love comes

"I can't believe it!" Sissel shook her head and grabbed Jace's arm.Jace cleared his throat, reminding his old love that there were others watching.He doesn't do it because the two of them are going to arouse Bruce's suspicions, but because it's in that man's office after all, and he doesn't want to be disrespectful.

Sissel straightened up, and had no choice but to put her hand on Jace's shoulder.Oddly, this didn't make any sense for Jace.

"I've been looking for you. Seeing I couldn't find you, an acquaintance suggested I come here. Thinking of me—" He paused, glanced over at Bruce, then leaned over to Jace. "Can we find a place to talk privately?"

"I'll go to the kitchen and get myself some coffee," Bruce said firmly, "Excuse me." The door closed behind him, and for a split second, Jace was almost certain the man looked rather... upset.He suppressed the thought for a moment and turned to Sissel.

"You're going to hire a detective to find me?" he asked suspiciously. "With my money?"

Sissel at least knew to look a little ashamed. "I'll give you that money, I promise. I know you think of me as a scum for what I did, but I did it for us."

Jess was stunned, "You can't be serious, are you? Are you saying that you used me, betrayed me, and abandoned me for our own good?"

"Jess," Sissel begged, "I don't want you to keep me. I want to contribute too. I didn't realize how wrong I was until I got engaged. My respect for your Love is more important than money. Please, give me one more chance."

"You don't know what I've been through," Jess gritted his teeth, enraged by the man's shamelessness, "I was on the streets, Sissel. I lost everything. And you disappeared without a trace. This is you Did you say 'important'?" The look of desperation in his former lover's eyes was not enough to forgive Sissel, though it hurt his heart.

"But I know you'll be fine. You're always on the move and resourceful. Just look at you. You work here, don't you?" Jace couldn't bear the way he surveyed the place.He could almost see the little greasy wheels turning in Cecil's head.

"Yes, I work here. It's all thanks to the generous well-wisher who, even though we've known each other for less than a week, has done a lot more for me than you have done for me in the years we've known each other .It is because of him that I have been able to get my life back on track. I am sorry, Cecil, that I have no place for you in my new life."

Sissel's face was pale as paper; it had clearly never occurred to him that Jace wouldn't accept him again.Then he pretended to say: "Jess, please, I beg you. I made a big mistake. Don't abandon our love, not on Valentine's Day."

Oh, what a trick!Is Sissel serious?Why didn't Jess see it before?Thinking about it now, he realized that Sissel had never loved him.Being with Jess was just for convenience, and once he found a better one, Sissel left without looking back. "Calm down. Give yourself some leeway." Sissel immediately put away her tears and put on a look of resentment.

"You sold yourself to the beast for a resting place, didn't you?" Sissel spat bitterly, "you don't really think that a man like that would do anything more than treat you like his bitch." Will you have other thoughts?"

Jace punched Sissel in the face, causing him to stagger and almost fall to the ground.

"I can't believe I didn't see what you were sooner," Jess began, rather heavily. "Please go away. I'm not going to stand here and listen to you insulting my character or Detective Shannon's character."

For a moment, Sissel looked like he was about to cry with all his heart, but eventually his pride—or possibly the warning in Jace's eyes—got the upper hand, and Sissel nodded, left the office, and He slammed the door hard, making the windows tremble.

"How are your hands?"

"It's okay." Jess sighed, rubbed his sore knuckles, turned around, and saw Bruce was leaning against the kitchen doorframe, "You heard everything, didn't you?"

Bruce scratched his stubble-covered chin and smiled wryly, "Yes, the kitchen walls are thinner than paper." As if Jess wouldn't believe it, he knocked on the empty wood paneling behind him.

"Great." Jace groaned and sank down on the edge of the table. "I'm sorry."

"I don't." Bruce replied calmly, getting Jace's attention.

In the past few days, Jace had learned to read the man's expressions very quickly, including the expressionless one. "What do you know?"

"The upper right-hand drawer," Bruce said, silently waiting for Jace to pull out a manila envelope with last week's date on it.He opened the envelope and slid out a large black and white photograph.He couldn't help but widen his eyes—two men were kissing in the bushes in the photo, and one of them was Sissel.

"How did you—" Jess shook his head, "Forget it."

"Are you jealous?"

"I should have been jealous, but I wasn't." Whatever Bruce's reasons for doing it, Jace was sure his intentions were far simpler than Cecil's. "What would you do if I forgave him and decided to give him another chance? Would you still show me this?"

"meeting."

Jace was surprised by Bruce's lack of hesitation. "Why?"

"Are you kidding me? I'm going to let another secretary go? By the way, it wasn't me who took that photo. It was a colleague from Brooklyn. The photo wasn't just for us."

Jace's jaw almost dropped in shock, "You mean...?"

"That's right. Miss High Society became suspicious because Sissel was flirting with her driver. It must have been the other guy in the picture. The engagement was scrapped and they were both kicked out."

"No wonder he was in a hurry to get back to me," Jace said, frowning. "So, that's the only reason you stopped me?" he asked nonchalantly, slipping the photo back into the envelope and placing it on the table.

Seeing Bruce suddenly lower his head to study his shoes, Jace suppressed a slight smile.The man put his hands in his pockets and shrugged.Jace wasn't going to let him go just like that, but the little glove messed up his plan.She jumped on the table and scratched at something protruding from under the blotter.

"Get up, you meddling thing," Bruce grumbled, slapping her paw away.

"What's that?" Jess asked curiously, "Do you want me to send something?"

"Huh? No, it's nothing. I went to the drugstore this morning and bought a pack of "Lucky Strike"[1], just take it." Bruce pulled it out and stuffed it to Jess. "Speaking of cigarettes, I want to Take one."

While Bruce was lighting a cigarette, Jess opened the envelope, wondering what was inside.When he saw what was inside, he felt like his heart was going to jump out.

It was a little card with a black and white kitten chasing a big red bow.Its paws rest on a large red heart with white letters on it.Jace read the words aloud.

"If you don't be my lover, it's too fucking bad.[2]" He looked up sharply, just in time to see Bruce slip into the kitchen, obviously trying to hide.Jess also hurried in, smiling like a fool. "You bought me a Valentine's Day card?"

"Don't make a fuss," Bruce grumbles, pouring another cup of coffee, "I'm not courting you or anything."

Jace smirked as he turned Bruce around, straightened his tie, and dropped kisses along the man's perfectly stubbled chin. "I can't even think about it." Jace chuckled, and Bruce pushed him all the way out of the kitchen to his own desk.

"If you ask me," Bruce starts, the fire in his eyes almost igniting Jace, "Valentine's Day might not be that bad after all."

Thank God, or the guy who forgot to close the apartment door so he could slip in.Jace couldn't agree more.

This is the best Valentine's Day ever.

-The End-

[1] Luckies, the best-selling cigarette in the United States in the 20s.Pharmacies in North America also sell other groceries besides medicines.

[2]? The original sentence uses a pun in English: Ifyouwon'tbemyValentine, it'llbeaCATastrophe. The first three letters of "catastrophe" (disaster) are exactly "cat" (cat).