Flesh.

004

I wake up feeling foggy as ever, weak, as if I had just got hit by a bus. I move my arm and see Emma lying there like an angel.

My guardian angel.

She smiles up at me and stretches her arms, falling asleep once more.

"Good morning," my voice comes out husky.

". . . Morning." A smile plays across her face, before she slams a pillow onto it, hiding that smile, that beautiful smile.

"I'll make breakfast," I say, getting up.

"Please tell me you aren't a morning person," she grunts.

"Eggs, or bacon?" Her smile twitches and she purses her lips, "Both."

After we eat, we go to a festival, a farmers market.

We get cacti, and some types of veggies. We're going to make some type of Mexican meal, and for some reason I've been up for cooking.

There's comfort in her presence, a constant thing in my ever changing life. She's a nice girl with an edge that's enough to strike my curiosity. Still, there's times where I can't help but miss the fire. She's comfortable. But she has yet to set me ablaze.

On our way back, I offer to get my cast-iron-pan. I walk into my apartment, turning on the lights, expecting my cat to jump out at me.

Belle is asleep on my bed she looks up at me and rubs the sleep out of her eyes.

"Sorry to wake you I'm getting some materials for my dinner."

She stands and walks to the bathroom.

"Bye," my voice echoes throughout the house and then there's a slam, before I can click the door shut, a foot nails it open.

"I'm l-leaving today." She murmers gently.

"Alright." My tongue clips and she frowns.

"Can we eat together?" She asks, her eyes pleading for me to say yes.

"Get out of my apartment Belle."

Sobs fill my apartment, my eyes water. No. I can't.

My feet betray me, forcing me to open the door again.

"What do you want to eat?"

The girl in tears' eyes flash with a emotion I've never seen in her gray-blue eyes before.

"Chicken & peppers." She smiles and licks her lips. I laugh lightly, she always craves chicken . . . that woman is made of chicken.

I shoo her off into the bathroom and tell her to get ready. She comes out, dressed over the top and I throw on some vans. I don't dress up - - not even for Emma.

I grab my keys and walk out. She follows behind me like a lost puppy. I laugh because the irony isn't neglected; she wants food as would a puppy; likewise she wants love. In her dreams.

I slide into the front seat in the car and she follows, not really knowing where to put her hand, she places them gently in her lap.

I turn the radio to Of Mice & Men to match the screaming in my head, hoping hers will as well.

We arrive at a Thai restaurant a little ways from my apartment in New York, bordering Syracuse. A giggle escapes her lips after my road rage gets the best of me when I can't find a parking-spot.

"You know what, I'll drop you off at the door and park around the back of the building," I respond.

She meets my eyes and concern-filled ones stare back at me, "will you come back?" Her lips form a solid frown.

"Yeah, Belle, I'll come back."

She nods, and I know she doesn't trust me, but that's her problem. Not mine.

I drop her off and park out back, I pull my key out the ignition, and sit in my seat and throw my hands against the steering wheel. I forgot to tell Emma!

I shove my key back into the car and bolt out the parking lot.

Belle's point of view:

____________/

I sit there waiting for her, and she doesn't come. I sit down on the curb still waiting, eventually I walk around the back of the building . . . Her Challenger isn't there. I reach for my phone; it's not there. I grab my purse from the sidewalk and ask a stranger for a cell phone. I let out a scream and call a taxi. And once again I'm at a loss for words.

So much for eating out on my last day in New York.

Authors Note:

I hope I'm breaking your guys hearts with Belle ^-^