Driven by lust [18+ ONLY]

Rosie & Mike

It was well past midnight when Rosie closed her computer and stretched her limbs out. The article her boss required her to write was still half done but she couldn't keep her eyes open anymore.
After waking up at five o'clock in the morning, then heading for a quick run before she needed to head to work, she had a long day behind her.

She turned her head, to watch Buddy sleep on the sofa behind her. Even her dog didn't want to lose any hours for a good night rest.

But here she was, sitting behind her desk, a half finished cup of camomile tea staring back at her. When she turned the table light off and stood up, Buddy barked.

"Yeah, Buddy, I know. Pushing myself on a limit here."

She sat down beside her dog and scratched his head.
She really needed to go to sleep. The work trip next morning would mean she needed to get some good rest before heading to the train station.
After a long steamy shower and changing to a sleeping shirt, she curled up in her bed.

The empty space beside her was cold, had been for the last six months. Alexander was still deployed in Iraq, fighting battles he didn't want to. Rosie pulled the pillow from his side and clenched it against her chest.

She missed him, miserably.

His smell, the way he hugged her while falling asleep. She missed waking up to the smell of fresh coffee on her nightstand.

Rosie closed her eyes, creating the same mental picture in front of her eyes, as she did every night. Alexander would be laying down beside her, his thumb rubbing at her cheeks and placing soft kisses on her lips. She missed all the little details about him and the times they were together.

When the alarm went off that morning, Rosie got out of bed later than usual. Her mother would be picking up Buddy to have him stay with her until she'd be done in Boston with the conference.
The offer to speak on the biggest journalism conference in the States came as surprise to her. Applied by her boss, the morning she found out about it, lead to a sequence of events.

She wouldn't be going up on the stage alone. The arrogant and well-respected photographer Mike Zelinski was going to be there supporting her.

"Put together a plan."

Her boss had told her. But by a 'plan', what Jessica Holster, Rosie's boss meant by, was the fact that she had to get in touch with him by email. By now, she hadn't met the man. And she wasn't feeling very keen to see him.

Rumors from other journalists said Mike Zelinki never knew how to work in a group. The man did as he pleased, threw a fuzz when he didn't like anything. It was like dealing with a teenager.
But Rosie didn't have a way out of it and as Mike's replies to her emails suggested, neither did he find their collaboration pleasant.

After a quick run with Buddy, she run a hot shower and leaned against the cold glass wall in the stall. Her hands pressed against it, head bowed to let the steaming hot water caress her skin. It was going to be a long day for her and by standing just under the stream of water, it was a moment of peace. A moment to prepare what was coming next.
If she'd knew what would happen that day, Rosie would have never stepped on the train that morning.

~*~
"When are you coming back?"

Rosie's mother asked her, hooking the leash on Buddy.

"Tomorrow morning. I'll try to catch the first train back."

Rosie pulled the zipper on her suitcase closed and looked around in her bedroom for the last time. She always was afraid of forgetting something she needed.

"You could always stay a little longer! Take a short vacation or something." Her mother suggested.

"I wish I could but I have a ton of work. And then there's Buddy. I don't think you want to have him longer than needed."

"Are you kidding me, dear? I love this bundle of joy. Keeps me active."
Both of them laughed. Rosie waltzed out to the living room, with the suitcase in tow.

"Shall we?" She opened the front door and cast one last look on her apartment.

"We shall. Cmon Buddy, let's hit the road."

After a dreadful 30 minute taxi ride later, Rosie stepped into the Union Station with her ticket in hand. She thanked God for pre-sale option because the lines at the ticket sale were too long.
She headed straight on the platform. Rosie didn't know if Mike was already there but she actually hoped he would. Their speech had been conducted the way for them both and going solo wasn't an option anymore.

When she pushed through the crowd and found the right platform, she dug out her phone to see if he'd sent her an email. There weren't new messages from him and she impatiently waited for his arrival.

"God deem women, always with the chitchat!" She heard a man mumble behind her.

She turned to watch the man who had raised his voice over the station while having a phone call.

"Do you understand me? I won't be here on Friday. I have a thing."

He took the phone away from his ear and yelled at it directly. A camera bag hung over his shoulder, a black leather jacket tight around his torso.
It was him - Mike Zelinski. And as the world would know him - the famous bachelor who never had the intention to settle down. As that Rosie had heard mentioned lots of times by other people working at her paper.
When Mike caught Rosie staring at him, she shifted her gaze to the scenery far from the station. People walked by her, not paying any attention to the heated argument Mike was having. It was just her, ears dropping to his conversation.

"I have to go. Need to catch the train."

He hung up and closed the distance from her.

"Sorry about that. Women tend to get too clingy sometimes." He said, voice so deep, making her inside clench. "You are Rosie, right?"

"Yes." She replied curtly, extending her hand to shake his.

"Mike. Pleasure to meet you."

She wished she could have said 'likewise' but it didn't feel like it.
The train came right on time and people started boarding. Rosie dragged her suitcase to the steps and was ready to load it when someone's hand gripped it instead.

"Let me help you with that," Mike said and she moved out of his way. "It's quite heavy. What you have in here? Books?"

"In the matter of fact- yes. I have some work to do, so I'm taking all the materials for my research."

Dragging their luggage to the cabin and setting it on the retainer, both of them settled on their seats. Mike took out his camera and Rosie checked the time on her phone. It was two minutes before the train would leave the station.

"These conferences are so boring. Thank God, we are there to introduce the topic of speech freedom and not sitting there in the crowd, sweating."

He turned on the camera and shot a couple of photographs of Rosie.
"What are you doing?" She asked, curious.

"The lighting is dim but beautiful. Let me show you." He said and moved to sit beside her.

"Your face is gorgeously lit. Look at the angel, the shadow behind you."

He scrolled through the film, showing her the pictures. She looked amazing, not showing off or posing for the picture. He had caught her off guard without a smile and the shots he took could easily be the next cover photos for some magazine.

"They look amazing," Rosie gave him a quick look and then continued to look more closer at the photos.

"I've said it countless times. People don't need to pose for photos to look beautiful. I capture them in a natural way, showing how beauty is always there."
He scooted further from her and raised the camera.

"Don't pose for me. Just look straight into the lense." He said.

As soon as Rosie's eyes were set on him, he clicked off a couple of shots. When he expected them a second later, sweet smile covered his lips.

"See," he turned the camera her way,"no smile, no pose but still beautiful as fuck."