Moving on

chapter 4

After finishing her meeting with another client, Laura decided to go to her house and rest instead of going to her office. she took a long shower reminiscing morning's event. The way he held her and how his eyes darkened when she looked at him. Maybe he wanted her too, she was sure that she liked him, but her mind was telling her to stay away from him.

She spent two years building walls around her and no one could get past them, but Colton did, she just knew the man two days ago and she fell to his charm. She decided to minimize the frequency of meeting him, even if it's hard, she already like him .but sooner the better she thought.

The next days went fast. Colton called her the next morning and informed her that he will be in a business trip , so it was easy for her to avoid him , she was sending him documents of her designs and he was replying to her whether he like it, or if it needed some changes.

Laura was sitting on her desk engrossed in her work, so she didn't notice Colton standing at her door watching her. She looked so cute while working he thought. He missed her. He thought that by travelling and keeping his distance from her, he will end up forgetting about her, but it only made him miss her and think about her more .he knocked on her door which startled her

"I didn't mean to scare you" he said with a smile, for Laura he was a sight to hold, she couldn't keep her eyes away from him.

"Welcome back Mr. Hensley" she rose from her seat ad shook his hand

"Please call me Colton" he sat on the chair in front of her. During his business trip, he decided that as soon as he landed in California he will address her about his feelings

"I came right from the airport Laura. I have something to tell you" he seemed tired, dark circles around his eyes, his hair was disheveled which mean that he ran his hand through it several times. Mustering all his courage, Colton looked straight into Laura's eyes

"I like you" he admitted. Laura was frozen on her spot, she didn't know what to say or what to do. She started fidgeting in her seat, it's was a thing she does whenever she got nervous.

"I...I don't know what to say" she said looking down. Her heart and mind were conflicting. She wanted him, but at the same time she couldn't bear another betrayal.

"I know that we just met each other, and it must be a shock for you, me admitting my feelings towards you like this, but let's take slow steps, and we can figure out if we're meant to each other or not" he was holding her hand and was drawing circles on them, she suddenly felt hot, she tried to withdraw her hands from his, but he held them still.

"Answer me Laura "he whispered to her, he was so close to her, and she could feel his breath against her face. She wasn't able to talk so she just shook her head.

"I—I can't, I'm sorry, I can't" she stepped away from him. She wasn't ready yet. She couldn't trust any man yet, she thought that she was over her ex-husband betrayal, but eventually she didn't. And it was keeping her from dating again.

Colton kept his head low, so she wasn't able to discern his features. She knew deep inside that Colton was not like nick, even if it hasn't been too much time that she knew him, her instinct was telling her that he's a good man.

Colton knew that Laura wanted him as much as he wanted her, but something was keeping her from admitting it. And he will give her time. He never felt this kind of attraction towards anyone before, so he wasn't going to give up on her.

"Okay I understand" his reply was curt and she noticed that his jaw was tense, and from the look of his face he was definitely angry. Her shoulders dropped in defeat so this was it. He's going to give up on you. You will stay forever alone she thought. "I understand that you need more time" she looked at him perplexed. He walked slowly towards her while talking

"Something bad happened to you, and you're unwilling to move forward .you built these walls around your heart, and you won't let anyone get past them. But I'm here to break those walls apart. I won't let you go" by this time he was gripping her shoulders, and was looking at her so intensely as if he was trying to convey to her how serious and determined he was about her . She was speechless at how easily he could read her mind. She didn't even have to speak so he could understand what was going in her mind.

On the other hand Laura wasn't able neither to move nor to speak. She stayed quiet looking at her fingers. Sensing that she needed a moment alone, he decided to leave

"I will leave you now" he left her office without a backwards glance.

Laura slouched on the sofa and took a deep breath trying to calm her erratic heartbeat. You need to trust him she mumbled to herself, but she didn't know how. Collecting herself, she went towards her desk and drowns herself in work in order to forget about him.

In the evening, Laura's mother called her and asked her about her news, she informed her that Nick has been visiting them and trying to get her back again. Laura stifled the urge to scream, she wanted to move on, but her parents keep reminding her about him.

"Mum not this again" Laura sighed "I'm tired of this. Every time you call me, you bring nick to the conversation. It's over between us, please understand this, I'm not going back to him" she said through gritted teeth, she didn't want to yell at her mother, but she was losing her patience

"Sweetheart, take a break from work and come visit us, we can try to figure out a way for you to get back together. You suit each other, everyone saw you as a beautiful couple, and you know that since your divorce, people keep talking about it. You need to get back together. It's beneficial for everyone"

"So all what you care about is you status in front of people, their opinion and how to please them, but not you daughter." she asked incredulously.

"Honey you know that I care about you, it's just---"

"Bye mom" Laura didn't let her finish her sentence and hung up.

Laura felt the tears threatening to fall, her head was hurting and all she wanted to do was to curl on her bed and cry until she fell asleep. Laura had never had a good relationship with her parents. Always leaving her for work and events, she grew with nannies. Each one of them tried to fill her parent's place, but never succeeded except Susann.

Susann was the one that stick with her and raised her to a fine woman. She was the only one who supported her when she was going through divorce, always cheering her up. She didn't miss throwing some profanities at her ex-husband when she learned about his cheating. Susann never liked nick, she always felt a bad aura when he was around.

The only thing that she missed back home was her. They both cried for hours when she was packing her clothes, she tried to convince her to stay and not leave to another city, but Laura had already made up her mind, she promised her that she will visit her from time to time, but she never did, she was too afraid of going back to Florida.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter. If you have any remarks or questions, please feel free to share them.