Slices

Part 2

"Psst! Riane!" A sharp knock brought Riane quickly to her feet. The room had begun to feel like a box, suffocating and stale. The furniture still lay in pieces about the floor and she was running out of resources. There was only one sandwich left in the fridge. A glimmer of hope brought her scrambling to the door, then an image from Trojan's last visit stopped her from moving forward. "What do you want." She asked flatly, her hands resting on her hips.

Was he going to come in or what? He was still outside the door. Irritation made her eyebrow twitch and she walked up to the door. "Why haven't you come in yet?"

"I can't, the key that I always used is gone. It was in the plant..."

"Wait, you lost the key?!"

"What!? No! It wasn't my key!"

Riane froze. The room grew even smaller. "You- you're telling me... You're not my kidnapper?"

There was a long pause from the other side of the door.

The flowers in the corner drooped in the humidity and a fly zipped about the room; the sheets were ruffled and the fridge buzzed louder and louder it seemed. Riane's hair was frizzy and unkempt from the excessive amount of time she'd been in here- lying on the floor or slumped over the side of the bed, horrid thoughts coursing through her head. Often times, she'd find herself twirling a strand of hair and staring at nothing as Trojan's words echoed in her head. His ruffled golden hair and sporty physique; the way he would try to suppress a smile and his mouth would slowly, almost twitching, curve up and his eyes would glimmer with humor. A cute crease would form beside his mouth and wrinkles next to his eyes... She could lose herself just looking at him. But he doesn't love me, she would say, hastily dismissing every image that had just crossed her mind.

"No, I'm not your kidnapper. That's why I needed to protect you." His voice wavered.

"Oh." Riane stared at the door, willing it to open. "Who do you need to protect me from?"

He paused again, clearing his throat. "Alan." His voice was like sandpaper as he said this, slowly scraping the air.

Riane glanced backwards, as if someone could tell her who Alan was. Maybe she did know Alan and just forgot his name?

"So, I hear you have relations with him?" Trojan spoke, his breath hot with anger.

Riane shook her head. No uhuh no Alan. Never an Alan, literally.

Trojan drew in a breath. "So, I take that as a yes?"

"Ah, No actually, I've never even met anyone named Alan." She blurted out, definitely wanting to throw away his suspicions. The only person she wanted to be in a relationship with was Trojan. She heard a sigh of relief from the other side of the door, then his breath caught.

"Wait, but he told me you were in love with him!" Trojan flung his hands in the air and paced outside the door.

"No... I haven't been in a relationship with any Alans."

"Is there anyone you've been seeing?" Trojan asked, hopeful that she'd be completely single.

She bit her lip, her gaze dropping to the floor. "Well, I kind of have- but we're not dating!" She threw those last words in, assuring him she was still available.

"Oh..." Trojan frowned. "What's his name?"

"Alexander. I don't really like him, he was just kind of my fallback."

A smile crept up Trojan's face. "Dude, you're just as bad as me." The atmosphere seemed to lighten a bit, and a bird pecking along the sidewalk let out a cheery little chirp before flitting off.