Donnie leaned over in bed to switch off his alarm, having forgotten to deactivate it the previous night. No way was he getting up at six o'clock. He'd snooze a little while longer and then have a quick shower and get ready. Beside him, Chloe made a sound, something between a sigh and a snore, and he reached his arm around her, pulling her closer. Sleep quickly overtook him for the next hour.

"Donnie." He felt a soft hand on his cheek. "Hey wake up, I've gotta get going."

He turned over, groaning. "Chloe, it's still early."

"No, it's not." Her sharp voice got his attention. "I knew I should have gone home last night. You are such a bad influence."

"I'm pretty sure it was your idea to stay the night," he said sitting up and grabbing his phone. Eight-thirty, he was already behind schedule. "You'd better get going." She turned to him pouting and he knew he'd been too direct. "I just meant you're already late, and I'm gonna be late as well."

"I guess I could make my hours up." She turned around smiling. "So if you want a lazy start to the day?"

He swung his legs out of bed. "I don't have that kind of flexibility. If I don't work, I don't get paid."

"Okay, I get it," she said standing up, her voice petulant. She walked around the bedroom grabbing her clothes, and hastily getting dressed. "I'll get out of here, you obviously can't wait for me to leave."

"No, it's not that." He paused, momentarily lost for words. "I like you but I've gotta get to work, I can't afford to not work. If you've somehow gotten the impression I'm some sorta rich guy-"

"Don't be stupid." She waved her hand. "I know you're not a Bill Gates or Zuckerberg, or even a Donald Trump."

He couldn't help smiling. "I'm not entirely sure I'd want to be any of those people. I might like their bank balances, maybe. I'm sorry for being so abrupt but I do have to get to work."

"Yeah, me too. I've not really been there long enough to start keeping my own hours." She pulled her dress over her head. "Do you mind if I use your bathroom, I've gotta put my face on?"

"Be my guest," he said feeling bad that he was prioritising his work over hers. She left the room and he looked at his phone, thinking he might as well catch up on any messages he'd missed. He saw Joe had called and left a voicemail but he'd deal with it later, it was likely to be nothing more than self-pitying whining about Shannon. He scrolled through the rest of his missed calls but nothing seemed urgent, however, there was a missed call from Annalise. She'd left no message, and there was no follow up text, but he couldn't help hoping it was significant. Without thinking he quickly returned the call.

Ring, ring. He tapped his fingers thinking she wasn't going to answer.

"Hello, Donald."

"Donald? Are you kidding me?" he said laughing.

"It's your name, is it not?"

"Yeah, it is." He couldn't tell if she was joking or not so it was best to play it safe. "How are you?"

"I'm good." The clipped tone gave nothing away. "And you?"

"Yeah, great." He had a fit girl in his bed, he could hardly complain but he knew that was not the conversation to have with her. "I miss you."

Annalise let out an audible sigh. "And I miss you. Of course, I do, but that's not what this is about."

"So what is it about."

"You're not ready to be with me or maybe you're not the guy I want. It doesn't matter, either way, we can't be together."

"And what can I do to change that?" There was no point in getting angry or upset, he had to know if there was anything he could do to change her mind. "I think we're good together."

"I'm not so sure," she said quietly. "How about we meet up sometime to discuss it in person."

He readily agreed; if If she didn't want to get back together, she'd have told him so already. He ended the call and began to scroll through his most recent messages.

"Where the hell are you?"

Donnie read the message groaning. Greg was right to be pissed off. He'd agreed to redecorate the house of one of his friends, no doubt a favour Greg had called in, and he'd messed up before he'd even started. He should have been there an hour ago.

"I'll be there by ten," he replied. "I didn't want to get there too early and disturb them."

"A likely story." Greg made his disbelief plain and Donnie realised it was best not to reply. He had to get his ass over there and do a good job, let the work speak for itself.

"Hey Chloe, are you almost done?" he called. "It's just I've gotta get going asap."

He heard a muffled reply.

"What?"

"Give me a minute!"

He sat back on the bed impatiently, she'd already taken ten minutes. If she messing about contouring her face when they both had places to be... His phone pinged.

"So when will you be there?"

He read Greg's text, groaning.

"ASAP" That should shut him up.

"That tell's me nothing." He could imagine Greg's face turning red and he knew he was out of line. He'd committed to a job and he was running late. On the first day. There was no excuse.

"I'll be there within the hour," he texted, trying not to get wound up as Chloe remained in the bathroom. Greg, or rather the client, had every right to be pissed off with his timekeeping. Way to make a good impression. His phone pinged again, and again.

"I called in a favour, for you."

"There are plenty of other people who can do home improvements."

"You aren't special."

"Remember that when you take clients for granted."

"They can easily go elsewhere."

"And I, as your accountant, can go elsewhere."

Donnie read the messages, groaning. "Hey, I got it," he replied. He could say he didn't particularly want the job, that it wasn't in his field of expertise. But beggars couldn't be choosers. And the point was clear: he was late, he was demonstrating a lack of commitment, a lack of professionalism, he was fucking his life up yet again.

"I'm sorry," he texted, like a contrite schoolboy. "I will be there and I'll make the time up." He looked down at his phone feeling like he was no better than a petulant child. His behaviour was that of a spoilt brat, he was only going to do the right thing because the adult in his life had instructed him to do so. No wonder Annalise had had enough, he was behaving like the ultimate man-child. He didn't deserve a woman like her.

~~~