The Broken Pieces Left Behind

Chapter 13

My phone was dead and I was craving ice-cream, badly. I had manged to catch a cab back to the apartment with the money that I'd thankfully taken before we left. But now I was sitting in the hallway staring at the door. If only I had telekinesis.

I massaged my temples feeling a headache coming on - so much for keeping stress to a minimum. 

And it just so happened that today was the day I decided not to charge my phone before leaving home. I sighed leaning my head against the cold wall. Maybe I should have used the limited battery on my phone to Google how to pick a lock. I was sure that there would have been tutorials on YouTube. 

A shadow cast over me and I looked up, my breath catching in my throat. My eyes hungrily took in everything about him. His hair was tied at the base of his neck and he was in his signature dark jeans and t-shirt. It had felt like months since I'd seen him. "Interesting place to hang." 

I wanted to ask so many questions, they all bubbled inside me, but I eventually just settled on "What are you doing here?" I thought he was still mad at me.

"Well Becca I live here," he said smugly.

There was that cheeky grin on his face, and now it only made me smile. I thought that I'd never see that expression aimed at me again. It was like I found something lost. "I mean here, on my floor"

He slid down the wall beside me his legs stretching out longer than mine, before handing me a notebook "I found that in my books."

I offered him a thank you. I didn't even notice that it was missing. Silence filling in the space around us. 

"So why are you out here sitting in the hall all alone?"

I chuckled bitterly "My mother and I went out to dinner and she forgot me in the restaurant."

"Oh," he cleared his throat nervously before continuing "Does that, happen often?"

I shrugged. She'd never actually left me any place before but I'd been left before. Usually I had my bag with my keys, so I had  avoided this situation, until today. I could have gone to Doris and asked her to open my door but she was visiting with her very pregnant daughter-in-law and sadly wasn't here to rescue me. 

I should have used that battery to call Erin and tell her to come get me.

"Do you need a place to stay?"

I shook my head. "It's fine, I can just tell--"

"Before you say no. I live just downstairs and you'll get dinner."

I studied the familiar lines on his face, there was only a friendly expression. "Okay. But only since you offered to feed me."

His apartment was the same layout as mine but it was more masculine

"Do you mind if I take a shower?"

"No. The bathroom is right there," he pointed towards a door to my left "I'll go find you something to wear."

He turned in the direction of what I assumed was his room "Hey Jack," he stopped and studied me "Thank you."

I wasn't exactly sure what I was thanking him for. For not hating me, for forgiving me, for rescuing me. All at once I supposed. All he did was smile, his dimples winking and told me that it was not a big deal. To him maybe it wasn't but to me he had become someone I depended on even without realizing it. 

The water rolled down my body and it was pure heaven. I don't think I'd ever needed a shower so much in my life before. I stepped out and wrapped myself in a towel studying my reflection in the mirror. My hair was hanging down my shoulders in wet ropes, clumping near my face.