Chapter 19

The dark clouds were covering the city like a blanket. The rain kept pouring and so did my tears. I wiped them away with my jacket sleeve. I didn't know if it was the rain or my tears that were still wetting my cheeks.
I looked to the entrance of the hospital to see if anyone was coming after me, but there was no one there.
Didn't my dad care at all that my mother hurt me again? All I wanted for her was to get better. I just wanted what was best for her. What was so wrong about that?
My hair was plastered to my face and the cutting wind made me shiver. Endless seconds I stared in front of me. Gazing in to the dark cold night that was getting closer by the minute. Feeling cold and loney like a stray cat without any shelter.

Now more than anything I longed to Max and I wanted his arms wrapped around me tightly. Feeling his chest rise up and down softly while stroking my hair until I would fall asleep. I took my phone out and stared at his number for a few minutes, contemplating wether I would call him or not.
Thinking about the lipstick smear and him visiting Claire made me change my mind and I put my phone back into my jacket pocket while strolling to my car.

Like a robot I entered my home and walked up to my bedroom. I exchanged my wet clothes for my PJ's. I pulled back my sheets and crawled into my bed. I curled myself into a little ball ,just lying there, watching the rain drops shatter on my window.
Negative thoughts took a comfort seat in my mind and dark feelings were catching up to me again. My mind was playing tricks on me and even though I knew it, I allowed these thoughts to hurt me.

"Mom doesn't love me. She never wanted me. Max doesn't want me. He wants Claire. She is way prettier than me. She comes from a better family. He's just playing games with me."
I thought about the lipstick stain which made me even more upset.

I started to cry uncontrollably until I was at the point I was too tired to cry and finally fell asleep.

Feeling like a total zombie I put on the coffee machine at work and followed my routine as I do every morning. I don't know how I got through that day, but I did.
With all my heart I wanted to go visit my mother but I knew it would only upset me. She would still be mad and there would be no way to communicate normally with her.
I wasn't feeling like going home yet either so I just walked around town for a while.

The trees were shaking of their leaves, while the wind was letting them fly a little bit before they would land on the cold concrete. The leaves were covering the town's roads with their yellow,brownish and red colors. Letting us know that winter was now nearby. The trees that were already bald, were looking sad amongst the ones that still had their leaves with them. It made my heart sad that this was a sign for the days getting shorter and the nights getting longer. This was my least favorite season.
Although I loved to capture the beautiful colors that fall had to offer, I hated the darkness it brought along. It would only reinforce my already depressed nature.
I watched the clouds packing together, depriving the sun, letting her know that it was their time to shine. Thick raindrops were coming down, telling me that it was time to either go home or find shelter somewhere.
My stomach was growling a bit so I decided to get some food. I walked back to the city centre and looked for a nice quiet place to sit down.
"Mira?"
I turned around.
"Max?"
He adjusted his long black coat which matched perfectly with his grey suit.
Okay, so this is awkward.
He stepped a little closer and caressed my cheek with his hand, his blue eyes penetrating mine. The wind was playing with my hair, making it dance around.
The smell of his cologne made my knees weaken and my heartbeat was rising with every second he looked at me.
Softly he put a lose strand of hair behind my ear, still not taking his eyes off me. He bended his head closer to mine.
"I miss you", his deep voice whispered.
I closed my eyes and heaved a deep sigh.
"I miss you too", I whispered back.
His hands cupped my face and his forehead touched mine.
"Come home with me", he said.
He closed his eyes and placed a soft kiss on my forehead.
I stayed silent, ignoring what he said.
Closing my eyes I just stood there, his hands still cupping my face.
As we were so caught up with each other, we didn't even notice the rain that came down heavily.
It felt like there was no one else in this world but us.

"Max, I.."
Before I could finish my scentence he had placed his lips on mine. With one hand I grabbed the back of his neck, the other was placed on his chest, so I could feel his heartbeat rising as our kiss got more intense.
There we stood, kissing like nothing else in this world mattered. We didn't care for the rain to soak us, we didn't mind the wind making us shiver and we weren't disturbed by the darkness that already made it's entrance.
All that mattered were our lips touching, our tongues playing, leaving our hearts confused with our unexpected action.
No longer I felt the need to think about what he did with Claire. With the way he was kissing and holding me, there was no way I could believe that they were in anyway involved anymore.
"Baby, let me take you to my place", he said. "You're shivering."
As he mentioned it, I noticed that I my whole body was shaking.
"My car is over there", he pointed across the street.
I searched for his hand and our fingers entwined as we stepped up our pace to get to the car.
He opened up the door for me and I quickly got in.
As he sat down he bend towards me, cupped my face and smashed his lips on mine. As he pulled back he just smiled and started the car.

This man really was something.

