A/N Sorry isn't enough. But will finish this story v soon, truly am sorry at the delay, MZxx

Chapter Fifty Two

Julia nursed the phone, as she contemplated things, it was three hours since his message. Her phone hadn't charged over night, her alarm hadn't woken her, so she'd had to almost run to work....subway train allowing. Now sat at her desk, phone charging, she read the message for the second time.

Finally getting back to hotel, feel free to call and wake me, I need to hear your voice.

They'd barely spoken, and she needed to hear his voice too. This was all getting deep, and she feared where things were ended. In reality they needed to talk, about what this was. He still referred to his change in relationship with her as a challenge, a job. But it felt like so much more than that. She didn't do proper bonafide relationships, and the thought of more with him scared her. But maybe not as much as the thought of not seeing him again.

Her six months were up in eight weeks. She was due back in London. Abi couldn't wait, but the thought of going back was getting less and less appealing. Aaron had said he'd help her, that he'd help her make the change, but she wasn't sure that he wanted her around full time, for ever.

She thought back to the night in the beach apartment, for the first time in her life, she'd initiated, she'd shared her feelings with him. She couldn't bring herself to touch him, to taste him....but the thought didn't repulse her any longer. No, there were no hard limits when it came to Aaron Harding, but she wasn't sure she was ready to tell him that.

She'd missed the lessons on dating when she was younger, thanks to her bastard of an uncle and the abuse he'd delivered, so she had no idea how to play this, she couldn't deal with being hurt again. And unfortunately, that was where her head was.

She looked at the message again, it was hard to think it was anything other than genuine, heartfelt, and she knew Aaron, she was starting to realise that he was genuine, wasn't she? She was starting to trust him.

Snatching up her phone, she thumbed a quick message.

Sorry, phone disaster, only just got message. I'm gonna let you sleep, but call me when you wake.

As an added almost instinctive extra, she added an 'X' at the end, then bit her lip as she pressed send. Shit!

Aaron couldn't remember ever feeling so tired in his life, but eight hours sleep in three days was catching up with him. When he opened his eyes that morning, he felt as though he had lead weights attached to each eyelid.

He managed to reach for his phone, and sighed, ignoring the dozen messages from Tom, and a few from the rather zealous detective they were dealing with, and not even registering that it was after ten am, which was unheard of for him. He only saw one thing, the message from Julia, and that single letter that made his heart surge, an X....a kiss. From her it felt like the world.

Without further thought, he dialled her.

She answered within a couple of rings, sounding breathless, a fact that his rather traitorous libido didn't miss, suddenly he was hard, desperate.

"Hey, you."

He closed his eyes, drinking in her voice, "back at you. How ya doing?"

She chuckled at his attempt at some sort of New Yoik accent."You are no impressionist, young man!"

He was grinning, like a hormonal teenager, "you got me. How's work?"

"OK, I'm on lunch at the moment, sat in the park watching some kids play softball. It's relaxing."

He could just see her, curled up on a bench, relaxed, a smile on her face.

"How's your week? And why were you awake so late last night?"

Aaron groaned, running a hand over his face, "this is still a shower of shit, Jules. But we just might have made headway yesterday. I'm doing everything I can to keep the Feds away, because this is serious. I say that, though I've only just woken and I have a shitload of messages from Tom...so it may not be as good as I hoped."

"Damn. Is there anything I can do?"

Smiling, he shook his head, even though she couldn't see that, "you're doing it, just taking my calls, and looking after the dogs."

It was no lie, just knowing that she was there, waiting for him, it made him have that sense of belonging that he'd missed out on all his life. He hadn't felt it with his parents, family, and never with any other woman.

"You, Mr Harding, are becoming a sap in your old age!"

He had to rebuke to that, so she added, "when are you back?"

He could hear anxiety in her voice, "Hopefully this weekend....but I can't be sure. I need to deal with all my messages, I'll let you know later? I'll call you."

"I'll be working late....got a class from a university in California coming this evening."

He chuckled, "it'll be around six, OK?"

