“Aha!” Dean cried, making me jump. I had been staring at him a little too long—again. “Unless you have another two, Rosey, you have to pick up four cards.” He looked up, catching my stare, and smiled. I felt the familiar burn in my cheeks, so I looked down at my cards. Darn it, I didn’t have a two.
Reaching out, I grabbed four cards and placed them in my hands. I now had ten cards and Dean only had four. He was always better than me at this game, but that was probably because I spent too much time looking at him.
“I don’t want you to go,” he suddenly said. I looked up and saw how sad he looked. My stomach ached at the thought of not being near him for the next three weeks. We were all going to Tuscany again, but Dean had to stay here. My parents didn’t want Dean to come, no matter how much I begged.
“I don’t want to go, either,” I replied. I had always looked forward to our summer holiday in Tuscany, but not since I met Dean. Ian and I still went away together, as our parents got along so well, and although I still had a lovely time by the pool, I missed Dean terribly.
Placing his cards down, he reached up to place a strand of hair behind my ear. When I shivered, he smiled, and the butterflies ran through my stomach. “I’m going to miss you, Rosey,” he said, stroking a finger against my burning cheek.
Closing my eyes, there was only one thing I could say. “I’m going to miss you, too.”
*****
I didn’t sleep very well last night. Call it frustration at my lack of orgasm, call it anger that he never gave me one. All I knew was that he would come around again. I didn’t know when, but I’d be damned if I was going to let him take over like that again. He was not only a deviant. He was a sexual deviant. Sure, he gave me some amazing orgasms, but it was always at his command. I’d be damned if I was going to be suckered in like that again.
Getting myself ready, I headed into work. When I got back yesterday, I made sure everything was ready for print this morning. I was eager to see Jeremy’s letter in the paper, and I was also eager to see Jeremy. I had already made sure I had another pack of Twiglets, and the sequel to the book he was reading. I was really hoping I would be able to get leave by five today so I could go see him. I was never sure what each day would bring me, but I was going to try my best. It wasn’t because I felt sorry that he had hardly any visitors. It was because I genuinely enjoyed his company. Despite his obvious loneliness and his desire to keep everyone from getting too close to him, Jeremy was just an average teenager. He loved Top Gear and, judging from his David Tennant picture, he also loved Doctor Who. He liked going out to have fun, just like any other teenager, and he also loved girls. Judging by his reaction to me, he maybe even liked the occasional mature lady.
With a smile and a shake of my head, I was in the office by eight-thirty, a cup of coffee in tow. I looked across at Andrew Walker’s office and could see that he was in, too. He was rubbing his beard, a deep look of concentration on his face. He was obviously reading something. Maybe one of the editors gave him something to read before printing. Whatever he was doing, he looked busy and it made me think that I should be getting on with some work myself.
Sitting down at my desk, that’s exactly what I did. I was there about twenty minutes when my phone rang. I looked down to see who could be calling, and it was Andrew.
“Good morning, Mr. Walker,” I nervously said into the phone.
“Good morning, Tyler. May I see you in my office, please?”
I looked up to see him at his desk and, sure enough, he was looking right at me. “Sure. Right now?”
He chuckled a little. “Yes, please.” He hung up and that was my cue to get my arse into gear. I was a little nervous about what he wanted.
As quickly as possible, I got to his door and knocked. He looked up and smiled, gesturing for me to come in. I opened the door, closed it behind me, and timidly walked towards his desk.
“Take a seat, Tyler. Don’t worry. I’m not going to bite.”
I smiled and released a breath I hadn’t realised I was holding. I really didn’t get why I was so nervous around him. It was probably because he was my boss, and everyone was always nervous around their boss.
Taking a seat opposite him, I waited.
“I’ve been looking at your column this morning and, I must say, I’m impressed. Can you tell me whether you have had a lot of interest in this?”
I eagerly nodded. “Oh, yes. Definitely. I’m getting hoards of emails a day regarding this column. It’s amazing how many people are out there that secretly harbour feelings for people from afar. With technology these days, I think it makes it a lot harder to approach others face-to-face. We have become an age of computers and mobile phones, instead of friends and new faces.”