Vignette 7
I like you…
She sees him limned against the tall windows of the hotel room, staring at the glowing city below. His arms raised at his sides, pressed against the window frame, he looks crucified, and her heart aches for him. Still dripping from the shower, she goes to him, feeling the strength in his abdomen and the soft spaces between his ribs.
She knows he’s leaving. He’s tried so hard to hide it from her, worked harder than she’s ever seen a man work before. It makes her tired to think about it. Is it for her? She likes to think so, and hates the creeping feeling at the back of her mind that tells her it isn’t. She wants him to love her. High above the city like this, she feels disconnected. Down there, people are fighting to eat, sleeping wherever they can find a place. Down there is humanity, the warm comfort of human contact, the scents of food cooking and the press of humanity. Here, there’s only the two of them, floating on a little air-conditioned island away from them all.
If she had to choose, she’d stay here with him.
She presses her head against his back, holds him. She feels him wince, the slightest pull away from her, but she doesn’t care. The world outside, the amazing push and craze of humanity, they’re waiting to swallow them back up. She needs this, she needs to feel him with her for just a while longer.
He turns and wraps his arms slowly around her, squeezing until she can’t breath, squeezing until her ribs hurt sharp in her sides and her back feels near to breaking. He shakes a little as he holds her. She’s not sure, but he could be crying. She leads him from the window to the bed, where she caresses the soft skin that stretches over his chest.
For just a few more moments, he’s perfect.
When she wakes, he’s gone.
I stole the picture from Tatielle. She took it from deviantArt somewhere. She’s got a lot of really fun, interesting, inspirational pictures kicking about. This is the first “sequel” vignette I’ve done so far. Not sure if that’s going to mean I start telling real stories with them, or what, but I think it’s kinda cute. I don’t like the third-person narrative here (I would have preferred to keep to the first-person) but I couldn’t get into this woman’s head as much as I would have liked.
