Page 27 of Safer Together
~ Chapter Nine ~
Angela
Knowing that Elliot will be here shortly, I decide to clean myself up a little. I stand up from the sofa and wander to the other side of the apartment, into the master bedroom, walking past the king-size bed and into the master bathroom.
I take one look at myself in the mirror and let out a breath. To my relief I see that the tears haven’t done too much damage to my make-up, thank god for waterproof mascara. I open the top right drawer of the vanity, palming through the small supply of cosmetics that I keep here. I find what I am looking for and pull out a concealer compact sweeping it under my eyes. I then grab out a new toothbrush and toothpaste and quickly brush my teeth, rinsing my mouth when I’m finished, I apply a quick coat of vanilla flavored Chapstick and return to the lounge room.
Bzzzzzz, another text message from Elliot:
I’m out in the front, on my way up to level twenty-five. See you soon.
Instead of replying I walk to the front door and open it, knowing that he doesn’t know my code to give him access, and that he won’t be on the way up. I enter the elevator and press the button for the lobby. When the doors open, I see him, standing on the sidewalk, hands clasped together, a worried look across his handsome features. His hair is standing up in all directions, he has clearly been pulling his hands through it. He really must have been worried, stressed even.
I exit the glass doors and look between John and Elliot. John sees me first. “Miss White, I was just about to phone you. This gentleman here tells me he is a guest of yours?”
Smiling warmly at John, “It’s okay John. Elliot let me know when he arrived.”
“Angie” he walks towards me and reaches out with both of his arms to pull me into an embrace. I willingly go into his strong embrace and settle my cheek into his chest, after a minute or so I speak.
“I had to come down and get you, since you need a security code to get to the apartment. Why don’t you come in and we can go upstairs?” pushing away gently from his grasp.
I wish John good night before pulling Elliot with me through the lobby and fully into the elevator. I enter the passcode and wait for the elevator doors to close in front of us. I can see Elliot staring at me from the corner of my eye, keeping my eyes set forward I try to ignore the goosebumps beginning to form on my arm. When the doors open in front of us, I turn to face him. “Shall we?” I step out into the foyer waiting for him to follow. Once we are both out of the elevator, I make my way to the entrance and walk backwards into the apartment holding the door open for him to follow.
He doesn’t say anything, just continues to look at me. I wait for him to cross the threshold into the open entrance and once he is inside my home, I close the door behind him. I walk across the open space back into the lounge and take up my position from earlier. He crosses the space with only a few long strides and sits beside me.
Elliot reaches out for my hand and takes it, holding it in his own, rubbing his thumb along the edge of my fingers. I look over to him and see the pain behind his eyes. I reach out with my free hand and cup his chin, using my thumb to run along his jawline. “I figured you would have gone home,” I say.
Surprise shows in his facial expressions immediately. “I had no intention of going anywhere until I knew you were safe. You ran away, I had no idea where on earth you would go. What happened? Please tell me what I did wrong!”
His voice has small traces of panic, almost undetectable except on the last part. I owe him some sort of explanation; I need him to know that it wasn’t his fault. “You did nothing wrong Elliot. You have been a perfect gentleman.” I pause, thinking about what to say next, and in that moment, I decide to just let it out, let it all come out and let the chips fall where they may. “I’m falling for you hard; Elliot and I’m scared. I’m scared you will hurt me. Hurt me just like, Dylan did.”
A flash of surprise spreads across his beautiful features, his mouth opens slightly. I want to kiss that mouth. No, Angela, not now. Keep your head in the game. He hasn’t told you he feels the same. I know it was wrong to say anything. Time to protect yourself, item one: create distance. I turn away from him, pull my hand from his, stand and walk to the glass wall; distance accomplished.
“When you say, Dylan, you’re talking about my foreman, Dylan, who you met tonight, aren’t you?” I hear his voice from behind me and I nod.
“Yes.” My voice is soft but steady. Still no mention of his feelings.
I feel his arms snake around my waist, and he pulls gently on my hip turning me, so I am facing him. “What did he do to you? You said he hurt you, will you tell me how?”
I shake my head, I knew he would ask this question, deep down I know that I should tell him everything, instead I wrap my arms up under his arms to cup his shoulder blades and push myself as close to his chest as I can manage, letting all the tears flow that have been threatening to fall all evening, I feel one of his hands come up to my back and stroke gently, trying to calm me, reassure me that he isn’t going anywhere.
“Shhh, it’s okay Angie, you’re safe. I’m here.” That one word, safe, it’s one I have longed to hear from him, even more so than the other four-letter word that I also crave.
He holds me in his warm embrace as I fall apart, sobs are now wracking my body. I sniff loudly and his shirt is completely soaked through from my tears, I pull away. “I’m so sorry, I’ve ruined your shirt.”
He lifts my chin to look at his face, that beautiful face. His eyes are glistening, I can see they are wet from unshed tears. “I don’t care about my damn shirt Angie. I care about you.” I stand on my tippy toes and kiss him gently on the cheek.
Leaving the close proximity of his body, I take three steps away from him before turning around and looking at his profile, he is looking out the window. What I am about to do next is going to break my already broken heart into even more pieces, how will he react? Maybe he will be glad. I mean what guy wants an overly emotional girl? Maybe he will just turn around and leave. Maybe he will admit his true feelings?
“Elliot, I think it’s best if we don’t see each other anymore.” His head whips around to meet my gaze so fast. The look of shock so clear on his face, he lifts both of his hands and runs them through his hair.
“What?” He looks at me.
Pushing on, I continue “I think that you’re better off without me and I’m….well….I’m safer alone.”
He shakes his head from side to side slowly, still pulling at his hair, he drops his hands and crosses to where I stand. “Why?”
His one-word question is almost my undoing. I don’t have a reason, a good one anyway. The only one I can use is my fear. I need to push on though, I need to give him a way out. I’ll blame it all on myself.
