Page 19 of Fragile Touch (Fragile 1)
Weakly, she reached over and unlocked her phone with her fingerprint. “You aren’t going to have a party tonight?” She looked him in the eyes, and the depth of their feeling pierced through him. How did she manage to make him feel so vulnerable?
He quickly put his number in her contacts and set the phone back on the bedside table. She was still looking at him. “Nah,” he replied at last. “No party tonight. I’ll come over later to check on you.”
Lillian closed her eyes and smiled. “You’re sweet, you know? Very sweet.”
Chapter 4
For the past hour, she’d been lying in bed in a half-asleep/half-awake state. In her half-sleep she dreamed of Amelia, and vaguely recollected bits and pieces of what happened earlier. Cayden had been at the house, she knew that much. Her nose was clogged but that didn’t keep her from catching the ghost of his presence—and his musky scent. She couldn’t tell what actually happened and what was fabricated in her mind; she was still far too tired to try to sort it all out.
But in her half-awake state, she remembered he’d put his number in her phone. At first, when the realization came back to her, she didn’t believe it. It must have been a dream. In any normal circumstance she would never hand her phone to someone, especially him. Her phone held her life: everything from her work files and contacts to personal photos and videos. All her notes were on there, her diary...everything. No possession of hers was more personal than her phone.
I must’ve been really drunk, she thought through the haze. I think I still am. Everything feels weird. She felt herself going downhill into a semi-panic attack, obsessing over doing something out of character, and reminded herself to take deep breaths.
On breath number six, she faded out and heard Amelia.
Why not? Her favorite phrase.
Yeah, why not? Lillian reasoned with herself at the same time the other part of her shouted, Go away, Amelia. You’re ruining everything I’ve not only planned, but also brought to existence. I did what I set out to do.
She opened an eye and saw that both cats had left; she was lying there alone in her big, soft bed.
Slowly, painfully, she stretched her arm towards the bedside table and felt for her phone. It took too much energy to turn her head and see where she was reaching, so she flopped her arm down until she felt the familiar shape.
The screen lit up. No notifications. No emails, nothing. She’d been asleep for several hours; in some faraway place of her mind she remembered there was sunlight when she went onto the back porch. Everything afterwards was a blur, but she couldn’t have been out there for too long.
The first thing she saw when she unlocked it was the last thing that had been pulled up: her contact information.
Cayden Manos. She stared at his name. It wasn’t registering fast enough. Did I really let him give me his number? Seriously? This was exactly what she’d been trying to avoid. When he moved in, she vowed to do everything in her power to make sure he didn’t get the wrong idea. A love interest was the last thing she needed right now. Not at the peak of her career, especially.
The alcohol hadn’t worn off yet, and she knew the hangover would be much worse. I need to take advantage of my clear mind now. Clear-ish, I mean. Normally when she started freaking out, she listed a bunch of reasons why something wasn’t a good idea. All the new clients. Extra workload. The cats might not like him.
Who was she kidding?
The cats definitely like him. She didn’t want to admit it. Her mind wasn’t clear at all, as much as she wanted it to be. But she wasn’t sober enough to start using her brain like she normally did. Her feelings were still fresh in her heart.
Her mouth felt like it had been stuffed with cotton. Mustering up a tiny bit of energy, she rolled over with a grunt. The glass of water was still there, more proof Cayden had been here. A drop of sweat still lingered on the outside of it, but only one. It had been sitting a while. She glanced at the time on her phone. It was midnight now, after all.
She drank the whole glass in one go, savoring every swallow like she hadn’t touched water to her lips in a week. Feeling more alive but also more tired, she edged the glass back onto the table and let her arm collapse halfway off the bed.
What the hell. With one hand, she unlocked her phone and stared at his name again. Time began to blur, probably because she wanted it to. While she typed the message, she felt herself fading out. She didn’t have the energy to read it before she dropped off into sleep again, still holding her phone.
“I THOUGHT YOU WERE dead.”
She knew it was a dream, but she wanted to stay in it. This place is perfect. There was sand between her toes and a vast ocean in front of her. The sun was setting behind mountains in the distance, and she could feel the breeze on her skin.
“What?” she asked, smiling at the orange sky.
“I thought you were dead. Well, not actually, but I was worried.”
The voice was different. She knew it, but couldn’t place it. Looking around, she tried to spot the person attached to the voice, but there was no one in sight. “Who are you? I can’t find you.”
A deep chuckle filled the whole space and suddenly she jolted when a hand touched her arm. The dreamy sunset and beach disappeared in half a second and her eyes were wide open, staring at Cayden’s
hands folded together on her bed. He was kneeling on her floor so his head was about at the same level as hers.
“You all right? Looks like you just saw a ghost.”
“Why are you here?”
