Big thoughts

Sarah is snuggled next to Aiden in the bed.

"How did you know?", Sarah asked.

"What?"

"That it's not just my neck...", she looked at him in the eyes.

"It's not about here...", he pointed at the neck. "Or here...", he pointed at her chest. "Or here.", he pointed at her stomach. "It's about the fact that I'm touching you."

She squinted her eyes.

"You don't believe me? Do you want to try it with someone else?" The moment these words came out of his mouth, he regretted it.

Sarah's face showed a mix of shock and disgust.

He hugged her quickly. "Wrong choice of words. Sorry..." He kissed her forehead. "I know because of myself."

Sarah was still frowning, not understanding what he wants to say.

He looked at her face and then explained, "Before you, women tried to get my attention, but it didn't work out. It's not that I was trying to push them away, but there was no reaction in me. When I met you... for the first time, I was not in control of my thoughts, and my body reacted on its own. I have an intense need to be close to you, to touch you. When we are not together, I feel like I'm losing my mind how much I'm thinking about you. When we are together, I can't keep my hands to myself... and I know that you feel the same way about me."

Sarah looked at him, with her eyes wide open. She was shocked how accurately he described how she felt. So many men approached her, but she was not able to form a single thought of romance or relationship that included them. And when Aiden showed up, no matter how much she tried to use her reasoning and keep her distance from him, she was not able to push him away. Being with him comes so naturally, that trying to push him away feels painful, like trying to remove a part of her soul.

Sarah hugged him tightly and rested her head on his shoulder while he embraced her. They slept off like that.

...

Sarah woke up in the middle of the night, hungry. She wrapped herself in a light blanket and went to the kitchen. Fridge was almost empty; they were supposed to be in Fairfield by then. Sarah was happy to find a good selection of ice cream in the freezer. She took one pint of chocolate chip ice cream, spoon, and sat on a lounging chair at the terrace next to the pool. The sky was clear, and low noise from the street was almost non-existent. It was very peaceful.

That week was like a dream, a lot of things happened, but main highlight for Sarah is how she was happy to spend time with Aiden. She met a lot of people and attending meetings in an office setting reminded her of two years ago when she spent some time helping her dad at Orion Enterprise. Sarah thought about people that stood out... 'Jeff, I don't think he gave up on Eve. But he will probably give me some time to relax and lower my guard before trying again.' Other than that, Sarah thought how Jeff is driven by profits, and as long as she does not cost him any money, she will be on his good side.

'Bridgette, silly woman who openly harasses any man she finds attractive.' Sarah let out a chuckle when she remembered how Bridgette embarrassed herself in front of Jeff. It was nice to feel support when Bridgette bashed Evalina for being sneaky. But she can't be too careless. As much as she feels that Bridgette is a good person, she needs to remember all those people who had her trust in the past and betrayed it…

Sarah's mood worsened when she remembered Evalina. If she is only after Aiden, that is one thing that Sarah can handle. But she is messing with her work also. Mistakes at work could become a big deal, Sarah can't afford to be careless. Sarah never dealt with a woman like that, so she reminded herself that she needs to think carefully before acting. Evalina needs to go out of her private life, and to stop messing with her work. 'Can I accomplish that without doing too much damage to Evalina? I don't want her to lose her job, but is there any other option?'

Tomorrow they will go back to Fairfield, and she will get to meet with Vivian. 'I wonder how is she doing? Is she over Gabriel?' It's probably not enough time for Vivian to get over him, it will be a process. Vivian didn't reach out to Sarah recently, but she is ready to be there for her friend if needed.

Projects... 'I will finish them quickly if I focus... but I want to spend time compiling data on Philip and Mimi.' Philip and Mimi are another headache-inducing topic for Sarah. She wants to expose them, and she is confident that Aiden wants her to leave things alone... but she can't. 'If he does not know about it, he will not nag.'

Sarah was startled out of her thoughts when she noticed Aiden taking a seat on a lounging chair next to her. He was wearing pajama bottoms and a dark t-shirt on top, his wet messy hair told her that he just showered. 'He probably woke up when I got out of the bed.'

"I was hungry", she explained herself.

"You can always order food." He looked at the ice cream in her hands.

"I was just a bit hungry, not enough to order."

"Really?" He leaned closer to see that she finished more than half of pint.

Sarah was spacing out and eating ice cream without noticing how much she ate. "Uhm... I was thinking over things, so didn't notice how much ice cream I ate." She was embarrassed and kept the ice cream on the ground.

He took the ice cream and observed. "Based on this, it was some serious thinking." He took a spoonful of ice cream in his mouth.

Sarah remembered that just when he came, she was thinking how she will hide things from him. 'What's up with his timing?' She cleared her throat, "Yes. It was serious. Big thoughts about the future." She noticed that she got his attention. 'Oh, I was careless and said too much.' She was never good at lying and didn't like doing it. Few times she lied in the past it was always messy, and soon she would forget her made up story and get in trouble.

Just as she feared, he asked about it. "Why don't you share those thoughts with me?"

She cleared her throat few times. "I just started thinking about it. It's not ready to be shared yet. When I figure it out, I will tell you... You must be hungry, right? Order some food for both of us, anything is fine. I will go and shower now." She stood up and quickly went toward the bedroom.

Aiden was looking after her. He could tell that she is hiding something, but he will not press the matter. 'She will tell me when she is ready.' He stood up and went to get his phone to order food.

When Sarah closed bathroom door, she sighed in relief, 'Messy, but effective... I hope.' She started the shower.