Culpability (A sequel to Accountability)
Culpability
A sequel to Accountability. Amanda’s secret was more than Mick could handle. He had cut her out of his life until a mutual passion brought them together once more. Will they find love again, or does fate have something else in store?
Excerpt:
Take what she could get… Yes, that’s exactly what she had been doing. These meetings with Mick were the highlight of her existence, to the point where she didn’t know how she had survived the two years before they came about. She never let it show of course, always being careful to guard her expressions and maintain a professional attitude lest she disturb their fragile rapport. Even so, spending time with him fed her soul.
Today’s furtive glances gave her cause for concern, however. Mick was a happy person at heart. Even during the initial strain of their reunion, he never seemed sad. She had sensed anger, frustration, contempt - all those and more, but never sorrow. Now, it was rolling off of him in waves. She couldn’t help but cross their undeclared line in the sand.
“Mick, what’s the matter?”
“The matter with what?” he asked, not looking up from his notes.
“Mick.”
He gave her a quick glance, then returned her gaze upon registering her concern. Heaving a sigh, he slumped back in his chair. “Am I that easy to read?”
“Maybe not to everyone,” she chanced saying.
The lines on his forehead smoothed. “Yeah, maybe not,” he conceded.
Mandy stomped on the tendril of hope trying to bloom. She couldn’t allow herself to read more into a mere moment’s intimacy, no matter how much she craved it.
Author’s Note:
Culpability (a sequel to my short story, Accountability) was not a planned project at the time of writing the first story. Accountability originally had an additional chapter - an epilogue of sorts. Right before publishing, when I reread it for the hundredth time, I realized it was disjointed and did not have the same feel as the rest of the story. It had to go and (being the ruthless author I am) I cut it without mercy. But - it stayed with me, stewing and fermenting, until Culpability was eventually conceived. The final paragraphs of this book are mostly unchanged from their original content.
Also found in Choices: Tales of Determination.
