Chapter 149: He Listened

Chapter 149: Chapter 149: He Listened

Audrey did not look away from the glowing screen. She stared at the digital photograph. The black folder. The alphanumeric reference number. The tiny white label that somehow connected everything.

She quickly clicked print. The machine hummed and pushed out a fresh copy of the image.

"I’m taking these upstairs," Audrey announced. She gathered the printed photograph and the corrupted administrative file. "I want to see if the reference number appears anywhere else in the old financial ledgers."

Ben nodded, rubbing his tired eyes behind his glasses. "I’ll finish organizing the originals down here."

Audrey paused at the door. She looked back at Ben and Daisy sitting on the dusty floor surrounded by towering stacks of manila folders.

"Don’t stay down here all night," Audrey said.

Ben gave her a completely flat, exhausted look. "We’re journalists. We have terrible instincts."

Audrey smiled faintly and walked out, the heavy metal door clicking shut behind her.

The archive room finally became quiet again. For the first time in what felt like weeks, Ben and Daisy were entirely alone without an obvious emergency happening between them. No sudden discoveries. No Zane Kessler interrupting them. Just silence and the smell of old paper.

They worked quietly for a few minutes. The only sound was the soft tapping of Ben’s fingers hitting his laptop keys.

Daisy looked over at him. She noticed he hadn’t stopped typing since Audrey left.

"You’ve been staring at that screen for hours," Daisy said softly.

"That’s because it keeps refusing to solve itself," Ben muttered.

"Have you tried asking nicely?"

Ben didn’t look up. "I tried threatening it."

Daisy smiled. "Did it work?"

"No."

She laughed quietly. The sound echoed softly against the metal shelves.

Ben finally leaned back in his chair. He let out a long, heavy exhale and rubbed his face aggressively with both hands. The investigation was clearly getting to him. The dead ends, the manipulated records, the constant feeling that they were exactly one step behind whoever pulled the strings.

"I hate 2019," Ben muttered.

Daisy looked at him. "You weren’t even working here in 2019."

"Exactly," Ben sighed. "And somehow it’s ruining my life."

Daisy chuckled again. She stood up from the floor and brushed the dust off her jeans.

"I’m going to grab the spare camera battery from my desk," Daisy said. "I need to take clearer shots of these ledgers before we leave."

Ben waved a hand weakly toward the door. "Go."

The moment Daisy disappeared through the doorway, Ben’s entire expression changed.

The sarcastic editor mask dropped. His shoulders slumped. The heavy, suffocating weight of the deadline pressed against the back of his skull. He stared at the massive stack of documents still waiting to be cross referenced.

His right hand automatically slipped into his jacket pocket.

It was pure muscle memory. For one brief second, his fingers curled, looking for the familiar shape of a cardboard box. He wanted a cigarette. He wanted the sharp bite of smoke to clear the absolute chaos in his head.

But his fingers didn’t find cardboard.

They found a small, crinkly wrapper.

He pulled it out. It was a lollipop. Bright red. Strawberry flavored.

Ben stared at the candy in his hand. He almost rolled his eyes at himself. The sheer ridiculousness of a senior investigative editor eating strawberry candy in a dark basement was not lost on him.

He let out a tired sigh, unwrapped the plastic, and put the lollipop into his mouth. The sweet sugar hit his tongue immediately.

Daisy walked back through the doorway a minute later, holding the spare battery.

She stopped. She saw Ben from behind. His shoulders were hunched over his laptop. He was holding something small between his index and middle fingers, bringing it up to his mouth.

Her eyes immediately narrowed.

"Ben!" Daisy snapped.

Ben jumped slightly. He turned around in his rolling chair.

Daisy walked quickly toward him, her face completely furious.

"What are you doing?" Daisy demanded.

Ben blinked. "Working?"

"Give me that," Daisy ordered.

She reached out aggressively for his hand. Ben instinctively pulled his arm back, his eyes going wide.

"What?" Ben asked, completely confused.

"The cigarette," Daisy said sharply. "Give it to me."

A heavy beat of silence fell over the room.

Ben slowly held his hand up. The bright red candy on a white stick was completely impossible to miss. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Daisy stared at it. It was a lollipop.

Complete, dead silence filled the basement.

Ben raised a dark eyebrow. "You were about to assault me over candy."

Daisy looked absolutely mortified. Her cheeks turned bright pink. "I thought you were smoking."

"Clearly," Ben deadpanned.

"You held it exactly like a cigarette!" Daisy argued defensively.

"It’s a lollipop, Daisy," Ben pointed out.

"I know that now."

Daisy looked at the candy again. Then she looked up at him. The embarrassment slowly faded into genuine surprise.

