Jealousy? (2)

Sarah reached the elevator and impatiently pushed button for going down, as if elevator will move faster the more she pushes the button.

She was hoping that Aiden is not following behind her. She was angry, sad, helpless, and she does not know how to handle this hurricane of emotions that landed on her. If she faced him now, she is afraid that her tears would come out.

When she got in the elevator, and the door closed, she felt some relief... relief that she is leaving this place. Place where Aiden and Evalina are. In her mind she could still see Evalina provocatively leaning on Aiden's desk. Sarah's mind was going blank... she darted out of the elevator and started running to the apartment. High heels were bothering her, so she removed her shoes and ran barefoot with shoes in her hands. She ran as fast as she could. Her bare feet on the sidewalk ached as she ran and stepped on small pebbles, but that was nothing compared to the pain which was ripping her chest apart. She hoped that she can run fast enough to leave it behind.

She reached the building, and only then she realized that she left her bag with all of her things in her office. Sarah went to the reception, and they gave her a spare card key so that she can reach her apartment. She plopped on the bed and felt that anger was replaced with a feeling of being helpless. 'Are they together now? Is he showing her something while she provocatively leans on his desk?' Tears started falling down her cheeks. Sarah found the feeling unbearable. She rubbed her eyes, got off the bed, changed to workout clothes and went to the gym.

Sarah was on a treadmill, starting with 4mph, and increasing... 5mph, 6mph, 7mph, 8mph... She was increasing the speed and running with hope that when she runs out of energy the suffocating feeling will disappear as well. But it seemed that raging feelings inside her fueled her energy to run as well... or maybe just made her body feel numb so that she didn't feel physical strain her muscles were going through. Her heart ached too much for her to acknowledge that her legs and lungs are struggling to keep up.

Without realizing, her vision started getting blurry. In the last moment she pressed 'stop' on the treadmill and machine stopped abruptly. Sarah held on to the side handles, but still fell on her knees, gasping for air.

A young man stepped in to offer his help, but Sarah didn't acknowledge his presence. She stood up and went back to her apartment.

When elevator door opened, she saw Aiden anxiously rushing toward her. "Where have you been? You left your phone behind... I didn't know how to reach you." He extended his arms to embrace her, but Sarah pushed him away, went to the bathroom and locked the door behind her. She started the shower... she wanted to get in a cold shower with a hope that will numb the feelings that are burning inside her because running didn't help. It didn't help at all.

Sarah heard Aiden knocking on the door. "Sarah, can we talk?"

"I don't want to talk. Not now." She responded. Only then she realized that she is crying.

"I will wait." Sarah thought she heard him say.

Sarah took a long cold shower, but it didn't help. She realized that she can't hide in the bathroom forever, so she got out of shower, wrapped one towel around herself and got out.

Aiden was sitting on the bed with his head down. When he heard the door opening, he looked up at Sarah.

She was exhausted and didn't have any energy to go and dress up. She sat on the bed next to him, staring at the floor.

Aiden knows that Evalina is interested in him for a long time, but he never gave her any hope. Other than work related, he didn't have any other interaction with her. Aiden could guess that Sarah is upset because of Evalina, but he needed to confirm. He lifted her chin with his hand so that she looks at him. "Is this about Evalina?" He saw that her eyes are red. 'She was crying?' His heart ached.

Sarah looked at him, and saw a concerned face, his eyes full of pain. She nodded.

Aiden remembered that Sarah asked if he noticed how Evalina is looking at him. "Why would I care how she is looking at me? I'm not interested."

"But she is interested. And your behavior is giving her hope to continue." Sarah's voice was weak.

"You don't really think that there is something between me and her?"

"I don't. But that does not mean... that I'm not hurt when I see her acting like that with you." Sarah thought how this conversation sounds familiar. True. It is very similar to the one she had with Aiden related to Hugo. Just the roles are reversed. 'Is this how he felt when he saw Hugo holding my hands in the hallway?'

Aiden hugged Sarah. "I'm sorry. I will make sure to keep her at a distance. Not only her, any other woman..." He moved to look Sarah in the eyes. "You need to understand that for me there is no one else but you. From the moment we met, you bewitched me, and I don't see anyone else other than you." He held her face gently with his hands. "Sarah Hill, I don't want us ever to be apart... because I love you. My only fear, is that one day you will realize that I'm not good enough for you, and you will leave me."

She looked him in the eyes, and fought with difficulty to keep tears from falling. His every word tugged her heart. She kissed him, and he desperately kissed her back. They held each other and kissed for a long time.

"Silly..." Sarah kissed Aiden on the forehead. "I will not leave you..." She kissed him on the cheek. "...because my life does not make sense without you in it." And one more kiss landed on his lips.