Chasing or not, Renee was hard work. Marcus had never had to work hard with women before. Never had to, never wanted to. But Renee? This? It was hard work. He collapsed on the sofa in the lounge at work and stared at one of the six television monitors mounted to the wall, blasting news from all over the world in every language imaginable.

“You look like someone stole your favorite teddy bear, man,” Alex remarked as he sat next to Marcus and handed him a bag of potato chips.

"It's a woman," he answered.

Alex gave him a side eye glance. "Ah, the lovely Renee."

"She's killing me."

Alex snorted. "So all that crap when you first got hired—about you being the big player in Philly—that was obviously a bunch of bull shit."

Marcus gave Alex a dirty look. "Actually from what everyone keeps saying, it was pretty accurate," he mumbled.

"No shit? Marcus 'full press' Ambrose? That shit’s for real? How the hell could that guy be all twisted up over some little secretary with a pain-in-the-ass younger brother?"

Marcus sighed, more irritated than he could remember ever being. "If I knew the answer to that I'd know how to fix it," he shot back. "It's like I've got a virus or something. I can't sleep, can hardly eat. All I do is think about her and ways to get her to want me. It's fucking pathetic and if my brother knew he'd 'A' kick my ass, and 'B' laugh me out of town."

Alex shook his head, chuckling. "Dude, you're in love. I mean, seriously, haven't you ever been in love before? At least puppy love in high school or something?"

Marcus's stomach lurched at the very mention of the word. He didn't like the image everyone had of him. He knew he had the capacity for more than the string of one-night stands that had gone on for close to a decade, but that didn't mean he was in the market to fall in love. Jesus. That shit was serious. He was crazy about the girl; he wanted to date her. No way was he in love.

"I'm not in freaking love, you idiot. She's just different than the other women I've known. She's—I don't know—more real. Like I could picture hanging out with her and enjoying it, not just having sex. But she's totally sexy too. Smart and sweet, you know? That's all."

Alex snorted. "Whatever you say, dude. I'm glad it's you and not me. I was in love once. Biggest pain-in-the-ass I've ever experienced. No matter what I did she was never happy. Turned my life inside out, and then she dumped me for Brenner Coltrain."

Marcus ate the last potato chip as he turned to look at Alex. "No way. Brenner Coltrain's wife is your ex?"

Alex nodded. "I think she got together with me in the first place so she could meet him or one of the other anchors. Damn News Nancy," he said, referring to the groupies who followed celebrity journalists like the anchors at WNN.

Marcus stared a moment more, trying to imagine the same woman being interested in slightly sloppy, bearded, skinny Alex and WNN's weeknight anchor with his helmet hair and three thousand-dollar suits. Finally he shook his head and stood.

"Well, luckily, as I said, I'm not in love. I like her, yeah, and I'd like to date her, but that's all."

"If that really is all there is to it why don't you find someone else to date? Someone who likes you and isn't under Derek Ambrose's protection. He's one mean motherfucker."

Marcus laughed. "Yeah, I guess you're right. In the meantime, we'd better hit the Supreme Court, they've got a verdict coming down on gay marriage and it's going to be a big one."

"Right behind you," Alex said.

But as they walked down the hall to the newsroom, Marcus couldn't shake the feeling that he didn’t want to date someone else. He only wanted Renee. There was something in what Alex had said. Something that would turn his entire life upside down.

Renee removed the thermometer from her mother’s mouth and inspected it. “Perfect!” she pronounced, smiling at Anne.

“I told you,” her mom answered. “The doctor said to watch it the first seven to ten days after treatment. We’re on day nine now. You can stop.”

“Mom,” Renee chastised as she picked up the breakfast tray on the nightstand, “it won’t hurt to do it a couple more days. There’s no magic formula here, and you’re still weak from the chemo. Treating infections as soon as possible is really important. There’s only so much your body can handle.”

Anne sighed, then gave Renee a small smile. “I know honey, and I know you’re doing everything you can to keep me healthy. I love you for it. I just wish it didn’t have to be this way.”

