The tears only make Thomas bring her closer, coiling himself just a little bit tighter around her, nuzzling against her hair with a soft sigh. He lets her finish, but not for the sake of being polite; genuinely, he has no idea what to say. Sure, the majority of his internal ache is the need to help her; it’s unfair that anyone be put in this position, and equally unfair that anyone out there feels this is a fair option. But part of it, too, is that Thomas is coming to the realization that by letting her stay, he, too, is in danger. Granted, someone so high profile as Thomas considers himself to be is a far larger risk, were anything to happen to him, than Anthea’s family. Still, his own safety is a concern to take into consideration in all of this; they can’t pretend it isn’t a factor.
So what, then, of their relationship, if one can call it such? Do they continue furtive meetings, act as if they don’t know one another publicly, until… what? For the rest of their lives? One of them is about to announce they’re running for president, for God’s sake, that’s not likely to last.
It feels hopeless, like there is no outcome in which they win. So Thomas sits in pained silence instead, wondering what her family knows, but too afraid to ask. Maybe she’s right: maybe the less he knows, the better off they are.
The better off she is, anyway.
She leaves it there, allowing them to sit in silence for a while. Giving them both time to figure out what if anything can be done. Because the only option she sees, the only one she’s considered can even work from the moment they met, would be for her to stay away. But she can’t do that. He is by far the only person she’s met in such a long time who makes her feel that she matters. Not her position, not her employer but her as a person. To have kept Thomas in the dark about all of this for so long was selfish of her.
‘ I don’t want you to be a secret anymore. I don’t want to keep secrets from you, ‘ honesty but does it come too late? Maybe if she had said that sooner they wouldn’t be in this mess. But she’s notorious for not asking for help, not letting people see the weakness that she is all too familiar with. ‘ I don’t want to lose you, Thomas. I don’t want to part ways and pretend we never met. ‘