"Come, let's warm you up", he said as we got inside.
He put some wood into the fireplace and lit it up.
I was still shivering from the cold rain.
"Here", he said as he handed me a blanket.
"Thank you", I said.
"Do you want to order something?", he asked.
"That's fine", I said.
"What do you want? Chinese or something?"
"Yeah sure."
He ordered our food and came sitting down next to me.
"How are things with your mother?", he asked.
I shrugged as I stared at the flames.
"Haven't you seen her today?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"I'm not really feeling like talking about it", I said.
He put his arms around me and kissed me.
"It's okay baby. Just know that you can always tell me anything", he said.
"I know. You're sweet", I said with a small smile.
I put my head on his chest and just watched the fireplace.
"Max?"
"Yes baby."
"You and Claire..Did you guys..."
"Did we..?"
I stayed silent to carefully pick my words. Somehow I just needed to know.
"Did you kiss her when you went to see her?"
I turned my head a bit to face him.
"No, I didn't. Don't worry about her, I don't want her anymore. I told you", he said.
"But I saw-"
"I know you saw that lipstick smear."
"Yeah, I did."
"That's why I wanted to have lunch with you yesterday. To explain that nothing happened", he told me.
"Then how came that lipstick was on your collar?", I asked.
"To make a boring story not so boring, she was in tears as I got there. First we just hugged but then she tried to kiss me and I wanted to avoid her. I think that's how it got there", he explained.
I turned my gaze to the fireplace again, thinking about what he just told me.
The doorbell rang and he got up to answer the door.
"Food's here", he said holding up the bag.
"Good, I'm starving", I said rubbing my stomach.
"You know, I just really like spending time with you", I said.
He smiled at me and said; "Well, I'm glad you do."
"I don't want to be the jealous type. It's just...", I sighed.
"What?"
"You guys are ex's and I don't know.."
"Honey, don't worry. She was just a stupid mistake I made after I divorced my wife", he said.
"So you didn't really love her?", I asked curious.
He finished chewing; "I cheated on my wife with her."
I formed a silent 'o' with my lips.
"Yeah, I bet she didn't tell you that."
He stuffed his mouth with food again and waited for my response.
"Um, no actually she left that part out."
"Things between me and my wife weren't right for a while. She wanted to start a family but I wasn't ready yet. I had just started my own business and I wanted it to succeed. If we would have kids I couldn't devide my time right", he said. "So, we argued a lot about that. Plus I was gone a lot, I worked very hard to get my company to were it is now."
"And she wasn't happy with that", I filled in.
"No she wasn't. We came to a point that when I was home, all we did was argue. One night when I went out, because I was sick of all the shit that was going on in my marriage, I met Claire. I had one to many drinks and we ended up in a hotelroom."
I was a little bit surprised with how open he was. He'd never told me this much about his past.
"So I started having an affaire with her. Eventually my wife found out and that's how we got a divorce", he said.
"Wow, that's actually kinda sad."
"I know. I regret it now."
"Well, I understand. I mean I don't know if I would ever cheat, but I do get why people get involved in things like that", I said.
"You do?", he said raising his eyebrows.
"Yes, I do."
"Aren't you afraid I'm going to do the same with you?", he asked.
I shrugged; "What's the use of being afraid of things you can't control anyway?"
"True."
"Besides, we are not even in a real relationship", I said eyeing him.
"So what would you call this?", he said and kissed me.
"Hmmm, I'm not sure. Can you do that again?", I said with my eyes still closed.
He kissed me again and when we pulled back we laughed.
"I would call this a good kiss."
He laughed. I loved it when he laughed. He looked so cute.
"I think we should just focus on having a good time with each other", I said.
He stayed silent and I wasn't sure if he was agreeing with me on this one.
"Let's just see where this is getting us. I just like spending time with you", I said.
"Things with you are so different, Mira", he said stroking my hair.
His eyes were looking deeply into mine, I got shy and looked away.
"Everytime I see you my heartbeat rises, I lose all of my senses when your eyes are locking with mine", his deep voice spoke.
He was only making me more shy with every word that passed his lips.
"And you're smile is the prettiest I've ever seen, you know that?", he whispered.
"Max, stop it."
"I never felt this way before, with anyone", he said. "Not with my wife and definitely not with Claire."
"Max, I think I should go now", I said trying to get up.
He got up to and grabbed my arm.
"Mira, what is it? Was it something I said?", he asked worried.
"No, it's just that it's getting late and we both have work again tomorrow", I said.
"Are you sure?", he asked.
"Yes I'm sure."
"Okay, I'll will take you home", he said.
I kissed him to show him nothing was going on. Or maybe to make him think that everything was fine. I don't know who I was lying to; him or myself.

A/N: Thanks for reading this story. I'm trying to update a little more frequently, but I can't make any promisses. Thank you everyone for getting this story to 5.7K reads and 300 votes!! 

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