Renee gazed at her mother’s thin frame, her surgically mutilated chest covered by an oversized t-shirt, her scalp visible between soft, fuzzy clumps of hair. “I wouldn’t have it any other way, you know. Even if I could pay for someone else to be with you twenty-four seven I wouldn’t. You spent two decades taking care of me. It’s my turn. Just enjoy it—” She paused and gave Anne a wink. “It won’t last forever.”

Her mother laughed, and Renee left the room feeling a bit of hope that she hadn’t in a long time.

By the time she arrived at work, Renee’s sense of hope had been torn to pieces, wadded up, and tossed in a dumpster somewhere along the beltway. Her early morning visit to see her brother at the rehab center had been a disaster. David was frustrated and lonely, and his progress had plateaued. He walked fine, most of his small motor skills had returned, and he could carry on conversations, but he struggled going up and down stairs, and couldn’t recall proper nouns, leaving him stammering as his wounded mind searched for basic words like “broom”. The schools had provided a tutor to come to the rehab center and help him keep up with his schoolwork, but his friends had mostly stopped coming by, distracted by their own teenage lives and dramas. He was lonely and depressed and she wasn’t sure what she could do to reverse his downward spiral.

She sat down at her desk, put her purse and lunch in the desk drawer and rested her head in her hands, feeling defeated yet again. Insurance would only pay to keep David in the rehab center for thirty more days. At that point any therapies he got would be outpatient, and coverage for that was very limited. He needed to make as much progress as he could before the axe fell and he was shipped back home. But he wouldn’t make progress if he were miserable.

“Is my brother making you sleep at your desk now?”

Renee jerked up, looking straight into those deep, dark eyes that had haunted her dreams since that night in the parking garage. She felt her face heat and struggled to keep from showing how rattled she was to see him.

“Good morning. I’m sorry, it’s still before eight, I wasn’t expecting anyone else to be here.”

“Please tell me you didn’t sleep here.” He winked.

She laughed, in spite of how awkward she felt. “No, I got in a few minutes ago, but I don’t think my brain has caught up with my body.”

“Ah,” he said, looking at her with a secret smile on his face. And heat. So much heat it nearly scorched the wood on her desk. “Well, I for one, am glad your body showed up.” His eyes dropped below her face, and his expression darkened further. “Exceptionally glad.”

“Marcus,” she warned.

His eyes snapped back to her face and turned soft again. “You seem tired. Are your mother and David okay?”

She sighed. She shouldn’t talk with him about her personal life, but she was tired, and frustrated, and there weren’t that many people who cared about the things happening in her family.

“Mom is doing really well. She’s still weak, but all the signs say she’s recovering nicely. My bigger problem at the moment is David. He’s made great progress but…”

Marcus squatted down next to her desk so they were eye to eye. “But what?” he asked softly.

She gritted her teeth, hating that she was so desperate she was turning to the one person she shouldn’t—couldn’t. “He’s plateaued. There are some things—skills—he can’t seem to re-master, and it’s making him crazy. He’s depressed and discouraged and worse is that the insurance runs out in thirty days. So he won’t have all the help soon.” She looked at Marcus and felt her throat tighten. “I’m afraid that if he doesn’t get better quickly this might be all the better he ever gets. And it’s not enough. It’s not enough for him to have a normal life.”

Marcus put a hand on her cheek, and she couldn’t help but lean into his touch, so soothing, so warm. She needed that contact like she needed her next breath.

“I know it’s hard, but don’t give up. Don’t give up on him, and don’t give up hope. You’re the strongest woman I’ve ever met, and he’ll get that from you. He’ll see that you’re still fighting for him and he’ll fight more for himself. Maybe he needs a break for a few days, but if you don’t give up, he won’t either. Trust me on this. I know what an older sibling can get a kid to do.” He smiled at her and she couldn’t help but chuckle in response, the image of a younger Marcus being lectured by Derek playing through her mind.

“Thank you,” she answered.

