“You didn’t tell anyone about the night I saved you,” he whispered. His breath felt warm and sweet against my face. “I want you to trust me the same way I trust you.” He traced the crook of my arm with his fingers and it happened again.
I felt the darkness surrounding me, pulling me under. I heard him calling my name and the warmth of his words on my skin. His touch, his fierce eyes. I could feel the warmth spreading through my body, from my head to my toes, pulling me to safety.
“Violet?” I heard Robert’s velvet voice. “Violet! Are you okay?”
My head spun and Robert was staring at me, concern written in each line of his face.
“Err… I’m fine,” I said. “I think.”
“What happened? Your eyes just went blank and it was like you weren’t here anymore.”
“I don’t think I was here.” A nervous laugh escaped my throat.
“What do you mean?” His eyes widened from concern to curiosity.
“It’s nothing. I just got dazed for a second.”
“Violet, that wasn’t nothing. Tell me what’s wrong? Did you remember something?”
“No, I mean yes, but not what you mean,” I said, trying and failing to explain the sensation.
“What was it?” Robert asked.
“It was just a flash, I mean, a memory of the night you saved me.” I looked up at him, searching for recognition of what I’d felt that night. Instantly I saw a change in the set of his mouth. “Your touch made me remember what it felt like.” I tucked my hair behind my ear, a little embarrassed, “When you healed me that night.”
He stared back at me with a blank expression, only a hint of confusion hidden in his dark, guarded eyes.
He released me and put some distance between our bodies. “I should walk you back,” he said.
Seagulls hovered on the gentle winds of a beautiful summer afternoon as I led the way back to my studio. The breeze was only slightly cooler than the temperature of the air and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.
“Robert, why didn’t you come back that night?” I asked.
“I told you, I didn’t have any other choice,” he replied.
“You always have a choice.”
“Look…” He sighed.
“Please, Robert. Just tell me, you owe me at least that much.”
He didn’t say anything, just looked at the ground and kept walking. He lifted his head after a moment and stared at me. I could tell he didn’t want to tell me why he left that night but his eyes betrayed him, threatening to spill over with the answers I sought. I didn’t turn away from him, hoping whatever conflict raged inside his mind would bend in my favor. He abruptly looked at the sky, his decision made.
“I did come back, but you were still in the bathroom, freshening up,” he explained.
Damn! I thought.
“Why didn’t…” I began.
He raised his hand to cut me off. “I was going to wait for you to finish changing but Brett and I got into it. She can be insufferable sometimes. We decided I should handle the situation before it got out of control and she would make sure you got home safe. We were all at risk and I did what was necessary to keep you and my family safe. The faster I found out what was going on the better. So I packed a bag and headed to the airport.”
“I guess I can respect that. I just wish you would have at least told me you were leaving. I was so angry with you.”
“You wouldn’t have let me leave without an explanation.”
“You’re right about that.” I smiled.
I thought about everything Robert had told me as we continued toward my studio. If I felt confused before I was utterly lost now. My mind buzzed like a beehive, stirring up more and more questions.
Robert followed me in as I unlocked the door to my studio. The summer sun had sent my body into hyper-drive, or at least I thought it was the heat and humidity. Every fiber of my being could sense him; I felt his eyes tracing the curve of my spine, the warmth of his breath in the air as he walked behind me.
“You really didn’t have to walk me back,” I noted. I tried to sound casual but my emotions were all over the place.
“I’ve already saved your life once.” A flirtatious chuckle escaped his throat. The walk seemed to have lightened his spirit’s some. His shoulders relaxed and he carried himself in a more straightened, confident gait.
“Speaking of saving my life, did you want to explain that?” I asked. I stopped in front of my desk and turned to look at him.
“Not right now,” he said and lifted his hand to my cheek.
“But you said you wanted me to trust you. What better way to earn my trust than to tell me the truth about how… how you saved me.” I stumbled over my words. The touch of his hand tingled against my skin as his fingers gently pinched my chin.
“I do want you to trust me, but baby steps remember.” He smiled.
“Uh huh,” was all I could manage with his fingers so close to my lips.
“I should get going.” He sighed and stepped away.
“Alright,” I said in a soft voice.
I didn’t want him to go. I wanted him to talk to me, wanted him to let me in. But something hidden in his expression stopped me from saying or doing anything else. He might not want to talk now, but I’d get it out of him sooner or later.
“I’ll come by your place later,” he promised.
“Later?” My stomach leapt at his words.
“Yeah, I need to run by the house and talk with my family, but I’ll come by later to check up on you.”
“You don’t need to do that,” I said, a little annoyed. I didn’t want to be treated like a damsel in distress.
“Yes, I do.” He nodded, smiled and left.
Despite everything that had happened this afternoon I still had a million questions. I leaned against my desk and threw my purse on the floor. So much for getting some work done today. I picked up the sandwich I had brought with me to work and tossed it in the trash. Normally I wasn’t one to waste food, but the smell of sweaty meat and congealed cheese left me with the distinct reminder that someone wanted me dead.
Chapter 7
Unable to think about anything other than my conversation with Robert, I decided to head home. The sun just started its fall over the horizon when I got home and I desperately wished that I too could fall off the edge of the Earth and rise again to a new day. I still wasn’t very hungry but I knew I should eat something. I threw a boxed dinner into the microwave and leaned against the counter while my processed food revolved round and round. I thought I wanted to know everything, I thought I wanted to know how Robert saved me, but the more I found out the more I wished I didn’t know anything. Why couldn’t I just let things be? Why couldn’t I just be grateful I was alive and stop asking questions?
I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration. I took a deep breath, smelling the sweet aroma of boxed Kung Pao chicken. Chef Mike, also known as the microwave, announced my food had been transformed into something edible.
Using the tips of my fingers, I delicately removed the piping hot tray from Chef Mike and plopped it on a plate. I grabbed a Stella from the refrigerator and headed to the living room to watch some TV while I ate.
The seven o’clock news sprang to life. An over-dressed woman behind a fake desk declared, “A building collapsed today in Seattle…”I changed the channel before the anchor could finish her sentence. The last thing I needed to watch was the sensationalized news.
I flipped through the channels until I found a harmless episode of Friends and went to work on my food. The spicy sauce and tender chicken gave a comforting warmth to my stomach. It felt good to return to the routine of eating a TV dinner, back to the ordinary and familiar, two things I’d been craving in my life lately. The tension in my back slowly eased with each bite as I sank into the couch. Unfortunately, I couldn’t keep the thousands of thoughts from bouncing around in my head like Roger Rabbit on a sugar rush. I took a long swig of beer in the hopes it might relax me a bit more.