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Dangerous Attraction [Closed] - Printable Version

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RE: Dangerous Attraction [Closed] - megs - 05-29-2018

Julianna wasn’t particularly interested in the cash Owen was carelessly flashing. She only wanted her pastry and her hot cocoa. She was forcing herself to be rather single-minded about her food, lest she decide to do something stupid by ruminating too much on her current situation. She continued to smile as the items were handed off to her. Only taking her own and leaving Owen to manage his change and his own pastry.

Treats in hand, she almost immediately turned to move away from him, but froze half a step forward when she remembered that she was supposed to be holding his hand. Her smile faded somewhat as she gazed up at him, in a silent attempt to convey that this wasn’t funny business. “I’d like to sit,” she answered, not only to prove her point, but also because it was cold.

The waitress has said something, but Julianna had already tuned her out. Owen was looking at Her expectantly. “What?” Slowly, a rendition of the cashier’s question played in her head. “No, we haven’t,” she replied because the truth was easiest. Julianna couldn’t figure out what he seemed to be asking her with that look on his face. She shrugged her shoulders at him, before thanking he cashier and walking off. She chose well-lit table by the window and waited for him to follow as she sipped her drink.

RE: Dangerous Attraction [Closed] - saronym - 07-01-2018

Owen left a tip in the jar on the counter before joining Julianna at the table she chose. He toted his own plate with the pastry to the table. He pulled out the chair across from her and dropped into it. He picked up the pastry and immediately took a big bite. His fingers dusted over the plate after he plopped down the bitten treat. Owen nodded as he chewed. “It’s good.” He decided as he inspected the place from where he had bitten.

“So, you want to go see the lights and all that?” His face turned towards the window when he asked the question as if he didn’t want to look in her eyes when he did.

“We could stop somewhere...get you a coat.” He further suggested as his eyes tracked people that meandered past their window. “If you want.” Slowly his gaze returned to hers and then he reached for her hot cocoa to have a taste. He smiled at her a bit coyly as he tipped the drink to his mouth.

RE: Dangerous Attraction [Closed] - megs - 07-04-2018

Julianna hadn't touched her pastry, yet, when Owen reached the table. She sat straight in her chair, with her hands in her lap as she looked out the window. It was cold, but it hadn't snowed yet. The overcast sky made the setting kind of morose without the ethereal blanket of white over everything. It did nothing to help her mood.

Green eyes cast to Owen, quickly accessing him from her peripherals, before turning back to the window. She didn't answer him right away. The lift to her brow was the only indication that she was listening. Julianna sighed, leaning forward and placing her elbows on the table. She reached one hand out towards him, in case he wanted to take it, because she wasn't clear on how adamant the hand holding was. She used her other hand to feed herself pastry, even though she had lost her appetite for it.

"Shouldn't we go back to the warehouse?" When she looked to him again, he had turned to the window. As if they couldn't bear to look at each other. As if it would force them to acknowledge the situation. He looked at her finally, taking her drink as he did so, not that she had touched it again since she'd sat down. Her eyes tracked the flimsy paper cup as he brought it to his mouth. "I would like to see the lights," she said, humorlessly, looking down at the cup as he returned it to her.

RE: Dangerous Attraction [Closed] - saronym - 07-22-2018

The drink was almost too hot to taste yet but he could catch a hint of sweetness on his tongue as the liquid passed down his throat. He glanced at Julianna’s hand. It was available for taking. He let her keep her hand for the time being and set the cup down on the table. With his index finger he scooted the cup towards her free hand as if to encourage her to try it. When the cup bumped up against her fingers he stopped pushing at it but his hand reached out and he brushed the tip of his index finger along hers. He was feeling guilty for what he was doing to her. All of this fallot was the unintended consequence for his ill-thought-through political action.

There weren’t supposed to be any casualties.

“Then we’ll go see the lights.” He promised looking down at where their hands kind of mingled on the table. He wasn’t sure why he was touching her like that.

“I’m sorry about all of this.” He said in a low voice. “If I had -” he stopped and glanced around before leaning closer and lowering his voice more. “If I had known - I wouldn’t have... Please try to understand. I’ll fix all of this. I just need some more of your time.”

RE: Dangerous Attraction [Closed] - megs - 07-28-2018

Owen was silently encouraging her to take her drink back from him, but she wasn't interested. That aside, she didn't need to watch him sampling of the beverage to know it was still too hot to drink. Steam still rose in hazy curls from the lid. Using her free hand she picked up her pastry and took a bite of out it. It was warm, and flaky and buttery. Julianna realized with that first bite how hungry she was. It wasn't like he was starving her, she'd gotten a pretty good pancake breakfast that morning. She could only assume it was the stress of the situation making her want to eat.

He didn't take her hand like she expected, instead he only sort of toyed with her fingers. Much like he was doing with her life. He left his hand in the middle of the table with hers, fingers half-curled. Touching, but not intertwined, so she took it away from him even though he was agreeing to take her to the tree lighting.

Julianna frowned at him. Pulling pieces of cronut off and feeding them to herself in a steady motion as he apologized. "Stop apologizing to me," she snapped, uncharacteristically, lifting a hand to cover her mouth. She chewed and swallowed before she continued. "I don't want to hear about how sorry you are. Because you're either bullshitting me, and this is only going to get worse, or you do actually feel bad. Which makes me wonder if you have any idea what the fuck you're doing." Julianna's voice wasn't as low as his, keeping a more modulated and conversational tone. It blended in with the din of the little cafe and she didn't think anyone was bothering to pay attention to the couple in the corner, anyway. "And it's bad enough that I got myself in the stupid mess, without having to feel bad for you, too."

