The Masked Singer

[Chapter Fifty One]

Chapter Fifty One

Nathan's eyebrows crinkle up as my words sync in. "I can't talk right now Riley. My shift ends in two hours, how about then?" he asks.

"What if I don't have two hours to spare?" I slide my sweaty hands over my leg as I try to remove the build-up of moisture. And then my legs begin to violently shake from the nerves coursing through my body. If I don't get the chance to clear things up with Nathan, then I'll spend my plane flight stressing over how I'm going to sort out the situation.

"Give me a moment to discuss this with my supervisor," he says.

"Please hurry," I plea.

"I'll be as quick as I can," he replies. Nathan puts the pen and paper in his apron as he rushes away from the table and back to the kitchen doors. I feel awkward waiting for him and standing alone. I cross my arms over my chest and look continue to look around the restaurant with a half interested face.

Relief consumes me when I catch Nathan's body emerging from the kitchen. He's no longer wearing the black apron but still dressed in a pair of black slacks and a white button down blouse with the company's name and logo sticked neatly over the right breast.

"I've got ten minutes to spare. What did you need to talk about?"

"Ten minutes will have to do," I reply.

Without wasting a precious moment of our thinning time, I make the first move to exit the restaurant. The tables around us have begun filling up and don't provide adequate privacy. So I move to the lobby in hopes of finding a quiet corner or space to share alone. But everywhere I look, I see people standing in groups talking or occupying the waiting couches and other designated spaces.

I weave between bodies and spaces in the lobby as I try to find somewhere. I'm halted in my tracks when Nathan grabs a hold of my wrist and pulls me to face him.

"What are you looking for?"

My eyes don't meet his, they continue to scan the environment behind him as I reply, "Somewhere private to talk."

From the distance I spot a pair of double unmarked black doors, which appear promising. I know it won't present any favours to on looking people when we disappear or reappear later, but it offers the private space I desire.

Before I can suggest these doors to Nathan, he takes charge of the situation. He grabs my hands and tugs my arm as he leads me behind him. The long strides he takes and the amount of people loitering around makes it difficult to keep up with him.

When we get near the doors, Nathan looks around the room and then slips through the doors when nobody is looking. I'm not surprised to find it's a dusty, stinky, dark storage room that's not often used.

"I've missed you," he whispers. The ample light seeping in through the door crash illuminates the outline of a small grin spreading across his face.

"I've missed my pancakes." We laugh. From within the darkness, I feel Nathan grab my hand and lace his fingers within mine. His warm hands make my heart races and small tingles flutter up my spine.

"Where have you been?" Nathan asks. The sad tone of his voice tugs on my heart strings. How am I supposed to leave him? I feel like I'm acting as if he means nothing to me, when in reality, he means a lot to me. And because of that, I need to stop being selfish and say goodbye. Alex is right; I can't hurt Nathan like I've been doing in the past.

"I've just been busy with life. Dad has me running around doing all these crazy things," I try to joke but I feel the tension rising in the air.

"We should hang out tonight, eat pancakes." The mentioning of pancakes makes my stomach grumble and the rest of my insides tingle with happiness. I bet Alex doesn't know my love for pancakes.