Love Burned, She Rose Unscathed

"Wait, what?" Hans was a bit slow to catch on.

"Who sent it? When? Did you mention this to me?"

"I just happened to swing by the school today, and heard you mention in the afternoon that the flash drive was for Roseanne, so I just took it upon myself to deliver it to her." "Oh, I see... Why didn't you give me a heads up? Had me searching high and low..."

Corley Sullivan inwardly rolled his eyes, thinking it was better to ask forgiveness than permission. Better to act first and explain later.

However, he simply said, "It was a spur-of-the-moment decision, completely slipped my mind to tell you."

"As long as she got it, it's all good."

"Yeah."

Ending the call, Corley cheerfully whistled as he gripped the steering wheel, content with how things turned out.

...

In his study, Owen was trying to make sense of a set of experimental data.

But his focus was nowhere to be found.

His thoughts kept drifting back to the scene he witnessed from his balcony two hours earlier-

Corley and her, walking side by side into the alley.

He could see Corley leaning in to say something, and after listening, Roseanne first frowned, then rolled her eyes in exasperation before running off.

Corley just stood there, watching her leave, with a look of helpless indulgence, as if watching a mischievous child.

Under the streetlight, their shadows stretched long and partly overlapped, resembling an intimate couple.

the one

reality, his gaze returning to the computer screen,

did he leave

was

all he could do was start

a.m., the study light was still

sigh, his thoughts still a jumbled

he'd tackle

face, laid down, but tossing and turning,

finally fell asleep, it was anything but restful-his

blurry, as if

slender figure approached

and unbuttoned his shirt, his throat involuntarily

felt as if it was on fire, a deep thirst radiating from

and filled

found himself drawn to the

then

and neck.

skin was like a refreshing spring, quenching his thirst, compelling him

a cautious yearning, he finally pressed his lips to hers, and she let out a

That sound seemed magical,

fueling the

drawing out desires et

within him...

the woman turned her face, he

Anne...

next morning, Owen woke to find his