Nothing Less

Chapter Seven.

Songs for this chapter are:

Pushing Away- Kevin Garrett

Hurricane- Halsey

Perfectly Lonely- John Mayer

                   

Nora is walking toward me. Her dark hair shadows her face. She looks like a villain under the fluorescent lighting in the subway terminal. She's wearing tight black jeans with a rip in one knee and her black bra is showing through the meshy fabric of her tank top.  Is she even allowed to have a rip in her jeans while baking things for customers to consume? More importantly, why am I thinking about this right now?

I stand still as she approaches me, her prey, in the empty subway terminal. To be honest, the subway still freaks me out. I can't read the signs, I can't stand people piling around me like sardines, and I hate being trapped underground. How the hell am I going to get back if I can't even read the signs? Where the hell is Scarsdale anyway?

Nora waits for me to walk out from behind the sign. "You didn't think I knew you were following me since Lookout?" She raises a brow, studying me.

I wouldn't be surprised if she pulled out a whip, or a sword, with the way she's commanding her surroundings. She's not timid, she's enchanting and being down here with her adds to the mystery of her. I feel like I'm in a movie and her dark green eyes look nearly black, instead of their normal brown-green.

Nora stops two feet in front of me and pulls her cellphone out of her back pocket. Not a sword. She quickly checks the screen and puts it away.

"I've taken two self-defense classes," she begins to explain how terrible my spy skills are. "I saw you as soon as we turned on Nostrand. I was waiting for you to approach me," she pauses and her full lips turn up into a smile.

"But you just kept following me, what's up with that?" Her hand touches my arm briefly.

She officially thinks I'm insane, or maybe she's a little insane herself.

I rub my hand over the back of my neck and try to think of an explanation. "Well," I nervously clear my throat, "Well, I wanted to talk to you after your shift."

"Then why didn't you stop me? Instead of following me?" She questions my claim.

"I don't know."

She smiles. "Yes, you do. Just say it. Just say why you followed me. I have this special ability to tell when people are lying. It's my greatest talent, really."

Her eyes square with mine. "So, let me ask you again. Why did you follow me an hour and a half to Scarsdale?"

Without hesitation, or so much as even a second thought, I begin speaking.

"I wanted to talk to you hours ago when I was at your work and I know you know I was there, but you didn't say hi or anything. You haven't come by in a week, you haven't called me or anything."

"I don't have your number."

She licks her lips and I remember what she tastes like. Her hands on me, her tongue gently caressing mine. I'm glad she can't read my mind.

"You text me the day we went out,"

"Oh yeah. I forgot," she contemplates. Her fingers are steady as she tucks her hair behind her ear. "Okay, so what did you want to talk about?"

Nora leans her back against the wall and bends her knee. She's getting comfortable before she calls me out for being creepy.

What exactly did I want to talk about? Should I tell her that I wanted to check on her? That I missed her? She claims that she will know if I lie.