"You still do that?" Daisy asked quietly.

Ben knew exactly what she meant. He pulled the lollipop out of his mouth. "Sometimes."

"The smoking?"

He shook his head. "The replacement."

She looked at the bright red candy. "You went from peppermint mints to this?"

Ben looked at her. "The mints ran out."

"You could have bought more."

"Apparently I wanted something with a stick," Ben muttered.

Daisy gave him a completely unimpressed look.

He finally let out a frustrated breath and admitted the truth.

"When I’m stressed, I still get the urge," Ben said softly.

That simple, honest admission made her strict expression completely soften.

"But you’re not smoking," Daisy noted.

"No," Ben said. He looked at the lollipop in his hand. "This is cheaper than therapy."

Daisy rolled her eyes. "That’s not how therapy works."

"Still cheaper," Ben argued.

Daisy stared at him. She remembered the actual night she caught him smoking in the dark alley behind the newspaper building. She remembered taking the expensive cigarette right out of his hand and crushing it.

She didn’t give him another lecture today. She didn’t scold him for bad habits.

"I thought you’d stopped," Daisy said simply.

Ben looked at her. "I did."

A beat passed.

"Mostly," Ben added.

Daisy folded her arms across her chest. "You remember what I told you?"

Ben immediately knew. He didn’t even have to think about it. "Unfortunately."

She almost smiled. "You remember."

"You threw away an expensive cigarette," Ben grumbled.

"Because you were being stupid."

"It was a good cigarette."

"I don’t care."

Ben’s mouth twitched. The tiny ghost of a smile fought its way onto his lips.

"I noticed," Ben murmured.

He looked down at the desk. Then he quietly added the words he hated saying more than anything else in the world.

"You were right."

That completely caught Daisy off guard. Because Ben never admitted he was wrong. He never handed over a victory that easily.

Daisy slowly walked over and sat down beside him on the dusty floor.

It wasn’t a dramatic, sweeping movement. She just sat close enough that their shoulders nearly touched.

"I’m proud of you," Daisy said softly.

Ben immediately shifted in his chair. He looked incredibly uncomfortable.

"Don’t say things like that," Ben muttered.

"Why?"

"Makes me feel weird."

"That’s because you’re emotionally constipated," Daisy pointed out factually.

He stared at her. "Was that necessary?"

"Yes."

He let out a heavy sigh and took another lick of the lollipop. "I’m still not smoking."

Daisy smiled. It was a warm, bright smile. "I know."

A quiet, comfortable moment settled between them. The heavy stress of the investigation finally receded, leaving just the two of them in the dim light of the archive room.

Ben reached into his jacket pocket. He pulled his hand out and held it toward her.

"Want one?" Ben asked.

Daisy looked at the lollipop he was holding. "You already had that in your mouth."

"I wasn’t offering that one," Ben said.

He opened his hand. An entirely new, unopened blue lollipop was sitting in his palm.

Daisy stared at the candy. "You carry multiple?"

"Apparently this is my life now," Ben sighed heavily.

She laughed out loud. It was a completely genuine, happy sound.

Daisy didn’t have to chase Ben anymore. She didn’t have to follow him around the office or lecture him into caring about himself. He actually listened to something she said years ago and changed a small part of his behavior. And now she was sitting right beside him while he dealt with the heavy stress differently.

Ben noticed her looking at him.

"What?" Ben asked defensively.

"Nothing," Daisy said.

"You’re staring."

Daisy smiled. "Maybe."

He looked away first. His cheeks turned a very faint shade of pink.

There was no dramatic confession. There was no sudden, desperate kiss. Just that quiet, undeniable feeling that these two were slowly becoming something neither of them was running from anymore.

"Are you two working?"

Audrey’s sharp voice suddenly echoed from the doorway.

Ben immediately sat straighter in his chair. Daisy quickly looked down at her lap, trying to look entirely innocent.

Audrey walked into the room holding a thick stack of papers. She stopped and stared directly at Ben.

"Is that a lollipop?" Audrey asked, her eyebrows shooting up.

"Yes," Ben said flatly.

"Why?"

Ben looked at Daisy. "Long story."

Daisy smiled widely. "Very long."

Audrey shook her head and dropped another printed document onto the table.

"Well, your long story can wait," Audrey announced. "I found something."

Ben’s expression immediately changed. The playful annoyance vanished entirely. He put the lollipop aside and reached out for the document. The journalist was fully back.

As Daisy gathered the physical files from the floor, she glanced at the bright red lollipop sitting beside Ben’s glowing laptop.

Years ago, she had taken a cigarette from his hand. Now, he was sitting beside her with a lollipop instead.

Daisy smiled.

Then she picked up the next file. Back to work.