Infinite

Chapter 4 - This Day, Just End

“Elixa!”

The shout brought her out of her ‘music zone’. Looking up, earphones still pressed tight against her ears, she smiled and waved at Alex. As she thought, he was not alone. Standing along-side him was Zephyr, his eyes almost shone in the darkness closing in around them. She had forgotten how quickly the sun set here.

She slowly stood, gathered her things, and started a slow jog towards them, determined not to stumble again in front of this new being. Composing herself, she greeted them.

“Hey guys, how is the move going so far?”

“Zephyr is doing most of the heavy lifting. He is rather robust” Alex said in quick response with a quick jab at the other man’s chest. This caused a small smile to appear on Zephyr’s lips.

“I like working hard, and lifting. Anything I can do to help.” His voice snuck into Elixa’s ears again, like slipping slowly into a warm bath, it seemed to engulf her as she slowly drowned in it. Yet she was bent on not letting it show.

She quickly opened up the back door of Alex’s car, with a “Let’s go.” Before she could even throw her bags to the back, a gentle, yet heavy hand rested on her shoulder. She turned around and saw it was Zephyr that stopped her.

“Ladies sit in the front.” The message was simple and yet had a level of respect that baffled her, coming from a man, especially one that was a friend of Alex. She hesitated for a moment, but in that moment, Zephyr had walked around the car and opened up the passenger door for her. Awestruck, she slowly made her way to the door and slipped into the car.

Getting into the car was slightly awkward. Alex bounced into the car, sporting a toothy grin like he knew something they didn’t, and Zephyr got into the still open back door. He then slid along the seat so he was sitting behind Elixa. She turned just enough to have him in her sight. Out the corner of her eye, he sat there silently. From her past experience, if, and only if, a boy had opened a car door for her, he would wait for a ‘thank you’ and would bug her till she gave one. But Zephyr, just as he had taken her back by the gesture, surprised her with his silence. He wanted no appreciation, and she could not give one in her current state. He was an enigma.

Before she could finally express herself, Alex broke the silence.

“We’re here!”

The car ride lasted shorter than she had remembered it. It might have been because she was so lost in the thoughts about Zephyr, or because Alex wanted to get done with the moving. Whatever the reason, she wished it lasted longer. Zephyr’s scent, she had no better word for it, had just wandered to the front of the car, finding her interest and tugging on it, hard.

Taking one last deep breath, she opened her door, took her sports bag, and walked towards the house. Reaching the steps, she finally let her lungs free of the piece of him she had trapped. Again, she wondered what was happening to her.

Turning to Alex she asked, “So, what are we moving where?”

“Everything in the back room to the loft, I will sleep with all my junk”

And junk is exactly what Alex had. Luckily most of the items had already been packed into boxes by the two guys earlier. Dropping her bag at the door, she moved towards the nearest box. She was quite strong as a woman, and picked up the box easily enough, however she needed both her hands the support its size. Followed by Zephyr with an even bigger box in his cradling arms, they started making their way up the stairs. As the evening went on, she focused on moving the boxes up and down the stairs, trying to avoid contact with Zephyr. As much as she wanted to speak to him, she always got nervous, even passing him on her trips. Alex was happy enough to make jokes on his rounds up and down the stairs, breaking the silence with a small laugh from either Zephyr or her. He was currently the glue holding her together. But then her feet betrayed her again.