Page 65 of Conform
I bit my lip, lost in the contrast between the shadows and light.
“What are your thoughts?” Hal asked. I turned to find him staring at me.
“A person who painted such pain has also painted such beauty. I want to ask the artist which came first.”
“What do you think?” Hal asked, leaning toward me.
“Beauty first. You can’t come back from that kind of pain.”
Hal chuckled, the sound pebbling my skin in its wake. But his eyes held a sadness. “Things are made more beautiful by pain. You see everything differently afterward. Not right away. It takes time, but knowing the darkest depths—” Hal paused. “It allows you to experience the highest peaks.”
“I don’t think I care to see the peaks if I have to feel the depths,” I confessed.
Hal shook his head. “You do, Moonlight. I promise you do. They have just robbed you of it.”
My Comm Device dinged several times. I turned, fishing it out of my bag.
“What news from the world above?” Hal asked. I read through the two messages, the first from Collin.
Your work schedule has been updated. Look forward to seeing you tonight. I personally picked your gown. —Collin
The second was a formal message changing my workweek from every day to five days on, two days off. Starting tomorrow, I would have two days off.
“My schedule has been officially modified. I don’t have work the next two days,” I told him.
“So, things are progressing,” Hal commented dryly. “Even with the Press article.”
It was the first time he had brought up the Press since the other day.
Before I could respond, Hal rubbed his jawline and stood. “Guess I’ll see you in two days.”
“Don’t do that,” I urged, standing.
“Don’t do what?” Hal crossed his arms.
“Walk out over something I didn’t have a say in,” I sputtered, frustrated.
“I’m not.”
I reached out, grabbing his arm. “You are. You’re trying to leave.”
“It would be easier if I left,” Hal admitted, looking over my shoulder at the painting. “One day you’ll have the nerve to ask, and I don’t think I’ll say no.” His eyes traced my lips before he stepped away.
I tilted my head back to stare into his starburst gaze. “What are you saying, Hal?”
“I was looking for . . .” Hal shook his head. “It wasn’t supposed to happen like this.”
“What were you looking for?”
“Not this,” Hal admitted.
“Do you think I was looking for this?” I exclaimed, gesturing wildly between us. “I was happy down here with my life. Then you show up, and then the contract. I was happy down here.”
“No, you weren’t. You were lonely.”
“You don’t know that,” I practically shouted, anger surging. “I was fine alone.”
“Fine isn’t a feeling,” Hal said.
