The Five Laws ✓

03

A five second stare off had taken place between the man and I, before I decided that going back downstairs and facing the crowded restaurant would be better than his sharp gaze. My eyes shifted awkwardly before I nodded gently and turned to leave, my shoes making a slight scraping noise as the cement below made contact with my soles.

"Wait a second."

I heard his voice fill the small rooftop, causing me to stop right in my tracks. I don't know why I stopped; It's not like he sounded threatening in any way.

Maybe it was the way he sounded so intrigued, and made it apparent just by speaking three words. Maybe it was the way his voice sounded — deep and full of bass, but not extremely low, just right. Maybe it was the way he sounded cautious but curious at the exact same time.

I turned back to see him move his legs down, away from his chin, hopping off the ledge and back onto the cement. He was quiet for a couple moments, and I bounced on the balls of my feet impatiently, waiting for him to say something.

"What are you doing up here?" His voice ripped through the silence like a knife, only the wind adding to what would otherwise be a quiet night.

He kept his distance as he leaned against the ledge, stuffing his hands in his pockets. I gave him a look, not sure why he cared enough to ask.

"Um, I was actually getting away from everything hectic down there." I stated, glancing over at the door a few feet away from me before meeting his light eyes again. A stray thought formed in my head, and I suddenly found myself wondering what color his eyes were up close.

He nodded, a small, "Oh." sounding from his mouth as he looked at the ground. I bit the inside of my cheek, raising an eyebrow, "How about you?"

Why was I asking? Politeness? General nosiness? I shouldn't care about why a stranger was on a roof — and neither should he.

I stood awkwardly as he looked up, taking his hands out of his pockets and folding his arms in front of him instead. "Long story, I just couldn't be in there anymore."

His eyes moved down my body absentmindedly, I assumed, taking in my appearance until he saw the incident from earlier beginning to dry on my top and skirt. He questioned me softly, "What happened?"

The brunette looked confused and tilted his head a bit, pushing off from where he stood to come a bit closer. I looked down at my clothes, already knowing what he meant.

"Stupid waiter. Not a real one, a machine one." I stated, rubbing my arms to try and warm up a bit. The corner of his mouth twitched a bit as he shook his head.

"Those damn machines, right?"

"Hate them." I replied politely, looking past him at the sky before tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear. He stopped walking, noticing my action. I could see him fighting a grin. "What's your name?"

I gave the stranger in front of me a weird look. I should have went the other way, I should have avoided the door to this place.

"My name's Mia."

He smiled fully as soon as I said it and I realized suddenly just how attractive he was. He had come close enough to where I could study him properly without having to focus too hard. He couldn't be older than twenty, and yet he already looked completely sure of himself. His dark hair looked shaggy, but not long enough to the point where he looked bad. His eyes were an intense blue color, almost gray, and I couldn't help but notice the slight freckles that dotted along his nose. He had a strong jaw and his height made it so I had to look up a bit more than usual just to meet his gaze. In any other setting I'd be nervous to be standing in front of someone so good looking.

"I-yeah, yours?" I spoke quickly, my voice faltering a bit as I mentally cringed at how dumb I sounded. He didn't seem to notice as he stuck his hand out, making me grin.

"I'm James. It's nice to meet you, Mia."

I waited a beat before taking his larger hand in mine, the warmness of it engulfing my cold one, causing me to relax. Before I could speak again, the door behind me burst open, scaring us both. James jumped before looking behind me, causing me to retract my hand from his and turn to see who had caused so much noise, my heart pounding frantically in my chest.

My best friend stood there with both of our bags on one arm and a confused look on her face. Her eyes shifted from me, to James, and then back again before she let out a whistle.

"Sorry to interrupt but Mia, we're going."

I shook my head frantically as soon as the words left her mouth, feeling sick. "No, not in a million years. I do not want to face any of those people ever again."

She gave me a pleading look, adjusting the bags which were slipping off her arm. "They all left, said there was some party downtown. I told them we couldn't go though, maybe next time."

It's like she was oblivious to the person standing right in front of us.

Before I knew it, or could even object, Florence was tugging on my arm and trying to drag me back down towards the restaurant. I resisted, trying to look back at the man again. "I guess I'm leaving, but it was nice to meet you, James." I said quickly, feeling kind of bad for leaving him up there like that. He nodded again, smiling at me.

"It was nice to meet you too Mia, try not to spill anymore drinks all over yourself again."

I laughed at his attempt to lighten the mood, trudging down the steps with Florence right next to me, "I'll try my best!"

And with that, the door slammed closed, leaving me feeling a bit better about the embarrassing situation that had happened, and a determined friend dragging me outside towards the illuminated city.