Trouble in Paradise (Arianna and Nicholas)

As the elevator doors opened, a lone figure in black sat motionless in the middle of the open space. Nicholas had his arms wrapped around his knees, his head buried deep.

If it were anyone else, I might have assumed they were crying. But Nicholas wasn't the kind of man to shed tears over a fight.

Pete was nowhere to be seen. For a moment, I hesitated. Should I step out?

The elevator doors began to close after being unable to detect a need to stay open. Everything before me was compressed by the closing doors.

I stood frozen, watching Nicholas through the narrowing gap until the doors sealed shut, leaving him outside my view.

I exhaled deeply, my thoughts in turmoil. Should I go check? After all, this was my place. But where was the other person from the fight?

My heart tightened at the thought. What if Pete was beaten up so badly that he had been tossed aside somewhere, out of sight?

I shook my head, snapping back to why I was even here. I reached out and furiously pressed the button to open the elevator doors again. What a day!

I gasped in shock. Nicholas was suddenly right in front of me as if he had teleported here. He blocked the elevator from closing.

"Ariana," he called out my name, a bitter smile pulling at his lips.

The movement stretched the cut at the corner of his mouth, and the bruises on his face tightened. The veins on his forehead throbbed under the pale elevator light. It made him look all the more battered.

He opened his mouth as if to say more, but no sound came. We stood less than three feet apart, staring at each other. I watched him gulp as if he were fighting to hold something back.

After a long pause, a hoarse whisper escaped his throat. "Let me hold you... Just for a moment..."

Before I could react, he grabbed me tightly. Nicholas's hug was crushing, his arms coiling around me as if he might break me with the force.

The moment happened so quickly that I didn't even have time to refuse. Even as I found myself in his embrace, it felt surreal.

I closed my eyes, my mind filled with

the image of his dark eyes and tear-dampened lashes. I couldn't help but feel disoriented, as if time had somehow blurred.

The elevator doors slowly closed, trapping us in the tight space. The glossy walls reflected his lonely silhouette and all the times I had chosen to forgive him.

I pushed him away, quickly pressing the button to reopen the doors, and shoved him out.

"Mr. Hawk, please have some self-respect. Do you need me to arrange for someone to take you home?"

I gave him a once-over. In his current disheveled state, he wasn't fit to be seen by anyone upstairs.

I didn't get his response. So, I looked around the area around us. "Where is Pete?"

"Do you have to bring up another man when you're together with me?" Nicholas froze, his face darkening with disappointment. "Can't you see I'm hurt?"

I looked up at him and replied

vel

seriously, "I think we have very different definitions of 'being together.' Nicholas, have we ever truly been together?"

Receiving no answer, I turned and stepped back into the elevator. As the doors slowly closed, Nicholas clutched his chest, bending over in pain.

The thought of me being with someone else during the years he was gone made his heart ache unbearably.