Behind The Screens

13 | Chocolate World

Britten

I looked around the whole penthouse for him. I looked on the balcony and into bathrooms with open doors. I had looked everywhere except for my room. And now, as I stood at my bright pink door, making eye contact with Alex sitting at the foot of my bed, I could feel my heart breaking with his.

"Why here?" I asked him, only getting a shrug in return.
I stood in silence for a few seconds before speaking again.
"I told you."
He sighed and looked down at his phone. "I know." He said. I took a couple of steps closer to him and stopped. "I'm sorry..." I whispered. He shrugged, still flipping through his home screen. He sighed and said, "No, I'm sorry." I shook my head.

"You don't need to apologize," I said while closing the door. "They're the ones who pushed your buttons." I sat down next to Alex and laid a hand on his shoulder. "I should've kept my cool." He mumbled. "It's not your fault, babe." I reassured him. He just shrugged again. "Your dad probably won't ever allow me to be with you."

I took his phone from his hand, gently grazing his wrist in the process. He didn't try to stop me, and it didn't seem like he cared. "Alex." I said, putting the phone on the floor then taking his hand. "Talk to me, Alex. I know you're upset but-"

"Well what do you want me to say?" He interrupted. "My life is a mess right now and your dad... acting like he knew me just-" He paused and pushed his head into his palms. I grabbed his hand and gave a soft, reassuring squeeze. "I know, he can be a bit overprotective and stuck up sometimes." I replied with a breathy and insincere chuckle.

It was silent again.

I tried to make eye contact with Alex but I could only get the side of his face. I could see the cold in his expression just from him staring into my rug as if it were sinking into the floor. I raised my free hand to gently turn his chin toward me. His eyes were still on the rug. He wasn't himself anymore, if he was at all today. 

"We don't have to dig too much into this, Alex, but please," I begged. "I wanna see the guy I fell in love with... my sexy mysterious spy with the bright smile that I- I swear, Alex, if your smile could kill, I would be long gone."

He finally looked me in my eyes and I saw a slight smile cross his face. I softened my grin and continued gazing into his eyes. "I love you, Alex. Don't let my dad get to you, this is his character. The stronger you present yourself, the easier it will be for him to listen to you." I said. He took my face in his hands and gave me a short but sweet kiss. "Forget about it?" He asked. I nodded. 

"You know, I've got some tickets to a Broadway show I wanted to see tomorrow." I mentioned. "What time?" He asked. "Let me check." I said, standing up and walking toward my nightstand. As I opened the drawer, there was a knock on my door. "Uhh-" I stuttered, looking at Alex. "Don't worry about it. I got this." He said.

He got up and opened the door, my dad standing on the other side. "What the hell?" I heard him bellow. I gulped so hard I could swear our neighbors heard it. "Haven't you done enough?"
I opened my mouth to answer for Alex, but he held up his hand to stop me. "Britten it's okay," Alex said. "I apologize, sir, I was just coming to sit somewhere quiet for a minute."

"Don't you have something to say?" My mother's voice questioned from behind dad. She placed a hand on his shoulder and dad grunted. "I'm sorry, Perez." He apologized in a mumble. "I'm completely unaware of the things you deal with and can't understand, but I will try." Dad held out his hand and Alex firmly shook it. He was such a gentlemen when he needed to be. I loved that about him and it made me happy to see him be so understanding with my pain-in-the-butt of a dad.
.....

"Tyler's coming." Alex said as we walked hand in hand down the streets of NYC. The lights from the big bright screens in Times Square lit up the area in place of the sun. It's at these moments that I truly understand that this is the city that never sleeps.