Their eyes locked, and so many things passed between them that her head swam and her heart beat a rapid staccato. She could smell his citrusy cologne and see the fine scruff that he hadn’t yet shaved off today. It was an assault on her already battered senses, and she knew that if he tried to kiss her now she wouldn’t be able to resist. She’d cave like a dog being offered a bone.

But he didn’t try to kiss her. Instead he pulled his hand away, leaving her cheek cold and her heart lonely.

“It’s not the chase,” he whispered. “It’s so much more, and I’m going to prove it to you.” Then he stood, gave her a sad smile, and walked on past into his brother’s office, taking a piece of her with him.

One of the great things about working for Derek Ambrose was that he kept Renee so busy she never had time to worry about her problems during the workday. Once eight o’clock rolled around (and sometimes even earlier), the Ambrose office hit the ground running and no one stopped until six p.m. or later. Derek himself had meetings from seven in the morning until well after nine o’clock at night most days. Renee didn’t understand where the man got his energy from, but days where she felt weighted down by her family problems she was glad for it, because he kept her on her toes the entire time.

It was nearly seven p.m. when she finished up her last round of notes and scheduling changes for Derek’s week. She said goodnight, noticing that Derek was uncharacteristically staring out his office window, seemingly in a funk, and made the multi-block trek to her car. It was dark by six fifteen these days, as Halloween approached, and the temperatures at night were dipping to the high forties. She pulled her sweater closer around her shoulders and trudged through the dark. As she drove out of the densest part of the city and headed toward her brother’s rehab center she gave her mom a call to check in.

“Hi Mom,” she said once Anne had answered. “Did you eat the lunch I left for you?”

“Yes, I did, every last bite.”

“Really? That’s great. I don’t think I’ve seen you clean a plate since the last treatment.”

“I did, and I even spent an hour weeding the garden,” her mother replied, sounding more energetic than she had in weeks.

“Good for you, Mom. Just make sure not to overdo. Lots of rest and healthy eating are the best things you can do for yourself right now.”

“Yes, doctor daughter. I took a nap after the gardening and I’ve been reading and watching movies since. Lisa came by to visit as well, and brought me pumpkin chocolate chip cookies the girls at work made. They’ve got flax seeds and who the heck knows what else in them.”

Renee laughed. Her mother was a basic kind of gal, no fancy foods or holistic remedies. She was putting up with the vitamins and supplements Renee had been giving her, but her natural inclination was to follow doctors’ instructions, eat plain food, and soldier on.

“So since you have all those cookies to keep you occupied, I’m wondering if you’d be okay if I stopped off to see David before I come home?”

“Of course. I’m up to making myself some soup and I’m just going to watch the new episode of Poldark. You take as long as you need. And I’m glad you’re going. When I called him this morning he sounded a little down. It’s killing me not being able to see him.”

Renee sighed. It was so hard. She really thought that if David could see their mother it would help him too, but the germs at a rehabilitation center were too risky for someone with a compromised immune system like Anne.

“I know Mom, and it won’t be too much longer. He knows you miss him and love him, and he’ll be home soon.”

Anne sighed. “You’re right. We’re all going to get through this, honey. And when we do, you’re going to take a nice long break and do whatever you feel like. Go back to school, go on a trip, just lay around the house all day. Whatever you want.”

Renee tried not to let the exhaustion seep into her voice. “Okay, Mom. I’ll start planning. And I’ll see you in about an hour.”

When Renee arrived at the rehabilitation center it was past seven and she knew David would be back in his room having already had dinner. He shared a room, but his roommate had recently gone home, so the other bed was empty. As she walked down the quiet hallway, most residents already in their rooms for the night, she heard a loud peal of laughter coming from David’s room. She slowed as she drew closer to the door and listened for a moment.

“No, but the guy was about two hundred and eighty pounds and not even six feet tall. He looked like a hobbit on steroids. Even had these weird feet, all hairy and shit. It was incredible.”

