Maybe this time [Completed]

Chapter 5

That smile is starting to bug me, and I felt my temper rise.

He really has a knack for getting on my nerves. I don't know how he does it, but he does it so well that I think it's instinctive. He's probably not even aware that he's doing it.

I return his stare and I get transported to that day many years ago when I first noticed him changing.

We were working overtime in the newsroom, putting together a last minute news coverage for the morning broadcast. It was election season and everyone was exhausted so when he kept snapping at me, I initially chalked it up to stress.

But he'd been cranky the whole day, and when he barked at me again for not getting the video edit perfectly, I finally had it.

"Can you stop shouting at me?!? I'm dead tired too, in case you haven't noticed. I'm doing my best here, you know!"

He glared at me and I glared back, not willing to back down now that I've let my anger out.

"If you're really tired, you wouldn't have time to date around! You're not taking your job seriously enough, that's why you keep making these obvious mistakes!"

He was on full on battle mode, almost shouting every word to my face.

"And you're dragging me into it! I have to work overtime too because you can't get the job done!" He continued, walking around the room as if he was lecturing a child.

Unfortunately for him, I was an adult and perfectly capable of defending myself.

"What the hell do you mean by that?!" I shouted back. "And what does my dating have to do with our having to work overtime? I never - never slack off, and you know that"!

He suddenly stopped walking and turned to me abruptly.

"So it's true? You really are dating that reporter?"

"If you mean Ray, the newscaster in the evening broadcast, then yes it's true. But I still don't get what it has to do with my job! We don't work together and we've never dated while on the job. So what's wrong if we dated?"

He kept glaring at me, his face getting redder by the minute, before stalking off and loudly slamming the door as he left the room.

That was our biggest fight to date, and we've never been able to go back to how it used to be before the fight. Because he changed after that.

I noticed he would avoid me, he joked less, and his foreign assignments got more and more frequent until he was assigned to another team.

I realized later that he probably felt some sort of jealousy when Ray and I first started dating. That's why he was so angry.

And I could understand why. We have such a strong chemistry between us, that's also why we work so well together. We could read each other's minds, finish each other's sentences, see where the other one wants to go even without saying anything.

To him it probably meant we should have dated instead. Because he was young at that time, and hot blooded. But to me it meant we would probably end up either killing each other or driving each other crazy - or both - because we were too alike.

When things are going great for both of us, then we really feel good around each other. But when it's not, then there's hell to pay, because our weaknesses get multiplied and intensified.

So I gave him his space. I let him create the distance he needed because I knew it was the better choice for both of us.

That was 15 years ago, the last time we worked together, and I still miss being his producer until now. Because he is brilliant, and he has all those awards to prove it.

And I miss being his friend. Nobody could make me laugh like he could. Nobody could make me angry as fast as he could either.

But above it all, nobody could make me feel more alive than he does.