The Save Game

Chapter 1-Continued

"Where are you taking me?" Allison struggled against his grip on her wrist but couldn't free it.

"Somewhere where I don't have to worry about you feeling the wind beneath your wings tonight." The man walked passed the elevator and to the stairwell.

"Listen Sul. I am about to scream and when I do, I'll tell them that you tried to push me off the roof." She glared at the back of his head and almost ran into him when he suddenly stopped.

"First of all, it's Sal. S-A-L. Sul isn't even a word, let alone a name." Sal spun around to stand face to face with her. "Secondly, if you scream I'll make sure that they know the real story. And who do you think they are going to believe? Some poor little rich girl or a famous television star?"

Allison opened her mouth to respond but quickly closed it when she realized he was right. She'd had her fair share of run ins with the law and one look of her record would tell them all they needed to know about the truth.

Sal pushed the door to the stairs open and pulled her inside.

"How do you know I'm not a psycho? If you're taking me back to your apartment maybe I'll murder you in your sleep." She grinned, hoping he would fear her.

"How do you know I'm not?" The words traveled over his shoulder to where she followed. "And considering I just saved you from committing suicide, I'd say the psycho part is a given."

Allison saw him glance over his shoulder at her. She could swear the corner of his mouth was slightly turned up, smiling at the fact that he had thrown her words back at her.

She stopped struggling against his hold and willingly followed him to the twelfth floor. He stopped in front of the door marked 1289 and fished out a key from his pocket. When the door swung open, he stepped to the side and motioned for her to go in.

Allison searched his face, trying to decide if she trusted him. When he pursed his lips and raised his eyebrows, motioning with his eyes for her to get inside she didn't hesitate and walked through the door.

"Look, Sal, I don't know what you plan to do to me or what you think I owe you for getting me off the roof, but I'm not that kind of girl." She took in the surroundings of his apartment. It was a simple, clean space that actually comforted her.

"Oh for Christ sake. Relax. I'm not expecting any sexual favors." Sal crossed the room and opened a cabinet. He pulled out two glasses and a bottle of whiskey. "You drink?" He held the bottle up for her to see.

"More than I probably should." She nodded, making her way across to the snow white couch in the middle of the room.

Sal sat the two glasses on the table and started to fill them as he watched her.

"You been drinking tonight?" He asked.

"It would seem that way, right? Poor, misunderstood girl drinking so much that the world around her became unbearable and she decided to end it all on the roof of her parent's apartment." She took the glass that he offered her and held it but didn't take a drink. "No, I haven't been drinking. I'm just tired. Tired of life. Well, mostly tired of not living up to what my parent's wanted for me in life."

Sal studied her. She was small, maybe five and a half feet and no more than a hundred pounds. Her dark hair was accented with strategic blonde highlights. Her earlier playdate with the wind was obvious in the way the strands tangled together. Her clothes were obviously expensive, probably an effort by her parents to make her what they wanted.

"What could they want that you didn't do?" He was genuinely curious what she hadn't lived up to.

Allison took a sip of the drink then, squeezing her eyes shut as she swallowed. She'd never been a fan of whiskey.

"Cassie. They wanted a second Cassie. She's my sister." Allison said when she saw the confusion on his face. "She's five eleven, ninety pounds and married to the head talent scout of AGI Model Agency. And then there's me. Too short, too fat and too unsuccessful. Laying twisted and tangled on the sidewalk below their apartment seemed like the only way to make them happy."

Allison shrugged and downed half of the whiskey with her next swig, grimacing as it burned its way to her stomach.

"Seriously?" Sal's face showed his disagreement with what she'd said. "First of all, your height is their fault. Secondly, you look way too skinny to me. And third, I'd say meeting up with me makes you pretty successful because there are women out there who are dying to meet me and have never succeeded."

When she laughed, he couldn't help but smile at the reward.

"What's your story?" Allison asked. "No one is ever on that roof. Why were you there?"

She nursed her drink and watched as he did the same. She wondered if he was ever going to tell her his story when he finally spoke up.

"My best friend was in a motorcycle accident last night. He's in pretty bad shape. The doctors aren't giving him a ten percent chance of living." Sal threw back the rest of his drink and then stood to refill it. "Being on the roof top alone, with the sounds of the world seemed like the best place for me. We've been friends for over thirty years, so not having him to talk to is hard."

"I'm sorry. I hope that he proves the doctors wrong and gets better." Allison meant what she said. She knew how big the hole from a lost friend could be. "I lost my best friend to a drug overdose two years ago. It never gets easier."

Allison sat the glass on the table and stood.

"It's getting late. I should probably go and let you get some rest." She started toward the door.

"Stay tonight." Sal's words stopped her and she turned around.

"I'm okay, really. Thank you for everything. I won't do anything stupid. I promise. I don't need anyone to look after me." She reassured him.

Sal stared straight into her eyes.

"You may not need anyone, but maybe I do." He tried not to plead with her, but he didn't want her to walk out that door and leave him alone with his thoughts again.

Allison hesitated, not knowing what she was getting in to. One look at his face told her that she needed to be there for this stranger tonight. And as much as she hated to admit it, she needed him too.