Fractured Crystal: Sapphires and Submission by M. J. Lawless

Author:M. J. Lawless
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Black Orion Press
Published: 2012-07-19T21:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

On her way home, Kris popped into a chemist. Despite her embarrassment as she asked for some cream, she could not resist a sly grin. Daniel Logan may well indeed turn out to be a misanthropic bastard, but she had to admit that part of her was metaphorically punching the air that she hadn’t been so well and truly shagged since she had been a teenager. Actually, ever.

The mundane tasks she had set herself at home, however, could not entirely help her escape the sense of dread she had about returning to work. She unpacked the rest of her clothes, and for a moment held the pad she had used to sketch while at Comrie. Staring at the rough, dark cover, her fingers hovered over it for a moment but left it closed. One day she would return to it, but not yet.

Catching the tube to work the next morning, Kris’s stomach sank within her. Whatever benefits she had gained from her time away were quickly dissipating. If it had ended as some kind of romantic idyll, with some sort of declaration of their feelings for each other before, Brief Encounters style, they had to part forever, perhaps she would have been able to cope with it better. As it was, Kris felt that she had exposed herself completely and utterly to a man who was incapable of reciprocating, who had used her than abandoned her. A one night stand would have been less frustrating even.

And yet, while she thought of him on that final night, holding her down on the bed while he took her forcefully, Kris’s legs trembled and she almost stumbled as she held herself up on the shaking Northern Line. The man next to her, a nondescript, middle-aged city worker dressed in a cheap suit, apologised briefly, thinking that he had knocked her, and as she looked up and he caught her glance he smiled. She blushed and averted her eyes: could he see into her mind, to the images of her being filled in the most intimate and compelling way? Her skin prickled, and her old censor kicked in to preserve her from any further embarrassment.

By the time she arrived at her workplace, a faceless, stumpy tower block on Farringdon Road, her self-preservation was in full force. The most impressive thing about the company she worked for was its name, Hardy, Briskin and Sorrell, and even the sight of that made her want to be sick these days. Taking the elevator to the fourth floor, she stepped out into the clean, modern fake chic corridors, and said hello to Janice, the receptionist who was professionally pleasant to everyone who made their way into the building, whether visitors or staff.

“Did you enjoy your holiday?” Janice asked, smiling up at her courteously. The receptionist was in her mid-forties and a pleasant, slightly dumpy looking woman, who covered her plainness with rather thick makeup Kris bitchily observed to herself.

“Yes, thank you,” Kris replied, offering the minimum amount

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