All Chapters of And he took my breath away: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Remy “I have to say, this apartment looks even better in person.” Aliyah said, sinking into the sofa beside me. “I still can’t believe I signed the lease,” I admitted, resting my head against the back of the cushion. The scent of fresh paint and floor wax was still heavy in the room, a constant reminder that this place was mine. “Just how much did it cost,” she turned to face me. “Because it doesn’t look cheap.” “A lot. Had to wipe out most of my savings.” Aliyah whistled low, eyes sweeping the floor to ceiling windows that looked right over the city. The sunset was bleeding orange and purple across the skyline, making the hardwood floors glow. “Savings well spent, I’d say. It’s a fresh start, a real one.” She reached out for my shoulders and gave it a little squeeze. “I hope so. Other than the sales I made from my car, I have no other…” “You sold your car?!” She gasped, eyes widening in disbelief. “I had to. August got it for me, remember? Plus it was a really goo

Remy“How’s your assignment going?” Cory asked as he made a u-turn to avoid the traffic ahead. We were on our way to work and although we weren’t late, Cory couldn’t help but fret about the clock.He was the kind of driver who treated every red light like a personal insult from the department of transportation.“I thought you weren’t supposed to ask me about that?” I turned to look at him with a teasing smile.“That doesn’t mean I don’t care, you know.” He returned my gaze then turned his attention back to the road.“It’s a minefield,” I responded, leaning my head against the cool glass of the passenger seat window. “It’s actually harder than I thought it was going to be.”“Come on, there’s nothing too hard for you to do.” He countered.“I don’t know Cory. Literally everybody I try to reach out to, either lies and says they’ll get back to me or they don’t pick my calls and end up not calling back. The whole thing is just slowing down my process.” I said,

Remy“You know you eventually have to go to sleep, right? You look a mess.” Aliyah complained for the umpteenth time. She wasn’t wrong, but that was only because I had to wrap up the first phase of the audit on the Vanguard case before the sun came up.The living room floor was a graveyard of Luke warm espresso shots and crumpled print out of tax filings that made my eyes bleed. “I’ll sleep when Vanguard stops laundering the people’s future,” I muttered, not even looking up from the glowing blue light of my laptop. Aliyah leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed over her pajamas. “Remy, it’s currently 3:02 AM.” She touched her phone screen to be sure of the time, before tilting it towards me to see. “You’ve been staring at those spreadsheets so long I think you’re starting to blink in Excel. If you show up to the morning meeting with your boss looking like a background character from the walking dead, Freya would definitely eat you alive. She probably sleep

RemyI’ve had this conversation with Cory in my mind a thousand times already. But nothing ever prepared me for the actual moment.The air in the room felt heavy, like the oxygen had been replaced with something thicker and harder to consume. Cory sat in his chair, hands around his now empty glass. His gaze drilled through mine, which made what I was about to do more painful.For months, I’d rehearsed my opening lines while sitting beside him in the car everyday, in the shower, and during those restless hours at 1:00 AM while working. In those versions, I was articulate. I was calm. I was the one in control. But looking at him now, eyes searching me like he was on the verge of uncovering a scandalous secret, all those polished words dissolved into a static hum in my brain.“Cory,” I finally whispered. The name felt like a jagged piece of glass shredding at my throat. He didn’t flinch, but I saw his grip tighten a little around the glass cup. “I know wha

Cory I didn’t mean to lie to her. Twice.I panicked and the words just continued to slip out. I couldn’t stop myself.Sitting inside my car, in the company’s parking garage, the air felt too thin. I had to crack my window open to get proper ventilation.I had a chance to tell her how I felt, a chance to finally be honest, to unload all that I had in my mind for the past eight years and counting. And I fumbled.I didn’t know if I was going to get another opportunity again. Even if she didn’t feel the same way, it was important she knew just how much she meant to me.The staring wheel felt slick under my palms. Eight years, that’s 2,920 rehearsing a truth that died the second it hit the back of my throat.I leaned my head against the headrest, watching the exhaust from a neighboring SUV curl towards the concrete ceiling.Flashes of last night resurfaced and I closed my eyes to shut it out. This shouldn’t be affecting me this much. I should have let the whole si