Chaos, that was what it appeared he had slept through. Unlike him, Tom had been awake and accompanied Detective Wilson to an address in a Seattle suburb. Tom hadn't recognised the man they found, but he was caught in the act, attached to one of the company servers, and squealed immediately. It seemed he had links to someone deep within the company, one of the site managers in Chicago that Aaron himself had been at loggerheads with. Thai was revenge, an act of resentment, and he was furious. Leaving the detective to tie up the loose ends, he and Tom were on a flight by midday, to meet further detectives in Chicago. The manager there had no idea that they were coming, he didn't know his accomplice was collared, so time was of the essence.

He hadn't called. That was Julia's lasting thought as she locked up the offices at nine o'clock. Being the last man in the office to clear up after the University visit was definitely the short straw, but she was glad on this occasion to have a distraction, she hated relying on him, and she hated that she felt so devastated that he hadn't called as he promised. It only seemed to fuel her anxieties. She could call him, she SHOULD call him...but she just couldn't do it. The wings of her defence were flicking back into place as she stepped back, tried desperately not to think about him, not to need him.

But it wasn't working. The museum was a little spooky in the dark, she wan''t scared, hell, she'd spent so much time there. But today her anxiety was coupled with unease, so she was glad to step out, greet the security guard who locked the doors behind her.

As she reached Central Park West, she had the dilemma of her route home, underground, bus or taxi. She had only taken a few steps when a car slowed next to her, honking it's horn. She was about to hurl abuse when she spotted Taylor hanging out of the window.

"Hey girlfriend! You coming to a paaa-rty?"

Julia rolled her eyes, "like I look ready for a party."

The car had now stopped a little further along the road, and it wasn't until she drew level with Taylor that she spotted the two young men in the front, and the other girl beside her, none of whom she knew.

"Oh, come on, GF. It's Friday and you have been like...what do you call it?" She clicked her fingers a few times as she tried to think of the analogy.

"A wet weekend?" She offered.

Taylor's response was a squeal, "see Susie, I TOLD you she is THE coolest."

How could she turn down that sort of praise?

"I'll come for just a couple of drinks, no more." She'd only go home and mope, like the proverbial, gloomy, wet weekend. She had to distract herself, not think about Aaron. She had to trust him.

The party was in a small bar on the upper east side, and was bouncing when they arrived, pulsing music and flowing drinks, just what she needed. Julia had been introduced to Susie, an old school friend of Taylor's, and her brother Marcus, the driver....and her boyfriend Brodie.

She had felt like the spare wheel, but as soon as they entered the bar, Taylor started to dance, dragging her to the small busy dance floor as the boys made for the bar. Whilst she wasn't the most keen dancer, tonight it felt right. Letting go, turning off to anything other than the moment.

Susie and the two boys found them, and Taylor's friend had a bottle of Prosecco in one hand, and three flutes in the other. Grinning she clumsily filled them, then handed them around. Smiling, Julia drained half the glass gratefully, and Susie refilled it with a squeal.

The music was pulsing, some modern rap that Julia wasn't familiar with, it was a million miles from anything she usually listened to, but it was encompassing, the beat pulsing through every cell in her body. And it was therapy.

After two songs, and most of the bottle of wine, Taylor waved her phone in Julia's face, and shouted, or rather mouthed over the music, "Jerome has just messaged me!"

Julia grinned, leaning into her friend, "show me."

There was the message, asking where she was, before Taylor could do anything, Julia replied with their location. As the younger woman gasped in shock, she grinned, "come on, let's throw it all up in the air. What have you got to lose?"

Taylor rolled her eyes, "my work relationship?"

"You've got me, I'll make work reasonable."

She swung an arm around Julia's shoulders, "until you return to 'Old Blighty!'"

Julia herself, was pretending that wasn't on the horizon, because she couldn't imagine going back there, leaving all that she had behind....and that brought her back around to thinking about Aaron, she'd managed to park all thoughts of him in the deep recesses of her brain for at least half an hour. It hurt to think of him, and she hated that he hadn't done all that he said, but then she knew he didn't owe her anything, and she had to snap out of it.

