaceful work environment.”
Usually, I would wonder if my attitude was too rude. But when Wren pressed her lips together to smother a smile, I didn’t regret a thing.
“I’m done here,” Madison muttered. “Jude, you’re free to go.”
“Finally,” he said. “Hopefully, the bar has some hotties tonight.”
Wren rolled her eyes, but her hand stayed in mine until we were blissfully alone.
I stepped away the second I could, even though every cell in my body screamed for me not to. Now that they were gone, we were friends. Only friends.
“It’s working. And I still owe you. Want some food? I could take you out to eat. Hell, if you’re tired of diner food, we could go to the next town over. Or even the bar?—”
My control was slipping with every given second. I wasexhausted.And this was only day one.
“No, not tonight. I need to get home.”
“O-okay. Of course. See you tomorrow.”
The way her smile faded was almost enough to get me to stay, but I needed to go. I couldn’t be the Henry she wanted me to be if I did. So I waved at her and walked out of the library, ignoring every part of my body that wanted me to take her up on her offer of more time together.
16
WREN
Strawberry Springs Neighborhood Watch
Henry Connor: @Marjorie Brown, do you recognize this wallpaper?
Comments:
Marjorie Brown:Holy hell, Doc! It’s been years since I thought of that ugly stuff. It was up when I met Henrietta.
Henrietta Brown:I still think it’s cute.
Marjorie Brown: Good lord, honey. Are you blind? That’s the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen! Who puts green on walls?
Kerry Winsor:Green is trending on walls right now! Everyone loves it.
Marjorie Brown:What is wrong with people these days???
A week passed.Henry came to visit me every day before work, and I was making steady progress on the library. He took tofilming well, and I started to look forward to our morning chats, especially when he would smile and press a kiss to my lips.
Even if it was fake, it felt intimate and steady. Henry was always there, and I was used to getting my morning kiss before starting work for the day.
Having him around helped when I worked with Jude. We still had to film together, though this time, there was far more distance between us. We did interviews too, but those were mostly professional, except when he would smile over at me like he would in season one.
It was only on camera too, just like it had been before. Many would call it a friendly smile, but it was so similar to the ones I used to get that it felt disorienting.
Instead of getting a thrill, I was filled with dread. Henry and I weren’t really dating, yet it felt like a betrayal to him. I never returned them and only focused on the job.
And the job was demanding. Demolishing a library was hard, especially when I had taken on most of the work myself to save money on paying for travel expenses for my contractors. Jude didn’t help when he wasn’t on camera, so it left me to do most of the work.
After three days in a row, Henry had demanded I get some time off to showcase the town. I’d tried to tell him I was fine, but he wouldn’t take no for an answer.
The restwasneeded, though. The day that I had off, I slept for twelve hours straight and had to nurse my sore muscles.
The day after that, we were filming at Center Point.
