Justin

They both arrive at nearly the same time: it's still afternoon and no one is around anywhere. For once, they have absolute privacy. Justin is shaking & ready to come apart on arrival, the anger & confusion only mounting into panic as he tries to find a way to tell her. She reaches for him, her eyes soft with love, "What happened, Justin?" she asks. "Elle," he sighs, and the words come out in a rush "I had no idea Mercedes was your boss until that charity ball you brought me to. Today is the first time I've seen her since then, and it was just to tell her I wouldn't see her anymore. But she threatened to fire you, Elle, if I didn't...didn't..Tell me what to do, Elle," he fininishes in a groan, knowing that wasn't clear at all.

"Easy, Tiger, easy" she says quietly, her gentle murmuring soothing him as she forces the tension out of his muscles with her small, determined hands. "Mercedes is a client of yours? You wanted to stop seeing her on my account, but she threatened to fire me if you don't continue?" Eleaor summarizes his incoherent rambling. "Yes," he sighs, calmer under her influence, able to speak more clearly, "except, Elle, Mercedes...she doesn't just want the appointments to continue, she wants, she's always wanted...." Justin can't continue, he doesn't even want to say it: the woman disgusts him. They all disgust him, all people, except Eleanor.

"Oh," Eleanor breathes, understanding. "Justin, did you..?" she asks with a tremble in her voice, and he is happy he can say, "No," in all honesty, "But, I came close to killing her, seriously, and I walked out on her before we settled anything. I'm so sorry, Elle, I lost control of the situation...she's going to fire you..." Justin clutches his heart, trying to brace himself for her anger, her disappointment in his failure.

She wraps her arms around him, pulls him into her embrace. "I'm not going to work for that bitch if she's trying to seduce you, Justin," she says. Justin falls gratefully against her neck: she's a rock, and she can take any storm. "You must hate her even more than I do," she murmurs, caressing his hair.

"It's just a job, Tiger, and I've already been making moves toward finding another...you know I hate working for her, anyway," Eleanor says as she leads him toward the sofa. She strokes his face and neck, and kisses him gently, "You did fine, Justin, and it's over now, you can relax now, everything's going to be all right."

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