Chapter 12 \u2013 More Important\u00a0<\/p>\n
SERA\u00a0<\/p>\n
The elevator doors slid shut behind us with a soft ding. I pressed my now sweaty back against the cool metal wall and closed my eyes for just a second. My chest felt tight, like I\u2019d been holding my breath for hours.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou okay?\u201d Johnson\u2019s voice was quiet, careful.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I opened my eyes and looked at him. Really looked at him. His dark hair was slightly messy from running his hand through it during the auction. His tie was loose around his neck. There was something solid about him, something real that made my throat ache.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It took me a few seconds to realize that I was jealous.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI will be.\u201d I responded, my shameful thoughts making me avoid his gaze.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The words came out rougher than I meant them to.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The elevator jerked slightly as it reached the parking level. My stomach dropped with it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Johnson has been beside the second I\u2019d rounded the corner and left Darius behind.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He was listening in.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I wasn\u2019t just jealous, I was ashamed, that he had to hear all of that, and that he had to see me in such a shape.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Johnson stepped closer, not touching, just close enough that I could smell his cologne. \u201cThat was brave, what you did up there,\u201d He dipped his hands in his pockets and met my gaze with a satisfied grin.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Despite what I had expected, he didn\u2019t look at me like I had made a fool out of myself, he didn\u2019t look at me like he pitied me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I let out a laugh that didn\u2019t sound happy at all. \u201cBrave? I just told my husband I won\u2019t apologize for something I didn\u2019t do. That\u2019s not brave, that\u2019s basic,\u201d I shuddered, I rubbed my palms up and down my arms as the cold air brushed against my skin, tormenting me and keeping my voice unsteady.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Johnson\u2019s eyes followed my movement and in the next second he\u2019d taken off his suit jacket and covered my shoulders without hesitation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His jacket swallowed my petite frame whole and the gesture made my throat close up with emotion.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He gave me a small smile, flashing his pearly whites.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is when you\u2019ve been convinced it wasn\u2019t for so long,\u201d He replied softly, \u201cYou\u2019re the bravest woman I know, Sera,\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The doors opened and cold air hit my face. The parking garage stretched out in front of us, all concrete and shadows and the echo of our shoes on the ground. Johnson\u2019s car was parked near the back, away from the main\u00a0<\/p>\n
entrance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGod, I need air.\u201d I tugged at the neckline of my dress. It felt like it was choking me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAlmost there.\u201d Johnson matched my pace, his hand hovering near the small of my back but not quite touching.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/4\u00a0<\/p>\n
+26 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
Like he wanted to comfort me but wasn\u2019t sure if I\u2019d break if he did.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We were halfway to his car when I heard it. The familiar sound of Darius\u2019s laugh bouncing off the concrete walls. My whole body went rigid.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSera.\u201d Johnson\u2019s voice was low, warning\u00a0<\/p>\n
I turned, and there they were. Darius and Vivienne walking out from between two black SUVs. She had her hand tucked into the crook of his arm, her head tilted up toward him like she was hanging on his every word. Even from here, I could see how she leaned into him, how small she made herself look next to his broad shoulders.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He was smiling, so brightly. Despite the fact that moments ago he\u2019d been asking me to come home, claiming, I was being unreasonable.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Yel.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My jaw clenched so hard it hurt.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Darius spotted me first. His smile faded and he stopped walking. For a second, just a second, something flickered across his face. Regret? Guilt? I couldn\u2019t tell anymore.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He said something to Vivienne and started walking toward me. His stride was confident, determined, like he was coming to fix something that was broken.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSera, walt.\u201d Ilis volce echoed in the empty space.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Johnson stepped slightly in front of me, not blocking me but making his presence known. I felt his warmth at my back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Darius was maybe ten feet away when it happened.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vivienne stumbled. Her hand flew to her chest and she made this small, breathless sound that carried across the\u00a0<\/p>\n
