Web of Naiveté
Chapter 2: The Pull
Jennifer woke to the sound of her own heartbeat.
It was too loud in her ears, too fast. Her skin felt hot and oversensitive. The sheets were twisted around her legs, damp with sweat. She lay still for a long moment, staring at the ceiling as the dream came back to her in sharp, unwanted pieces—Donna’s voice, Donna’s touch, the awful certainty of her own body obeying when she tried to resist.
This isn’t normal.
She sat up slowly, pressing the heels of her hands into her eyes. The dream had not ed like ordinary sleep. It felt stretched out and complete, as if she had been held inside it for hours. She could feel it in her body—the restless ache low between her thighs, the exhaustion in her limbs, and the lingering sensitivity of her skin. She had never experienced anything like it before. Dreams had never felt this real, this physical. It was as if her mind and body had been locked together all night, and she was only now being released.
For a few seconds, she just sat there in the dark, trying to steady her breathing.
Her phone buzzed sharply on the nightstand, making her flinch.
Jennifer reached for it, then hesitated when she saw Susan’s name. For a second she considered letting it go to voicemail, but the thought of ignoring her made her feel worse. She answered.
“Jen?” Susan’s voice came through, gentle but edged with concern. “Hey. I was thinking about yesterday, after that NeuroTech woman shook your hand. You seemed really off. Are you feeling okay?”
Jennifer paused before answering.
“I’m fine,” she said. “Just tired. It was a long day.”
There was another short pause on Susan’s end.
“You sure?” Susan asked, her voice softer now. “You don’t sound like yourself.”
“Yeah,” Jennifer said quietly. “I’m okay.”
Another pause. This one felt heavier.
“Okay,” Susan said eventually, though she didn’t sound convinced. “Just call me if you need anything, all right? Or we can talk at lunch this week.”
“I will,” Jennifer said. “Thanks, Susan.”
She hung up before her friend could ask anything else.
For a long moment, Jennifer stayed on the edge of the bed, phone still in her hand. The call had left her feeling exposed. She stood and went into the bathroom. The woman in the mirror looked pale, with dark circles under her eyes and a faint flush still lingering across her cheekbones. She turned on the cold water and splashed it over her face, but it didn’t help. Her thoughts kept going back to Donna anyway.
Donna stood in her kitchen, barefoot on the cool tile, and poured herself a cup of coffee she didn’t really want. She had barely slept.
Her mind kept going back to the night before—to Jennifer across the table, flushed and distracted, struggling to hold her gaze. Donna had noticed the shift immediately. Jennifer had always been sensitive to her attention, but last night there had been something else. A softness. A delay. The sense that if Donna reached for her, Jennifer might not move away.
She took a slow sip and stared out at the garden. She had spent years being careful with Jennifer. Patient. She knew when to step closer and when to give her room. She knew how to make herself useful, how to become the person Jennifer turned to without ever having to ask for too much.
But something had changed.
Jennifer seemed more vulnerable now. More affected by her presence.
And Donna liked it.
She liked knowing Jennifer was thinking about her. She liked ing the way Jennifer had gone still when their fingers touched. Most of all, she liked the sense that Jennifer was finally starting to give in.
Donna set her mug down and leaned against the counter.
She had been holding back for a long time. Maybe it was time to stop.
Not all at once. Jennifer would pull away if she pushed too hard. But Donna could test the edges. She could give Jennifer something small and see whether she came closer.
She would text her later. Something light.
But she already knew she wasn’t going to wait much longer.
Jennifer moved through most of the morning without feeling fully present.
She went to work, answered emails, and sat through a meeting she barely ed. Every time she tried to focus, her mind drifted—back to the dream, back to Donna. An itch had started in her hand that morning—the same hand Rebecca had shaken yesterday. It was faint, but it hadn’t been there before. It seemed to sharpen whenever her thoughts turned to Donna, and it was getting harder to ignore.
By late morning, she was staring at her computer screen when her phone buzzed.
- Donna:
The roses really are looking good. You should come see them sometime this week. No pressure.
Jennifer stared at the message for a long time.
It was the same invitation Donna had given her at the career fair, only softer now. More casual. Her first instinct was still to say no. To make an excuse. To put distance between them before whatever was happening to her got any worse.
But she didn’t.
Her fingers hovered over the screen. Then they moved.
- Jennifer:
Maybe. I’ll let you know.
She set the phone down and stared at it for a long moment, her hands still flat against the desk. She had wanted to say no. She had meant to say no. But she hadn’t. And she didn’t know if she would have been able to, even if she tried harder.