<div class="floatleft">(http://i1289.photobucket.com/albums/b502/ehlamjanx/carter2_zps845c5db9.jpg)</div><strong>Character name</strong>: Carter Sagle<br/><strong>Who:</strong>Victoria "Vicky"Tucker<br/><strong>Where:</strong>Entry<br/><strong>When: </strong>June 13, late evening<br/><strong>Warning:</strong>None<br/><hr/>He had already driven himself into a state of bonkers over guessing, then second guessing himself.  The fact that she slipped into the room and they hadn't even had a chance to speak of it had left much of his planning on clever things to say out the window.  If there was a conversation before they were behind closed doors, he thought it might have been easier, neutral ground as it were.  As soon as he was in<em>her</em>bedroom, he was in<em>her</em>space and the sense that he invaded her sanctuary wasn't lost on him.  Her tight smile gave him pause.  Her words were stilted, her tentativeness spoke volumes.  Though when she did speak, thankfully she didn't sound angry at him.  Anger would have been difficult to overcome.<br/><br/>When he realized the surprised state she was in, he recalled that he had more than a full day to be in-the-know about this where she may have had at best, a few hours, if that.  All of his pre-planning of things he might say hadn't amounted to much, he decided he'd need to trust his gut instincts.  So far, it had gone as well as he could hope.  She wasn't showing signs of any drastic nature, though she was difficult to read given her strong sense of self.  He knew she could manage to hold her emotions far from the surface if she needed to.  He also knew how real she could be when she let them out.<br/><br/>She asked the question, if he really wanted to go through with this.  He stood, dazed at the tone, at the words.  They both concocted a game, a playful means to put trysts together, to have a little fun.  Meet new people, satisfy some urges, and were delighted at the responses from clients.  His only prior pairing was a good time, as the game started.  Vicky had her own fun, too, but neither really shared details with the other, some unspoken courtesy of privacy taking hold.  Carter, though, felt his own left a shallow feeling when he bid goodbye to the lady that he shared the weekend with.  He imagined Vicky may have felt the same way, but truth be told, he couldn't get a read on it.  He was concerned for her ever since.  He tried to make himself available should she want to discuss her re-entry into ... involvement, but she never sought to speak on the matter.<br/><br/>He couldn't answer the question as it was posed,<em>did he want to go through with this?</em>The question was a fair one, it<em>was</em>a game, and if it were put that way, if it was seen that way, by Vicky, the truth was no, he couldn't.  He didn't want to play this game with Vicky.  He stood, shocked by his own feelings over the words she asked.  Suddenly it made the whole situation seem ridiculous and shallow.  What was fine for a stranger just couldn't fit for Vicky.  He stood at a loss for a moment, his stomach clenching and churning over<em>going through with this...game</em>.<br/><br/>The tone he heard just didn't match his feelings.  He was here to make some things right, somehow, his chance to say ok to hopefully a brand new layer, but a better one, a richer one, not a shallow one.  His time spent in befuddlement spanned to her follow-up comment, that she'd not take it personal if he decided not to.  His loss was exacerbated by what could be taken as a suggestion, perhaps.  Was that<em>her wish</em>that he take that suggestion, be the man and make the decision, whilst she supply only the suggestion of it?  She crossed her arms, and he reacted instinctively, frozen in time, cut off from the warm thought he had of her all day long, and the sweet undercurrents of his feelings for her for much longer.  The body language was cold, maybe hiding anger.  He panicked, though he tried desperately not to show it.<br/><br/>She shifted, though, from her hands crossed, to her hands on her hip.  Her<em>boss</em>stance if he had ever seen it!  His eyes grew wide at what that could have meant, it was a tell tale stance for her.  It was the one she used when she had felt like something was not done right, not done to her expectations, or she was disappointed somehow.  He had seen it several times, and it wasn't that he feared it, unless he really felt like he had neglected something he said he'd do, which was rare.  It was that something didn't meet her expectations.  He might have had some grand idea or vision and they didn't see eye to eye.  That she didn't understand what he had in mind.  Suddenly, he realized what he thought it meant.  He calmed from being skittish as he felt a notion that he saw this as some game.<br/><br/>"Vicky, I don't want to<em> go through with this</em>, like it is just a weekend," he stated with a confidence that was rock steady, even if he was scared to death, on her sacred ground, and about to bear his inner self.  "I do want to tell you, you are more to me than a boss, though."  It was only a start.  it was a bombshell.  He was about to say more, the rest of the speech was just beneath the surface, but, was it sincere in a robe and silk shorts?  She was so beautiful, and so precious.  The fear that welled on that start of his declaration that now hung there, and couldn't be taken back, ever begun to mount.  He had no shame, though, save for somehow thinking her room, in this game, was somehow the way to say it.  He swallowed hard, he didn't explicitly say the words that might have followed.  Instead, he stood tall, proud and assured and repeated, "more than a boss to me."<br/><br/>He said it, or part of it, though now the night clothes seemed beyond presumptive and shallow.  As did the game.  He looked at her, a bit sheepishly, seeing her in such provocative dress, then gestured to his own robe.  "Maybe I could have said that in a more appropriate setting," his confidence wavered at the leap of logic this all indicated.  He smiled and lowered his face a bit, though he raised his eyes, hopefully.  He had much more he could say, but he needed to see her reaction before he dared another word.<br/>