Two Different Worlds (ManxMan)

Chapter 3 - The Stranger Part Two

Chapter 3

The Stranger Part Two

He combed his perfect unruly hair with golden fingers, freeing snowflakes to come flying their way to the floor, leaving its spikes to find their own new places up in the air. He surely was not from here. Probably a student from the States on vacation traveling to Montreal so he could go clubbing legally.

I always found it strange that our neighbors had a right to get killed at war as soon as they were eighteen and couldn't even drink a simple beer. I guess we didn't have the same vision of the word majority. But now was not the time to make spirit games. His deep brown eyes shone with the reflect of the sun through the big window of the store as his teeth appeared from his parting lips, curving his button nose slightly. His perfect skin seemed to be moving on his face, each cell rubbing it while finding a spot it hadn't touched yet, getting the best of it. His black t-shirt, that I could see through the zipper in his opened coat seemed to hug his chest so close I could see the vibrations coming from his heart and through the thin fabric.

I could almost feel his breathing entering and leaving his lungs. All I wanted to do at this moment was to put my ear to his chest and let the rhythm swallow me whole. We shared that magic moment together until it was broken by a grunt from Valerie and a rolling of his massive shoulders. This eternity that must have only been a few seconds was finally broken, and I felt the cold coming back to me as an icy glass of water poured on my head and spreading all over my body. Better off that way. I didn't want to make a fool of myself more than I already had anyway. I felt embarrassed enough like that. I didn't need some stranger to laugh at myself. This I could do without.

I stood and put my coat on.

"Where are you going?" Valerie asked me.

"Just need some air," I mumbled.

"Hum... okay... don't go too far, though. Mark will be here any moment.

I grunted my answer and walked my way to the exit.

All the way to the door, I felt the stranger's eyes on the back of my head. I opened the door and went right through.

"What can I do for you, sir?" Valerie asked cheerfully as usual.

"Huh? Oh! I..." These were the last words I heard before the door went to a closure.

Outside, another guy who stood leaning to the brick wall nodded at me. He was probably waiting for the stranger inside the store to come out. His hair was spiked the same way as the other one and the golden skin on his face told me he was not from the area. His features resembled the other one, though his were smoother and he looked a tad bit skinnier.

When my eyes crossed his smooth green ones, he nodded and I continued my way on the street, my eyes staring at the icy sidewalk. My worn out shoes kept on trying to go their crazy way on the ice and when the wind rose, I slipped and all my attempt at regaining control of my feet failed. I fell on my back in the middle of the icy sidewalk, my breath leaving my body in a scary woof.

People went their way around me not caring to ask if I was okay. Diffusion of responsibilities seemed to be the great leader in this impersonal city. If nobody stopped to help somebody else, then the tragedy didn't exist and people could continue their precious anonymous lives without feeling any guilt.

"Hey man! Are you alright?" I heard a manly voice from beside me. I tried to stand up but my back hurt so much I thought I had broken something in it. I hissed and closed my eyes tight. The pain was so intense it went all through my body like molten lava and I clenched my teeth in an attempt to muffle the scream erupting from my mouth. "Okay, don't move. You'll hurt yourself more."

"Is he okay?" I heard a second guy asking."

"I don't think so!" the man who had probably squatted down beside me said. "Go tell the girl in the store to call an ambulance! I don't want to take any chance."

"No..." I managed to croak through painful breath, snot oozing from my nose. "No... ambulance..." I hissed, my eyes tearing up. Even though medical treatments were free services in Canada, I couldn't afford to pay for an expensive trip in an ambulance.

"Nonsense." the guy said. I felt a hand going under my head and massaging my scalp, soothing me. "There. I don't want you to freeze to death."

His hand was smooth yet strong. It calmed me enough that my whole body relaxed under the care of this hand. As my muscles were finally relaxing, the pain subsided a bit and I exhaled a long breath while opening my eyes. I was instantly pulled out of my own body and vanished in the deep brown eyes overlooking me. My face wasn't cold anymore as I felt the stranger's breath on the skin of it, so warm, so smooth, a faint mixed smell of vanilla and mint reaching my nose and intoxicating me to no end.

I was back into that special place I had so briefly been a few minutes before my fall on the ice and I wanted to be swallowed completely by these eyes and the comfort of his skin. I could feel myself drifting into sleep right there in his arms. My eyelids felt so heavy from the winter surrounding the microcosm composed of me and this stranger, and my lack of sleep...

"Don't fall asleep," I heard him whisper. "Focus on me." I heard him shuffle a bit and then felt a smooth tissue cleaning the snot on my face. I felt so embarrassed I felt my face flush. Thanks God the freezing weather surely hided my blush since my cheeks probably were already as red as a fire truck. "There... all cleaned." the guy mumbled, a small smile appearing on his mouth, showing dimples on both his cheeks.

He kept on massaging my head through my mop of sandy hair, the smile reaching his eyes. I couldn't help but smile also. "That's right, man. Keep on focusing on me," he continued, his smile broadening and showing his impressively white teeth. One of his second incisors was slightly turned to the outside, not quite overlapping another, his upper canines a bit longer than his other teeth. He was so beautiful...

There were quick steps on the ice coming our way and I recognized the faint squeak from Valerie's boots.

"The ambulance is on its way," she said through short breaths. "I closed the store and left a message for Mark. He has his own keys, so I will go with you." My eyes drifted from the magic ones of my smooth stranger to reach for my friend's worried ones. "Yannick, are you okay?" she asked, seeing the faint smile that was imprinted on my face and the dizziness in my eyes, or was it hunger, I don't know.

"I guess so..." I murmured.

"How's your back?"

I tried to move a bit but the pain that had silenced itself came back as sharp as a butcher's knife. I winced and screamed at the same time, biting my lips and shutting my eyes so tight I could almost see through them. Short of breath, the sounds coming from my throat went lost in the monotony of the winter surrounding us. Some passers stopped to see if I was doing alright, crowding me and sending me into a panic fit. Diffusion of responsibilities had stopped as soon as a caring hand had come to the rescue.

"Move away!" I heard my stranger say. "Give him some air to breathe!" He really was my knight in a shining armour all through these eyes.

The sound of the sirens and the bright red flashes told me that soon, my savior would leave me to lead his own life. When the sirens stopped and the paramedics told my stranger to move away so they could work on me, I closed my eyes and I felt a tear slipping from my eye.

Sorry for the small chapter.. But I won't continue untill I get more votes and comments... So please??