"You seem distracted lately" Kipp was accustomed to noticing her moods at the workplace. Jade kept staring at her text message, the ones from Smith, hoping that she'd see the "...." that meant he was typing back. Old habits take years to stop.

Jade pushed her phone further away from her reach and let out a huge sigh in response to KIPP's observation. Inside, she was screaming. For all the unjustifiable acts her life has led her down. She should be better, do better, be happy but she's not typically any of those things when Smith isn't in hands reach. Life was never fair to Jade. She was never one of those girls to have a group of men into her, giving attention. That didn't really matter to her until Smith came crashing into her life like a bat out of hell. He did something to her insides. Made her want someone more than anyone else. Broken promises and hearts are all we have now. Bits of words out of context. Lead breaking off of a pencil under childish handwriting.

An unexpected back rub, the taking away of the pencil crushed in Jade's outreached palms. Jade felt like crying but her irises remained dry, a slight itchiness in their wake. Kipp didn't say anything more, just held her like an anchor out of water. A life saver. A good man in disguise. The type of guy Jade would really like to get to figure out what makes him.... him? It certainly wasn't just his name that caught her attention. Kipp Sebastian was a well brought up man, he was deeply committed. Jade could feel it in her bones. He made her smile unintentionally. Once upon a time, Smith was the same way. Look where that got her.