Chapter 13
I dragged my feet towards the lift and reluctantly hit the ground level button. Every descending level accelerated my pulse proportionately - I could almost feel my heart bashing itself out of my ribcage.
I have so much to tell him, but from where I am positioned, I didnÂ’t know if I should still continue to hang around him or should I just hypnotize myself to move on with life and concentrate on school and work.
And as the lift door screeched opened; I saw him stood just right in front of me.
I did not know why; I rush forth and wrapped myself around him.
From the pugnacious and extremely strong-willed woman, I have transformed into a little girl, completely feeble and vulnerable. Rick compassionately received me; I could hear his gentle breath breezing above me. Then I started weeping a little and I felt the warmth of his hand bringing me closer to his chest, before patting my shoulder a couple of times.
Then, I could feel his same hand at the back of my head, probing through layers of my hair with his fingers, like curious children combing through tall grasses in a game of hide and seek. It felt so comforting that I wished that time could freeze at this moment forever.
‘Why are you crying?’ Rick asked.
‘Why are you apologizing?’ I replied, with the left side of my face buried deep into his embrace, refusing to look up.
We stood there in silence for a good ten minutes. Some people walked pass and I felt the aura of some erratic stares, but all that malicious energy coming from my neighborsÂ’ disapproving stares seemed to deflect away harmlessly.
We had transcended our consciousness out of this world – a world of our own.
Never had I felt so protected and loved.
‘Come…follow me…’ I said, as I grabbed his hands and heeded for the stairs.
We ran steps after stepsÂ… level after level and all these while, I grasped tightly onto his hands. I caught his smile every time I turned around to steal a glance at Rick. Somehow, I seemed to run out of breath after the level six (probably because the mucus in my nose is blocking my respiration), while Rick still has cheers on his face.
‘Where are you going?’
‘I want to go to the roof.’
‘Why not we take the lift?’
‘Don’t want!’
‘You are out of breath Ivy,’ said Rick with concerns in his tone.
‘Out of breath? You must be crazy; back then in primary school, I ran for my class.’
‘Oh really?’
‘Ok, let’s play a game; I give you a three second head-start before I start chasing you. If I can catch you before you reach the top level, you are going to owe me another favor.’
Without hesitation, Rick started sprinting along the flight of stairs and seeing how fast he reacted, I started pursing him without the countdown.
‘That’s cheating Ivy!’
‘I don’t care!’
I drew every single ounce of my innate strength and started hounding him like a hunting dog, but RickÂ’s speed and agility is beyond my animalistic pursue. There was laughter echoing along the stairs, amid several running footfalls, as Rick started taunting me. I was semi-disabled from the humor he cracked, but adamantly, I continued racing after him.
However no matter how fast I ran, the distance never close up. He was too fast for me.
And finally, Rick reached the top first, emerging as champion of our little game.
‘Ok, that was fast. I think we came up faster than the lift.’
Fatigued and slightly disappointed, I grudgingly pointed to the ladder, imbued into the west wall.
‘How come it wasn’t locked?’ asked Rick as he climbed up to the roof cautiously.
I did not answer him; just gave him a smirk.
(To be continued...)
I am touched.
