Page 8 of A World Apart
Jeremy huffed out a laugh. “Heh, yeah. Come on, let me get you started and show you what I’m talking about.” He pushed himself out of his chair and together we made our way down the stairs to the ground floor and to the storage room.
Twenty minutes later, and I had already taken off my plaid shirt and wrapped it around my waist. Yeah, it was going to be one of those days. Spectacular.
2 hours later
I was covered in dust. I was hot and my fingers ached from lifting boxes. I huffed out a breath to blow hair out of my face as I stood there in the middle of the room, assessing the situation and re-assessing my life choices. I looked at my watch. Just after 10:00. Surely, I can get away with having a quick break?
I’ll just take up one more box and then I’ll go get a drink, I reasoned with myself. It would also give me an excuse to scope out the suites. I didn’t think he’d arrived yet, but you never know.
With a sigh, I picked up a clear, plastic box full of cables that had been designated to the recording suites on the second floor and awkwardly opened the door leading out to the lobby. Blessedly, it was cooler out here and I took a moment to breathe it in. It was also nice and bright, making me feel less of a cave troll living in my dark, cramped, hot, storage cupboard.
The elevators were on the other side of the large reception, and I headed towards it. Fuck, this box was heavy.
Just then, the front doors slid open, allowing in the noise of traffic and mid-morning chaos from the street. I slowed my steps as I immediately spotted Trevor Kyle, the producer with the golden touch and the grabby hands. He was with Celine, the Booking manager. There was a very tall man with them who was hard not to spot. He had close-cropped black hair and was wearing a black suit jacket and blue jeans. He was holding his arm out towards the door.
And that’s when I saw him.Him.
“Ooft!” My vision blanked for a split second as pain radiated from my left hip and my body jolted, bending nearly double over the metal bollard I hadn’t seen before crashing into it, knocking loose my grip on the box I was carrying. To my horror, it crashed to the ground with a noise not unlike a car crashing into a wall.
I froze. No. No, please God, no. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath in through my nose, trying to ignore the pain throbbing in my hip. I opened my eyes and saw, to my increasing mortification, that the entire group had paused and was facing in my direction.
Celine let out a high-pitched sort of laugh that sounded more like a horse whinnying than a normal, human laugh. “Whoops,” I heard her say, even though they were still some distance from me.
I tried to bring myself to look towards the middle of the group. I just couldn’t.
Mortified, I dropped to one knee and hurriedly began to scrape the fallen cables across the shiny, marble-effect floor towards me, grabbing at them and stuffing them back in the box in whatever order I was able to grab them.
So focused was I on the fallen piles of cables that I didn’t noticehimuntilhishand was mere inches from my own. Long, pale fingers with several rings began to reach for the same cables I was frantically trying to grab. Startled, I looked up and was immediately stunned, frozen mid-movement.
People say that all the time, don’t they? That they were lost for words, or stunned into silence, and it always sounds like such nonsense. But it’s true. I literally froze as a remarkably kind pair of dark eyes met my own. He’d been wearing a black face mask, so commonly worn in Asia, but a bit jarring in the US. He’d pulled it down under his chin. I could still see the faint pink lines on his cheeks where it had cut in slightly. I don’t know how long we stayed like that. It can’t have been more than a few seconds before another man dropped down to the floor beside us. The spell was broken.
“Gwaenchanhayo?” The tall man directed this athim, not me, brow furrowed.
Henodded and put the cable he’d been holding in the box. With a moment’s hesitation, the tall man − the bodyguard, maybe − began grabbing fallen cables. Suddenly regaining my senses and my ability to move, I waved my hands and said, “Oh, no, please, you don’t have-” I broke off in a hiss, placing a hand on my hip, the pain taking me by surprise.
Hereached towards me and gently took the cable out of my hands.
“Are you okay?” His voice was accented and quiet. I could barely meet his eyes. I was painfully aware of how mortified I was, desperate not to embarrass myself further.
I nodded. “Yes, thank you. I’m so sorry.” My voice was barely a whisper. I’m sure my face said it all. He waved it away and together, all three of us managed to put all the fallen cables back into the box. I pulled my knee off the floor and reached for the box to pick it up.
Hegently pushed my hands away and picked up the box, standing up with it. The tall man − his bodyguard, I decided − made an unhappy noise and tried to pull it out of hishands.
“Naneun geugeos-eul gajigoissda,”hemuttered to the big man, straightening up.
“Please,”hesaid to me, “I will help you.”
Self-consciously, I pushed my hair out of my eyes and took a calming breath, internally trying my damnedest not to freak the fuck out.
“O-ok, thank you,” I stammered. We crossed the room together and the group waiting by the front doors met us halfway. Trevor looked amused. Celine looked like she was chewing a bee. There was a new man there now; a shorter, dark-haired man wearing fashionably thick-framed glasses.
“Where does this go?”Heturned to me and said.
I had to push past the brain fog to find an answer in an appropriate amount of time. “Oh, um, 2nd floor. I think we’re going to the same place.” I even managed a smile. God, I hope I didn’t look too deranged.
Hesmiled and nodded but also looked over to the shorter man who said something to him in Korean.Henodded again, making a sound of understanding.
“Shall we?” said Trevor Kyle, holding out his arm and we all started moving towards the bank of elevators.
