These Horses

"It May've been the first of mistakes/when we held on too loosely/let open the gates." -Jakob Dylan, Horses

***

There was a certain shift in his tone that bled a warning sign through her weary nerves. He wanted her fear, something she was unwilling to give.

"If you want to end things, Shane, just tell me."

He, she understood, was the kind of man who never showed remorse, for remorse wasn't a McMahon family trait.

The darkening shadows kept him in their hold. "You'll receive a benefits package...full pay."

"I don't want money from you."

His dark eyes stabbed through her layer of steel. "Be real with me. That's all anyone wants from me."

"So you want it to end?" His stolid reaction told her everything. "Then it's over."

He stopped her with a gently-placed palm. "We could negotiate."

"I don't want anything from you."

"What about your contract?" A rising note of desperation echoed through his voice. "You can't walk out on a guaranteed deal..."

"Don't you understand? The money didn't mean anything to me. I fell in love with you..." a breath shuddered through her before she continued, "being with you was the only important thing to me. Everything else in the world..."

"We could always see each other!"

"I won't be your mistress, Shane."

"You already are. Daffney, I could give you anything in the world. I could lay a carpet at your feet and make you the best-known woman's wrestler in the world. What do you want that I couldn't give you?"

"Love, Shane. You never offered me love. And you just lost your last chance to give it to me."

And she walked through his open door, flooding the room with light.


The End