Keeper of The Lost Cities: Book 9: Showdown

Chapter 20 - Keefe's POV

I don't even know why I did that.

Leaving the note on her desk.

I just couldn't sleep, and I wanted to talk to someone.

I feel this strange panging, in my chest, like my heart has something to tell me, but it's trapped.

It was a reckless move.

She'll be in a lot of trouble if she ever comes.

But where I am right now...

There's an abandoned planetarium/observatory near the apartments we were in, which I'd discovered one day, out when I was exploring. No one was taking care of it, and the door was left unlocked, so I slipped in and climbed as high as I could, to the roof.

The view was breathtaking.

You could lie against the smooth surface of the dome roof, feel the cold breeze blow against your face, and just stare at all the stars above you. Up here, it's like you don't even need a telescope. It's as if you're already in outer space, and the sheer vastness, breathtaking view of all the stars spread out in front of you is enough to make you feel insignificant and overwhelmed.

There's a flash behind me.

She came.

"Wow," Sophie spins in a slow circle. I can see her through the corner of my eye. "This is beautiful."

It's quiet for a few seconds.

"It's surreal." I lean back, put my hands behind my head and stare up at the sky like I've been doing. "It makes you feel insignificant and small, but-"

"You never want to look away, because it's beautiful and breathtaking and-"

"Overwhelming." we say at the same time, finally looking at each other.

She comes closer and sits next to me.

"As soon as I saw this place, it reminded me of you, and how you had all the stars memorized," I tell her, going back to the sky.

"'You little star-memorizing show-off'," she said. "That's what you called me, when you were with the Neverseen and I was trying to make sure you didn't hurt yourself doing something idiotic or reckless."

I give a little mirthless laugh. "It looks like we're doing that again." I hand her a cup, and she takes it from me, her gloved fingers touching mine for a second before she pulls the cup from me and brings it close to her face.

I pull out a similar cup and we both drink at the same time, breathing in the beautiful smell of hot chocolate and smiling contentedly.

There is a little more silence as Foster looks around and takes in everything. "I had something like this, in San Diego."

"Is that so."

"Yeah. But this is even better."

I look at her out the corner of my eyes. "Why?"

She smiles and looks at the stars again. "Because this is higher up. You can see all the stars, the galaxies, and you don't need a telescope. When I was there, it was always smoky and hazy from the fires."

"There's one right there. Telescope, I mean." I point somewhere behind us.

She shakes her head. "I don't need it. See, that thing over there?" she points somewhere in the sky. "That's Jupiter."

"No." I shake my head, then move her arm a little bit to the right, so that she's pointing at something bigger and brighter. "That's Jupiter."