Illusions

12. window

Amira's POV

Roman just dropped me off at home and now I'm anxiously awaiting my mother's arrival.

We had a nice phone call on the way home and she told me that she needs to see me. On the bright side, my sister and her husband had to head back because of work, so it won't be too bad.

However, I still have to deal with my mother for a day and then drop her off at the airport. 

She told me she wants to "spend time with me" and meet my friends. 

Both of those things make me want to throw up.

Now I have to figure out how to entertain her. 

She also didn't ask about Roman, which is a huge win because I could not deal with that conversation.

I plop down on the couch and wait for Yellow to run up to me, but she never does.

Panic takes over and I start yelling her name.

I run through my apartment in search of her, looking in all her favorite hiding spots to no avail. 

"Fuck."

I run a hand through my hair and sit back down on my couch.

Instead of stressing, I do a couple of breathing exercises to calm myself down and then search for Yellow again. 

I look in the office room and notice that the window's open slightly, just enough for Yellow to sneak through. Running to the window, I start yelling her name again and open the window to look around. Within seconds, I spot Yellow sleeping on the fire escape stairs two floors down.

Reluctantly, I open the window and ease out, heading down to get Yellow. Once I get to Yellow, I pick her up and head back to my apartment, only to find that the window is shut. I stick Yellow in my shirt and try to pry the window open, but I can't get a grip. 

Now I'm hyperventilating.

The cold catches up to me and I start shivering, I remember being stuck on the balcony in Boston. 

Roman isn't even here to open the door for me. 

"If I'm thinking about him," I mumble to myself, "I have reached an all-time low."

I can hear my phone ringing inside my apartment and sigh.

I look down at Yellow who's asleep again.

"You're lucky you're cute, baby."

Yellow doesn't respond. 

Completely out of options, I walk down the fire escape and find my neighbor's window, luckily he's inside, so I knock.

He looks up startled and his face morphs with surprise as he sees me lurking outside of his window. Unlocking the window, he lets me in and gives me a hand.

"Hey, James," I smile as he watches me with concern, "how are you?"

James chuckles and rests a hand on the wall next to him.

"I'm fine, you seem cold," he observes while grabbing a hoodie and handing it to me, "what brings you here?"

I take the hoodie and slip it on.

James and I used to hook up sometimes, we tried dating but I wasn't into it so we broke things off. It was a little messy but we're at the point now where we can laugh about it and hopefully, neither of us has hard feelings about it.

"Well, Yellow snuck out the window, so I had to go out and grab her," I hold Yellow up to show him, for some reason, "and then my window shut so I couldn't get back in," I feel the tension, so I decide to leave, "I'll get going now, thanks for letting me in!"