Her.

Chapter Eleven.

As the two young adults stared into each others eyes, both of them felt the urge to lean in, just to place their lips together briefly, but it was Esme who snapped back to reality the quickest, their lips inches apart, close enough to feel Perri's breath on her cheek as she turns her face, placing her hands carefully on his chest and pushing him away slightly, biting her lip in the process. "You have a girlfriend" She whispers, before she walks out of the room, leaning against the hard wall outside of the studio, steadying her own breathing, composing herself, as she pulls a hand through her hair.

Perri on the other hand, lent against the table in the room, his fingers touching his lips, almost as if their lips had touched, but they hadn't. Perri's thoughts spinning around his head on why he was so captivated by Esme, he didn't even know her, that was the first time she had ever spoken to him, at least that's all he could remember. Perri moves to from the table he was leaning against to the wall, little did he know that Esme was leaning against it, but he felt drawn to it, like he had to linger there just a while longer.

Neither of the young adults believed in fate, they both had terrible experiences in relationships, and it was more obvious to outsiders lately that Perri wasn't happy with Olivia, his acting however was on point, Olivia believed everything Perri played, Perri however was counting down the days until he felt confident to break things off, he felt awful for leading her on, but he needed more of a reason to break things off with her other than 'I guess I just don't like you', he felt like six months was too long for that reason.

Esme sighs to herself and pulls herself away from the wall she was leaning against, searching the hallway for her best friend, if anyone knew what to say or do it would be Emily, where as Perri's mind wonders to where Jordan had got to, if he could openly talk to Jordan about how he felt right now, or whether it was best left to the other thoughts in his head, not wanting to open the box on if he could fall for someone he hadn't really met.

As Perri steps out of the room, his eyes scan up to Esme who was walking at the top of the hallway, her long hair flowing behind her, he couldn't help but keep his gaze fixed on her, watching her walk away. Perri had often had trouble growing up trying to get girls attention, often stuttering around them and never knowing what to say, but after growing up and his voice deepening he never had a problem turning a females gaze towards him, specially if his wild afro was tied up on top of his head, appearing to take away the image of his baby face, so he couldn't understand why Esme wouldn't speak to him, the thoughts of doubting himself appearing in his mind before he pushes them away, he intended to get to know Esme, and that's what he was going to do.

Whilst Esme walked into studio two, her own gaze looking for Emily, she couldn't help but think that Perri and Jordan both now knew who she was, or part of who she was, the nervous feeling filling her from her toes to her forehead, the feeling overwhelming her as she grips onto a chair in the studio, steadying herself again for the second time within minutes. But she couldn't help but think of what would of happened if she had of kissed Perri, would she of let it get that far, would she of let herself be a reason that Perri cheated on Olivia, the answer was no, it was no in this moment in time, but Esme couldn't deny the feeling that she did want to kiss him, to finally know what his lips felt like.

And it's in this moment in time that both adults felt they had a connection with each other. Esme had slowly realised that she fell for Perri, watching his personality from afar, from the sidelines, seeing how he was with his best friend, seeing how he was with other people, she got to know the Perri that the world didn't, the Perri that was really Perri. Where as Perri had only ever seen Esme's eyes, that's the only thing that caught his attention first, and if you asked him what he loved about her, it would be her eyes, how captivating they were, he didn't know her, but he didn't need to, he could tell what person she was by the way she presented herself, how quiet she was, how humble she was. She worked for one of the biggest radio shows, and it didn't matter if she was someone in the background, she had caught Perri's eyes without realising.

But, in reality Perri and Esme were worlds apart, but alike in too many ways, whilst Esme kept the secret that she was in fact a podcast host, working to get her radio career started, the same as Perri, Perri often wishing that some days he could just be normal, that everything would just pause for a moment, even if it was just for a moment.

Both adults wanted to get to know each other better, even if it was just a friend basis, but how close could they get before Perri would realise who Esme was, or how close would they get until Esme realised she ultimately couldn't live in Perri's world.