C'mere (Paul Banks fanfic)

The Resignation

Paul thought about Rhi's letter every time he woke up for a whole week. He felt dumb for having left that message inside the folder for her. He felt dumber after her ambiguous reply.

He went to spend the holidays in Brazil, with his parents and brother. He couldn't be arsed to stay in the city anymore, every day fearing, as much as hoping, he'd run into Rhi in each turning corner of Manhattan.

He decided not to answer. What good could it do? The girl was marrying that other dude. She had told him so. A magazine confirmed it, as he went through it distractedly on the plane. 

- Well, fuck that. - He angrily whispered, throwing the thing under the front seat and called the flight attendant to order some whiskey.

-

Rhi took the magazine again and opened it, sighing. She had never enjoyed being on the news, but this was because of her marriage. The date was set. She still couldn't believe it. Lee had gone and sent the announcement without asking her. Well, that was probably because they had agreed on sending it by now and she hadn't moved a finger to do it. She sighed again and threw the magazine across the room. 

She felt stupid and shallow. Lee was going on long business trips again. She resented him for it and he knew it. Maybe that was why he had been so quick to contact journalist and make the wedding date public. So she wouldn't chicken out. He sensed she was having second thoughts again. She knew there was something more to all his travelling, but since her escape to California, he had been very careful not to leave evidence behind. Rhi didn't think he had stopped seeing whoever he was seeing before... she didn't even know if it was more than one woman. She was sure her fiancé was becoming a master cheater even before they even got married.

-

- I can't fucking stay away from you. - Paul muttered as he exited the plane from Brazil in LaGuardia.

It was a bright but cold late January afternoon and he wasn't sure if he was talking to the city or to that green-eyed beauty he could not keep off his mind. 

He had stayed for over a month in Brazil, shunning away any desire to write Rhiannon back. Now, here he was again. In the same city where she went to art galleries, walking on the same streets where she went for runs, buying cigarrettes in the same 7-11 where she probably bought her Fiji water, staring at the same glass buildings in which she was probably getting boned by her husband now... 

- Don't be stupid, Paul. You know damn well they're getting married in spring. That won't happen for at least another couple of months... oh shit, I should go back to Brazil...

But it was too late. He stopped a cab, staring into the Brooklyn pavement as he was driven back to Manhattan. Trying to run away was useless. He belonged here. As much as it hurt, he would never move to another city. He decided to spend the night in his Upper West side loft. He didn't want to be where he had been with her before.

-

Rhi had tried to "accidentally" lose the keys to the drawer where she kept Paul's hand-written manifesto. She had almost forgotten when the last time she had read it had been, but she knew it by heart now. She had hoped for an answer for a couple of weeks. Then she had wondered if he even had received the letter. He never responded, so she would never know. And she hated not knowing.

- I'm such a fucking coward. - She said out loud. 

- I can't hear you from in here, honey! - Lee screamed from the gym in his penthouse, where they were spending the weekend. - You either speak louder or walk here!

Rhi rolled her eyes. He was the last person she wanted to talk to. Nevertheless, she stood up, walked towards the gym and said with fake sweetness:

- I said I'm going out to get a latté. Want anything?

He shook his head, cleaning his own sweat off the seat he had just been on. 

- Just come back quickly, I'll miss you.

She faked a final smile before calling the lift in the corridor. She didn't feel like coming back quickly. She didn't feel like coming back at all. She made up her mind, called a cab and went back to her apartment. She texted some lie about work to Lee and walked torwards the nearest Starbucks. 

-

Paul was about to tell the cab driver to stop at a Starbucks. He was really needing a coffee after the long flight. Then he realised where he was. The "wrong" side of Central Park. Near where Rhi lived.

He felt weak in the knees. What were the real odds of them bumping into each other? He decided to let the driver go past several coffee shops. Each of them held cute girls in fancy coats. He wasn't ready for that. He probably never would be.

-

Rhi watched the cars and cabs on the street outside the window. She was ignoring Lee's texts. She wanted to be someone else. She wanted to hop on one of those yellow cars and ask them to take her to Battery Park. 

She laughed to herself at the idea. 

- And do what? Go "Yo, did you get my letter, the one I sent a month ago?". Right...