ACRO

One Decision

Next morning:

Sam and Youssef were jogging together. Sam sped up, overtaking him, when Youssef increased his speed, starting to run. She started running too, and the two started racing.

As they reached the gate of the building they lived in, Sam stopped, looking up at the cloudy, grey sky with a dull look etched to her face.
"It's gonna rain today." she said, glumly.

"Rain is beautiful." he said.

"It's terrifying."

"Why're you so afraid of rain?"

Her eyes lowered.
"I'm not exactly afraid of it. It gets muddy and dirty.."

"It's okay to be afraid."

"I'm not afraid."

"You are."

"I'm not."

"Why are you afraid of rain?"

"Because," she exclaimed.
"I don't recall a good experience with it."

He turned to look at her, his eyes wide.
"Was it a flood?"

She shook her head.

"Hurricane?"

She looked at him, her eyebrows knitting at his absurdity.

"Tsunami?"

"That's got nothing to do with rain." she said, her voice shaking with laughter.

"Lightning. Lightning struck you." he said.

Her eyes averted, thoughtfully, and she shrugged.

"Pretty much."

His smile faded.
"Wait. Really?"

She chuckled, amusedly.

He stared at her, in annoyance, the humour leaving his face, as the two moved into the elevator.

"I wasn't just born this beautiful." she smirked.

He leaned back and nodded, slowly.
"Makes sense."

She looked at him, in slight confusion.

"I mean," he said, his voice low, as he turned his neck to look at her, his eyes filling with unknown emotion.

"You are beautiful."

The humour left her face, and her mind numbed, momentarily. Her eyes fell to his lips and back into his dark, hooded eyes, making a sudden feeling erupt in the pit of her stomach.

Butterflies.

Oh, shit.

The elevator door opened and she turned abruptly, heading out, as he silently followed.

As she stepped out of the elevator, she saw a large box of pizza at her doorstep. On top of the box was a note, pinned to it with a toothpick.