Artifice (H.S)

N I N E

Cece is hiding something.

I hated to think she was keeping any type of secrets from me. However, there are just some things I can't overlook any longer.

I will admit that once Cece arrived back from the bathrooms, the tone and atmosphere the rest of the night changed. She seemed distant. Dinner had been pleasant even if she wasn't as talkative.  I did ask her if she was okay, but as always she told me to drop it. The one thing that is always frustrating when it comes to Cece, she's never one to tell how she was feeling.

There was silence between us as we finished dinner and made our way back to the bed and breakfast. All Cece did was hold my hand that wasn't preoccupied with holding the steering wheel. At least there was some comfort between one another.  When we returned to the bed and breakfast we just decided to lay in bed and watch a movie, it was obvious Cece was in no mood for sex, which was fine, I wasn't going to pressure her to do anything she didn't want to do.

"I'm just going to bed." Cece told me as she was cuddled into my side, my arms wrapped around her.

I nodded my head in agreement. "Goodnight, Love." I whispered before kissing on the top of her head. She got out of my embrace to shut off the lamp that was on her side of her bed. She then turned to lay on her side, her back facing me.

On the journey back to London it was essentially the same. It was just silence between each other. Though she still wanted to hold my hand, so that something positive. Except I couldn't help but worry about her. Was she not feeling well? Was it something with her job? I tried not to be overbearing. I just wanted to make sure she was okay, what boyfriend wouldn't? 

She finally said something when I pulled up in front of her flat. "I would ask you to come up, but I have some work to do." I couldn't help but sigh deeply at that comment. It was always something to do with work.

"That's fine." I told her, though I was disappointed there was nothing I could do to change her mind. " I have some writing to do before I head into the studio tomorrow." I murmured.

"I don't know how free I'll be this week but I'll call you." Cece said, trying to reassure me that everything was okay. She always did that but I have been less and less convinced.

I saw her about to open the door and I thought to pass through my mind that I couldn't help but ask. "What did you say the name of the place you worked at again?" I asked, raising my eyebrow a little. I was interested because I remembered she never mentioned it to me.

That when my suspicions were heightened when I saw her hesitating. I've known her long enough to recognize when she'ss thinking of something. So I waited to see what her response would be. 

"Well, It's the Pierce Agency. If there are any articles they want me to write I go through them, but a lot of the time I do a lot of freelance on my own time." Cece explained to me. It was like clockwork.