Chapter 243: Push and Pull

"Hello, ma…Sharon," his greeting came, tentative and laced with a strange hesitation.

Adrian's rich baritone caressed her name, triggering an instantaneous flood of yearning within Sharon's soul.

Sharon's own voice, when she finally spoke, was a whisper.

"Adrian." It was soft, fragile, like a porcelain doll on the verge of shattering.

There was a weighted pause before he spoke again.

"How have you been?" he asked.

His question was a formality that couldn't mask the underlying tension.

Sharon exhaled slowly, buying a moment to settle the turbulent emotions his mere voice unleashed.

"I'm…hanging in there," she replied at last with a mirthless sigh, the words heavy with a resignation that tugged at his heart.

"And Tommy?" he inquired.

"He's fine," she said, then paused, the words tumbling forth in a rush. "Adrian, I..."

The urgency in her voice sliced through him, unlike the forced composure with which he had initiated the call. He cut her off, the words spilling out before he could stop them.

"I need to see you."

Hope, a fragile light, ignited in Sharon's eyes. Her heart kick-started violently against her rib cage.

"Really? I can come over right away," she offered. She was ready to drop everything, to erase the agonizing distance with a single step.

"No, not now." His tone remained infuriatingly measured. "There's…someone I'd like you to meet. And don't worry, they aren't my friend or relative."

Sharon's shoulders slumped at the implication.

"Adrian..."

"I don't want to upset you," he said.

Upset? The word felt woefully inadequate in the face of the raw longing that gnawed at her.

She was already bordering on devastated, tears prickling at the corners of her eyes.

"You're not upsetting me," she whispered. "I just...I miss you so much. Tommy does too."

A physical ache constricted his chest at the tremor in her voice. He clenched his fists, reigning in the fierce impulse to rush to her side, to hold her close, a battle against the carefully laid plans. But he held on.

They were so close, he repeated to himself like a mantra. Soon, they would be together again, this time for good.

He released his breath, slow and measured.

"I... I miss you too," he finally said, the words devoid of the warmth that used to infuse them.

Her heart leaped traitorously at the husky admission. Desperate to bridge the chasm that had opened between them, pleaded.

"Then come to me, Adrian. Please..." She hated how utterly wrecked she sounded. "I…I can't…"

“I have to go, ma… Sharon," he interrupted "I have hmmm... a meeting. I'll see you on Saturday morning."

"Okay," she whispered. As quickly as the giddy hope had blossomed, it shriveled inside Sharon's chest. "I love you," she added, a last-ditch effort to bridge the growing distance.

There was the faintest pause before his measured reply.

"Yeah, me too," Adrian replied.

The call disconnected, leaving Sharon cradling the silent phone against her chest. Tears welled up in her eyes, spilling over in a silent torrent.

The warmth that had briefly flooded her heart with his call had vanished, replaced by a chilling sense of loss. She felt like a fragile boat adrift in a stormy sea, Adrian slipping away with each passing wave.

Sinking to the floor, she pulled her knees tightly against herself. How she craved the solace of Adrian's arms, the timber of his voice whispering reassurances meant only for her ears. More than breath itself, she desperately needed his warmth, his adoration…his love.

But that cherished intimacy continued to dangle maddeningly out of reach, an eternal game of push and pull that strained her heart to its limits. Sharon could feel him slipping through her fingers like fine grains of sand, and she was powerless to stop it.

No. This wouldn't be the end. She wouldn't let it. The thought of losing him was unbearable. Even if marrying him was another mistake without hesitation, it was a mistake she was willing to make.

Her heart, battered as it was, could no longer withstand the constant cycle of nearness and deprivation he subjected her to.

Adrian Sterling, in her shattered mind, was not the kind of man you simply let go. He was an anchor, a lifeline, and even if it meant drowning, she wouldn't let go.

Sharon loved him too ferociously, too recklessly to ever let him drift from her grasp again.

No matter what cruel games he intended to play, she vowed to herself, he would never escape her relentless hold.

***

Sharon started getting ready meticulously, embarking on her beauty ritual. She wanted to look her absolute best for seeing Adrian on Saturday.

Adrian's distance marked a self imposed neglect that screamed of his absence.

But today was different; today she would make him see what he had been missing.

When the doorbell chimed on Saturday morning, a tremor ran through her. Taking a deep, steadying breath, she opened the door.

There he stood, Adrian, and for a breathless moment, everything froze. The weight of his absence slammed into her, a potent cocktail of longing and hurt.

Had he lost weight too? The worry drew a new line on her forehead, a furrow that reflected the one creasing his brow.

She took his breath away in a fitted emerald green dress that highlighted her slim figure.

It was painfully evident she had lost a considerable amount of weight, and Adrian cursed inwardly at the undeniable impact his distance had brought.

Their eyes locked, drinking in the sight they had each ached for; a silent conversation unfolding in the space between them. A minute, an eternity, stretched before Sharon, unable to bear the weight of his gaze any longer.