Exile

Reaching You

My necklace threatens to burn a hole in my chest. Or maybe it's his eyes – those beautiful brown eyes. I'm wilting under the heat of his gaze. My heart is pounding, and I feel light-headed.

Stop…looking…at me.

I scramble to get myself back on track. I'm just here to return the phone. That's all I'm here to do. I'm not here to talk to him, to look at him, to get lost in presence, like I used to do…

No! I'm here to return the phone!

With resolve, I stride over to him, fishing for his cell phone in my purse. I make sure I'm at arms length when I present the phone to him, expressionless.

"Here," I tell him flatly.

He looks down at the phone, then at me. "What? No properly greeting?"

My eyes darken. "Bonsoir, mon ami," I hiss in a very flawed accent. "Now, here."

His laughter infuriates me. How he finds this all amusing is beyond me.

"You seem out of sorts, Elodie." Traitor. How dare my heart leap when he says my name? "You're not mad are you?"

"Is that a trick question?" Annoyance overwhelms me. "You intentionally leave your phone in the backseat of my car, and then send text messages from your brother's phone, asking me to meet you here so I can give it back to you, and you ask me if I'm mad?"

"You didn't have to," he states calmly. "You could have waited until the weekend if it upset you that much."

"Oh, come on, you know I can't do that! What if this is your work phone or something? What if something important is on here? Then I'd feel guilty."

"But this isn't my work phone. Besides, why would I have my work phone on a Sunday? Even junior businessmen need time off."

"Ugh." He had me there. I need to trust my instincts more! "This is so messed up…"

"Still, it's nice to know you care." I fight the urge to shudder as he takes the phone from my hands. The currents I feel whenever he touches me, if only for a moment, are still as strong as ever – maybe even stronger. "Thank you."

My gaze is uneasy. Hell, everything is uneasy. My anger dissipates into the night air. I should have known I couldn't stay annoyed with him. I never could.

"You're welcome," I mumbled, turning to leave. "Anyway, you have it, so I'll go now. Just be careful next time."

"You're leaving already?" I should have known that he wouldn't release me that easily. "But you just got here."

I keep my back turned. Because if I look at him… "I just came to return your phone, and I've done that. So, I'm going to go…"

"But you've come all this way, and I'd feel bad if I didn't make it up to you."

"Oh, you don't need to do that." I'm this close to going into hysterics. "Besides, it was nice to come up here again, if only for a few minutes. I'd hope to do it at least once, and now I have, so." Get out, get out, get out now! "Yeah, I'm going to go."

"Elodie."

The drop in his voice stops me cold. So, that's it then. I'm not leaving this rooftop – at least for now.

I turn to him, still very uneasy. I can't quite meet his eyes yet, but I know he's looking at me. My chest hurts. I work hard to keep breathing.

"Yes, Alex?" I say quietly.

"I went through all that trouble to leave my cell phone in your car. Just so you could give it back and go on your merry way?"

Don't look at him. "Yes."