RE: Dangerous Attraction [Closed] - saronym - 11-13-2018

The brusque way she spoke to him made Owen straighten up some. He picked up the pastry and bit into it again as he glanced about casually just to be sure nobody was listening to them. The cafe went on as usual light music of a genre that could only be described as “holiday chill” played background to the indiscriminate chattering among the patrons. Owen let his gaze slowly return to Julianna’s face. He wore a neutral mask. He could feel it, the blank expression as if it sat on top of his face and wasn’t a part of it.

“Alright. No more apologies from me, then.” He agreed business-like. He finished off the last of his cronut and again dusted his fingers over the plate. “I’d like as little complaining from you as can be practicable given your situation.”

He pushed his chair back and it squeaked unexpectedly on the tile flooring. A couple looked towards the noise and then looked away again. Owen took the cocoa in one hand and offered the other to Julianna. “Bring that or finish it.” He said of her unfinished pastry. “We’ll be late for the lighting.” His hand remained outstretched waiting for her to take it playing the part of doting boyfriend for any who cared to watch.

RE: Dangerous Attraction [Closed] - megs - 11-18-2018

While Owen agreed to Julianna’s sudden no-apologies terms with grace and ease, she didn’t like it. She frowned down at her hot chocolate, both hands shoved between her knees because her fingers were cold and he’d chosen not to take her hand. Green eyes darted back to his face, rolling upwards as she kept her chin down. The curve of her brow made her expression dour as she listened to his return demands of their situation. “Sure thing,” she muttered, bitterly. If he was so tired of her complaining she just wouldn’t say anything at all.

Her Harvard dropout turned terrorist abductor could handle the silent treatment. If anything he would probably prefer it.

Julianna glanced at the couple that had briefly turned their attention on them. She wondered what they saw when they looked at her and Owen together. Did they just see a cute couple dropping in for a break from holiday shopping? Or could the sense the dark milieu of the situation they were truly in.

At his command she picked up the rest of the cronut with the napkin that had come with it. Leaving a trail of buttery, golden flakes as she did. She wasn’t sure she wanted it anymore. Her stomach had turned sour from their brief conversation. She took his hand and used the anchor to pull herself from the chair. He hand was warm, and felt nice on her chilling fingers. She didn’t say that, only followed near him petulantly as they moved on down the street.

Lips parted and she made a stutter of a noise that was the beginning of a question. Quickly remembering her self-imposed vow of silence she took a bite of croissant, instead of asking where they were going.

RE: Dangerous Attraction [Closed] - saronym - 09-18-2019

It was fairly transparent that she would be refusing to talk to him now. He could live with that for the moment. The last few times she’d opened her mouth it was only to remind him how shitty this whole situation, and he, was. So, he could live with the quiet. They walked hand-in-hand towards the down-town square where the tree lighting would attract quite a crowd, particularly families and couples coming to mark the beginning of the cozy Christmas season.

She made a little noise and he looked over at her while they walked. She kept her face straight ahead and thought better of saying whatever had been on her mind. He noticed a little crumb from the pastry on the side of her mouth, and bent closer to kiss it off of her.

Refusing to break the silence between them, he straightened again and pulled her along. They shortly arrived in the crowded square, where a bewilderingly large Christmas tree had already been light. A live band played the jaunty “Sleigh Ride.” There was a busy ice skating rink and food and drink vendors for hot chocolate, other snacks, and of course vendors selling tree ornaments, scarves, and other trinkets.

Owen approached a vendor selling scarves and picked out one in a deep emerald green with tassels. He paid for it and a pair of matching mittens silently with cash. He handed Julianna the mittens and wrapped the scarf around her neck. He pulled her curls out from underneath the knitted material and stood back to look at her. She looked a modicum warmer.

“There.” He said, and took her hand again for a walk around the park.

RE: Dangerous Attraction [Closed] - megs - 10-05-2019

Julianna's hand pulled from his suddenly when he bent to kiss her. It flew to the spot near her mouth that his lips had brushed and she frowned at him. She had broken the rules, however, having let go of his hand. She almost asked what he was doing, but remembered her vow. He took her hand again and kept walking. At some points, he was mostly pulling her. Julianna's tiny frame did nothing to part the sea of people and she had been trying to keep a distance from him that was the length of their arms. It would have been so easy, she realized suddenly. To just let go of his hand and disappear in the swarm of people. What could he possibly try to do with so many witnesses around?

Just do it, she thought to herself. Julianna watched the back of his head as she continued to follow behind. He didn't even seem to be paying attention to her. As she plotted her escape, a passerby rammed into her shoulder hard enough for her to complain. A surprised, but pained noise. Forgetting her desire to get away, she used her grip on his hand to pull herself closer. She clung to the back of his jacket with her free hand. The other still held his; she was half-hugging him in a way as she used him as a barrier against the crowd. She buried her face against his back. He smelled nice. Like the soap he had used when they had showered together. The memory made her blush.

She backed away from him when they stopped. He released her hand, and she moved around to his side to see what he was doing. Her face was still red when he turned to gift her with mittens and a scarf. He didn't say anything as he wrapped the scarf around her, so neither did she. Julianna just sort of pouted up at him. She pulled the mittens on, and wiggled her warmed up fingers in them. They were cute, but kinda silly. She hadn't worn mitten since she was a child. She looked up at him, almost bashful. "Thank you."