Stereotypes

CHAPTER FIVE

"I heard some girl had a meltdown in here." Tash was saying as they moved across the room. Sheenah's steps faltered. Was she supposed to tell Tash that she was the girl? But what if she'd ask her what had happened, she honestly had no idea what had triggered her panic attack. Had it been the glares? The crowd? Or something else?

She decided to not say a word about it. Tash would ask questions that she had no answers to. As they were moving across the room, Sheenah kept her head down, lest the people recognize her or worse point fingers at her. The thought alone, although utterly ridiculous, terrified her being.

The stretch was long, one needed to move from one end of the room to the furthest end, exit through the entrance and then use the verandah outside in order to get access to the balcony. Sheenah vaguely wondered if the reason Reigner had taken her to the balcony without a view was because he hadn't wanted her to cross the room all the way in her state, with all the eyes on her. She instinctively smiled, and then frowned.

"And this is it!" Tash declared, upon their arrival. "Beautiful isn't it?"

"Yes. Very." Sheenah was entranced. The view was magnificent. In the new balcony, there wasn't another slightly taller building that was blocking the view. Instead the skyline was vast. The night sky oozed radiance from the city lights. Wind brought with it a mixture of smells. Cars honked below and there were sounds, of laughter, chatter, some yelling and calling. It was busy, and slightly noisy yet strangely calming to her. She loved what she was seeing.

Sheenah took a deep breath, breathing in all the aromas and smiled. "This is magnificent."

"I told you. There's always something magical about a city at night. Always."

Tash's phone rang and she moved aside to answer. After a while, she left, not before informing Sheenah who just nodded absently, lost in the city's bright lights. Her peace was however disturbed almost immediately after her friends departure.

"My harshest critic. Hi." She recognized the voice instantly and could tell that he was smiling.

"Look I didn't mean what I said. It was just me blabbering nonsense."

"Of course you meant it. I saw..."

She was ready to protest when he decided to stop his teasing. "hey I'm kidding. It's fine. Really. You don't have to apologize or anything." He smiled again, "and like I said. He quite likes constructive criticism." He grinned fully. Sheenah almost rolled her eyes. They both leaned on the railing and observed the view, nothing blocking them now. Sheenah was squinting her eyes at something far off and Reigner looked at her keenly.

He held his breath at the sight. She was beautiful; with high cheekbones, brown eyes that you could get lost in, full beautifully curved lips and short black hair that accentuated her long slender neck. He looked her up and down briefly and her tall height seemed to be the icing on the cake that was her. Before his staring could become creepy, he decided to speak, "how do you like the view?"

"It's beautiful." He agreed, looking at her. He was pleased. She was calmer now and he wondered what had triggered her meltdown earlier on. He however dared not ask.

"So, the awesome artist to all this beautiful pieces." Sheenah mimicked Lilly's voice. Reigner laughed and his laugh was smooth, silky unlike his voice.

"The one and only." He mock bowed. He had a boyish charm.

"The pieces are lovely."

"Yeah. I noticed you couldn't keep your eyes and hands off them." He teased. He seemed to love doing that. Her expressions each time were worth the tease. They thrilled him.