It's Cold Without You (Fluffy & Tink)

[Fluffy]

View attachment 251635A heavy, tired sigh spilled from his lips once he got the car going. Today felt like a long day. Most days did. Isaiah was beginning to wonder if he should take a vacation, or maybe one of those 'staycations' where you just stayed home to enjoy yourself. Could he afford to take a break, though? What if the office had a fiasco without him there? Isaiah was over-worried about the possible things that could go wrong in his absence. Even though, in all likelihood, everything would turn out just fine. He needed to trust in his people more. They could handle a week without him.

Isaiah put that idea in the back of his mind for later. He'd have to check his schedule and plan ahead if he were to take some time off. Perhaps that was something Katie could help him organize. He wasn't about to bring it up right now, though. He'd rather avoid chitchat about work outside of work hours.

To be honest, he would have been fine with it if they went the whole car trip without speaking. They could always look for things to talk about when they sat down to dinner. For now, he was enjoying the peace between them. It was, however, short-lived as Katie spoke up about the kiss they shared earlier...

Well. Sooner or later that was going to come up. He just wished it would have come up at a later time. He didn't want this awkwardness following them into the charity dinner.

"It was a good kiss though, wasn't it?" he pointed out with a chuckle. "I don't know, something about it just felt so...right."

Coming to a red light, he took a second to look at Katie, offering an expression of sympathy. "You're right, though. I did change our dynamic," he admitted, then he returned his sights to the road. "Change can be scary, but change can be good, too." By that, he meant that she should give them a chance as a couple. Isaiah wanted Katie and he had made that clear in the way he kissed her. "I'll understand though if you'd rather not see me again after this," he added, wanting to be considerate of her feelings. He could help her find a new job or whatever she needed in order to be successful without him.

 

[Queen Tink]

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Playing a part was something Katie could definitely do, even if her mind was going a million different directions and she felt like a mess. This whole charity dinner felt like a big mistake, honestly. At the same time, being near Isaiah now was.... complicated. Katie had no idea how to deal with their kiss, didn't know what to even say to him anymore. One second they had been close, sort of friends, the next he was kissing her and changing how Katie saw her boss. This situation he had put them in was so complex.

Katie scoffed as she finally heard Isaiah. For a while there, she had figured he wasn't going to bother to respond. Of course he would bring up the obvious fact that it was indeed a good kiss. As if Katie hadn't known that, as if that wasn't the part that made everything more complicated for her. She wanted desperately to kiss him again, it was basically the only thought in her mind the entire time she was around him now. The thought of kissing Isaiah again felt all consuming, but she couldn't act on it. Things had to go back to normal between them, rather than run the risk of ruining everything simply because Katie had fucking feelings for Isaiah. Feelings she hated to admit to, no less.

"You are..." Katie started, finally looking over at him as she tried to find the right words to convey her point. Focus, Katie. She had to remind herself of that a lot more often now when she was around Isaiah, not that she could admit that out loud. He was wrecking her emotionally, and she didn't even want to finish her statement, so she fell silent again. Katie diverted her gaze back out the window as she thought about things, trying not to talk to Isaiah. Before, she had no problem talking to him, and now, she couldn't figure out how to talk to him about anything at all. This was not a sustainable way to live, but damn, Katie couldn't focus on anything but the idea of kissing him again.

"You are... infuriating." Katie finally managed, looking at him while they were stopped at the red light. "You know, I never really thought about you." Katie said, staring at Isaiah. "Sorry, there's a point here, I swear." Katie explained softly. "Work was easier when I didn't... care. And I know that sounds bad, but it's true. Your life, your choices, they didn't matter. I just had to do whatever you needed. It wasn't complicated or... confusing." Katie said softly. "Now, what, you want me to just forget everything I already know about you and pretend that you can be serious about literally any woman because it's me?" She felt bad, but it had to be said. "That right there is a fucking fantasy, and I'm not stupid enough to pretend that there could be something real between us." In the moment, Katie was saying things she felt had to be said in spite of everything.

"You think what, I enjoy the fact that all I want to do is kiss you? It's all I can think about when I'm near you now. It is one of the worst feelings because I know myself." Katie finally said softly. "If I give in to you, I know I'm going to fall in love with you. And when I'm inevitably right about the fact that you don't actually want something serious, then not only will I have wasted my time on you, I won't be able to be around you. I'll just be another one of those hopeless girls who fell for you." Katie explained softly. "It's already really hard to be around you seeing as all I actually want to do is kiss you. But that feeling can fade. It'll fade if we don't... act on it. If I fall in love with you, that's going to take a lot longer to fade, and what? I'm supposed to go back to working for you as if I don't love you? Heartbreak will make this whole situation so much worse." Katie explained softly.

"I didn't expect to feel this way about you. I didn't plan on having feelings for you. I didn't fucking plan on being some stupid girl who desperately wants you to kiss her. And yet, you put me in this position."