The voice wasn’t David’s, but it was familiar, and when she rounded the corner, her eyes grew wide at the sight in front of her. David was standing near the foot of his bed, a plastic step like the ones used in aerobics classes in front of him. He was casually stepping up and down, first leading with one foot, then the other, while Marcus lounged in the room’s one armchair, hair disheveled, dress shirt unbuttoned at the collar and sleeves rolled up.

“Hey, Nay,” David said when he saw her walk in. His grin was infectious, as was the laughter she’d heard him bellowing out moments before.

“Well, hello there,” she replied, smiling at David, then leveling a look of suspicion at Marcus. “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be at work?”

Marcus shrugged. “Worked the day shift instead.” Then he looked back at her with a challenge in his eyes. I dare you to do this in front of your brother, it said. Damn him. He was too clever for his own good.

“Well, I had no idea you were coming to visit David, but it sounded like you’re having a good time.”

“He was telling me stories from when he first started reporting. Some seriously hilarious shit, Nay.”

“Really?” She glanced at Marcus again. He was smug and irritatingly gorgeous.

“Yeah, he’s done some pretty cool stuff. He was saying they always need interns at the station, and that if I get my diploma in May like I’m supposed to he’d get me a job there next summer.”

Renee’s heart beat faster, but she tried not to show her hand to David. “Wow, that sounds great.” She kept her voice level, all expectations hidden beneath a neutral façade.

“David was telling me that he likes photography, and I know that Alex can always use a hand. He’s very professional and patient. I think David could learn a lot working with us for the summer. Alex even teaches some photojournalism classes at Capital College when he has time.”

He looked at Renee, communicating so many things with one serious glance. She nodded, unable to form many words at that moment.

“So,” Marcus turned to David. “If it’s okay with you I’ll bring Alex over tomorrow and he can talk to you about your equipment. We’ll see if we can’t get you one of the used video cameras that the station sells at auctions, and then you could get some practice in over the next few months.”

“Man, that would rock. Nay, can you bring my 35 mm camera and stuff when you stop by tomorrow so that Alex can look at it?”

Renee nodded, her heart about to burst wide open. “Yeah. I’ll do it first thing in the morning on my way to work.”

“Cool.”

“All right, man,” Marcus held out his hand and David gave him a handclasp like guys did with each other, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Right on. See ya.”

Marcus turned to Renee to say goodbye, but she interrupted him. “I’ll walk you out. Be right back Dave.”

When they reached the hall Renee spun on Marcus, not sure whether to hug him or slap him. Her emotions were tangled and complicated and she was in so far over her head.

“Did you mean it? Did you mean that you’ll get him an internship at the station? Because if you didn’t and you were just trying to help then I understand, but you have to realize that’d be a really crappy thing to do because that’s the most excited he’s been about anything since my mom got sick, and I can’t imagine what it might do to him if he found out it was all a ploy to get him to cheer up. But if you did it because you think you might be able to get him an…”

Marcus put two fingers over her lips and smiled indulgently at her. “Breathe, sweetheart. Breathe. Slow down. It’s all okay, I promise.”

Renee lost her tangled train of thought and focused on the zing that traveled through her at Marcus’s touch. Her breath hitched, and Marcus’s eyes grew darker, his lips parting as he stared at her.

“I’m okay now,” she whispered.

He removed his fingers, only to put his big, warm palm on her arm, slowly gliding it up and down as he soothed her.

“I meant every word of it. He’s got the job next summer if he wants it. And I’ve already texted with Alex. He’s totally on board. Photography saved him when he was a teen, he loves nothing more than teaching the magic to kids that are like he once was.”

Renee smiled weakly. “Thank you. It seems like all I ever do is thank you, but this is just…I mean…” Her voice faded as her throat ached with pressure.

“I want to help. I want to help David and I want to help you.”

He leaned down and gave her a feather light kiss on her lips. Far too soon he pulled away. “It’s not just the chase,” he said again. “This is me proving that.” Then he strode away, leaving her even more confused about what was right and what was wrong in her life.