silence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOh.\u201d The word was barely a whisper, but it might as well have been a scream for how fast Darius spun around.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She was leaning against the side of a car now, her other hand pressed to her forehead. Her face was pale in the harsh fluorescent light. \u201cI just\u2026 I feel so dizzy all of a sudden.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
And just like that, I became invisible again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Darius was at her side before she finished speaking. His hands found her waist, steadying her. \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong? Are you okay?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d Her voice was weak, shaky. She looked up at him with wide eyes, her bottom lip trembling just slightly. \u201cEverything just went spinning. Maybe I stood up too fast, or the excitement of the evening\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHere, sit down.\u201d Darius guided her to lean against his car, his hands never leaving her. \u201cShould I call a doctor? We can go to the hospital right now,\u201d His voice was urgent, his eyes roaming every inch of her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, no.\u201d She shook her head, then winced like the movement hurt. \u201cI just need a minute. Maybe some water?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I watched this whole performance with something cold spreading through my chest. It wasn\u2019t anger this time. It was clarity. Crystal clear, ice\u2013cold clarity.\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/4\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
Johnson moved closer to me. \u201cSera,\u201d he said quietly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But I couldn\u2019t look away. Couldn\u2019t stop watching my husband fuss over another woman while I stood twenty feet away like a stranger.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI have some water in the car,\u201d Darius was saying. His voice was soft, worried, the same tone he used to use when Luna had nightmares. \u201cJust breathe, okay? In and out.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vivienne nodded weakly. She let herself sag against him just a little more, and his arm tightened around her waist.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That\u2019s when she looked at me. Over Darius\u2019s shoulder, while he was reaching into his car for a water bottle, her eyes found mine.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And for just a split second, I saw it. The calculation. The satisfaction. The tiny smirk that tugged at the corner of her mouth before she let her head fall back against Darius\u2019s chest with a soft moan.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry,\u201d she whispered to him. \u201cI\u2019m ruining your evening.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t be ridiculous.\u201d Darius\u2019s voice was fierce, protective. \u201cYou\u2019re more important than any evening.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
More important than any evening. More important than his wife standing in the same parking garage, watching him choose someone else again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My hands were shaking. I curled them into fists and shoved them into my Johnson\u2019s coat pockets.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe should go,\u201d Johnson said. His voice was carefully neutral, but I could hear the edge underneath it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I nodded. I couldn\u2019t speak, couldn\u2019t trust my voice not to crack.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We turned and started walking toward his car. Behind us, I could hear Vivienne\u2019s soft voice and Darius\u2019s murmured responses. Something about getting her home safely, about making sure she was okay.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Johnson opened the passenger door for me and I slid inside. The leather was cold against my legs. He got in on the driver\u2019s side and started the engine, but he didn\u2019t put the car in drive right away.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSera.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I looked at him. His hands were gripping the steering wheel, his knuckles white.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Johnson reached over and covered my hand with his. His skin was warm, solid. Real.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m done,\u201d I said quietly. The words felt strange in my mouth, but also right. \u201cI\u2019m really, truly done.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGood.\u201d His thumb brushed across my knuckles. \u201cYou deserve better than this.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Darius\u2019s car pulled out of its parking space. As he drove past us, I got one last look at them through his passenger window. Vivienne had her head tilted back against the headrest, her eyes closed. Darius\u2019s mouth was moving like he was talking to her, probably asking if she was comfortable, if she needed anything.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I was supposed to be the one he worried about like that.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The red taillights of his car disappeared around the corner, and something inside me snapped clean in half. Not broke \u2013 snapped. Like a bone that had been cracked for so long it finally just gave up trying to heal wrong.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Souls Remember What Matters \u2014 Corey Gibson 12 Chapter 12 \u2013 More Important\u00a0 SERA\u00a0 The elevator doors slid shut behind […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-day-i-signed-the-papers-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23458"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23458\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}