Taylor was instantly dragging her back into a song, singing at the top of her voice, lyrics to some R & B song that she'd never heard. Arms waving, strutting...Julia felt her years and swayed along with the significantly younger people, and it was a few songs duration before her glass was refilled by Marcus, one of the boys who'd come with them. Smiling in thanks, it was then that she spotted two eyes glaring across the room at them, one very jealous looking Jerome.

Julia avoided his eyes, instead waiting for the music to allow her to lean into Taylor, and whisper, as theatrically as she could over said music, "he's here....and he's glaring. NOT staring!"

For a brief second, her friend's eyes lit up, but then she scowled, schooling her face into a more neutral and unaffected expression. Then with a wink to her alone, she reached for the hand of Marcus, her friend's brother and pulled him into a close embrace.

If he was shocked, that eased as she whispered into his ear. Julia wanted to laugh out loud, but didn't want to spoil the mounting atmosphere. So she turned to Susie, but she was dancing far too close to Brodie her boyfriend.

With a grunt of disapproval, she instead reached for the bottle of Prosecco and made for a high stool in the corner of the room. If this drama unfolded, at least it would occupy her fragile brain. Anything rather than her own life.

As Julia watched Jerome reacting to Taylor being close to another man, she sipped away at her drink and then checked her phone. There was a message from Abi, make that two, but nothing from Aaron. He said he'd speak to her at six, it was now well after ten. It was just four hours. She had to let it go.

She hated the sense of fragility that took over her, before she had developed her relationship with Aaron she had been the strongest person, she hadn't needed anyone, now she was a sap.

As she thought about what that meant, Jerome almost threw his glass onto the bar, then stormed across the dance floor to Taylor. Not giving her chance to complain, he knocked her friend's brother out of the way, then kissed her. Dramatically.

It felt as though everyone in the room was staring at them, but it was romantic, though maybe a little controlling. Taylor wasn't angry, she swooned, her one foot lifting in a fifties-movie-style as he wrapped his arms around her. Whilst he had demons to deal with, fears and anxieties, the thought of someone stealing Taylor from him, was enough to melt even the most cynical heart, and he was making his actions speak louder than words.

Julia made for the bar and ordered a whisky, the last thing she wanted was more bubbly wine, instead she downed a couple of fingers of the amber liquid before turning her head back to the room, and the romance. Taylor was blushing profusely as Jerome led her off the dance floor to a quiet corner, his mouth dropped to her ear, his body language animated. He had a lot to make up for, and that made her smile.

She was going home, she hadn't intended to stay out after work, but it terms of her friend, it was almost a case of mission accomplished. As she gathered her things, Taylor rushed over.

"Are you leaving?"

She nodded, "I am bushed. I need my sleep."

There was a moment of hesitation, before she beamed, "I want you to stay...."

"But you're about to put your tongue down Jerome's throat?"

Taylor giggled, "I wouldn't be that gross, but it's a distinct possibility."

Julia gave her a kiss, "be good and I'll wait patiently to hear all the news?"

Outside, Julia took the luxury of hailing a cab. It was an extravagance that she could ill afford, four months in the city was taking a huge toll on her finances, despite the fact that she lived rent free. But she was exhausted and fraught...and emotional.

All the way home, she tried to calm her emotive side, Aaron was a busy man. She knew that he worked hard, and that he was dedicated to his job....whatever that was. She froze in her mental winding path at the realisation that she didn't know what he did, who he worked for. Aaron, the man who'd come to her launch night and supported her. It seemed like so long ago now.

Sighing, she threw herself into the apartment, and was greeted by Cliffy and Coco, and with a glass of water, she took them into her bedroom. Since she'd changed the nature of her relationship with Aaron she'd slept in his bed, but it felt right to go to her own, she knew she was being childish, but she didn't trust often, and couldn't cope with him breaking his promises, it hurt too much.