The stage was empty except for one girl; her heart beating rapidly in her ears. She could see them applauding, but heard nothing except for the beat of her heart. She looked up at them all and smiled, as she did every night, but something had changed. She had been well-trained in keeping her composure, yet she could feel the blood rushing to her face faster than the speed of a knife stuck by a friend. For some reason she couldn't quite figure out what it was, and then she saw them. Those dark piercing eyes that always seemed to have a power over her no matter what she did. Those eyes so haunting, yet she couldn't look away, overcome with more emotion than the last time she had seen them so long ago. Those eyes, his eyes, the only thing capable of making her remember. In the brief moment she had let herself go, no one seemed to notice the unusual staring contest of a dark past and a promising future. Desperately hoping not to be sucked once more into such a beautiful pit of endless despair, she quickly finished her curtain call and left the stage followed closely by her fellow performers. Coming out to meet the audience she wanted more than anything not to see those eyes again, but she couldn't help searching for them on every face she encountered. She couldn't understand why she was looking for something she didn't want to find, but she had to see them simply to learn why they had returned. Eventually, she had maneuvered her way through the entire lobby and was now standing at the theatre entrance overlooking the adjacent street, and she saw another forgotten memory. The infamous black 1972 Grand Torino, so many times had she been seated in that very passenger seat hoping that the cops wouldn't catch them. Her heart suddenly jumped into her throat and her stomach fell to her knees. Once again she heard nothing but the beating of her heart, which was beating faster than it ever had before. Although, she probably would've appreciated the ability to hear in this instance, because she would've noticed herself chasing after the car and yelling for it to stop, thus creating a bigger scene than she ever had since obtaining her new life.
So long she had been running, a tear drop for every step she had taken to get to this point. The past she was seen running after she wanted more than anything, but at the same time she felt wave after wave of resentment towards it. As she stood there watching the black car disappear all she was emotionally capable of feeling was confusion and an endless vortex of sadness and pain. It wasn't physical pain that she felt, but to her and only to her, in that moment, her heart felt like a large weight that wouldn't allow her to move from where she stood. Her audience, who had recently given her a standing ovation, just stared at her waiting for something, anything else to happen. When nothing did, the crowd quickly dispersed and went back to their previous activities. She never noticed the other people around her, either way she couldn't hold it in any longer, so with her heart weighing her down she stood in the very spot of her downfall and quietly sobbed.
She woke up the next the morning hoping to God that the night before had been a dream. Her hopes were shattered when the only thing awaiting her were a box of tissues and red puffy eyes, the result of incontrollable crying. She never really truly understood why people cried; she found sadness to be a wasted emotion and wanted no part of it. She had no idea what she was going to say to her friends and family to explain her actions, but she didn't want to think about it any longer. Her mentality was that the longer you thought about something the worse it seemed to get, so she didn't. After making this decision, she proceeded in getting out of bed, regaining her composure, and getting ready for a job she was thankful she still had. However, she made one mistake, while deciding not to think about last night or anyone in it. She didn't think about the fact that a certain someone might be waiting for her when she got to work, someone she had seen last night driving a black car that she never wanted to see again, but would have no choice.
Later that day when she arrived at work she just wanted to make it to her dressing room without having to talk to anyone, but things never seem to go the way she wants. Less than ten feet into the building she heard the director, Myles Stakes, calling her name. "Haley, Haley!" she stopped and slowly turned towards the sound of her name to find Myles running towards her, he wore the biggest smile anyone had ever seen on his face. Haley was one of the only cast members that hadn't thrown herself at Myles to get her role, and he always seemed to appreciate her for that. However, he rarely ever spoke to anyone unless it was during production or if he was firing someone, which made Haley a little bit nervous to listen to what he had to say. When he finally got to her he told her that he had finally found the perfect person for the male lead role. This was a miracle because in one of Myles' plays if he didn't find a good enough male lead he would cancel the entire show and everyone would be out of a job. He told Haley to hurry up and get ready for rehearsal because the unknown male lead would be here any minute and Myles didn't want to waste any more time.
Haley was in her dressing room getting her costume on for the first act and for once in twenty four hours she wasn't thinking about her past from the night before. She was wondering who this new male lead could be to make Myles so incredibly ecstatic, it was hard to make that man show any emotion. She came to the conclusion that it didn't really matter and that she would find out soon enough. Little did she know that she would be in for a bigger surprise than she ever could have predicted. Walking to the stage she could hear the slow yet intriguing music being produced from the orchestra pit below. Moments later, she arrived on the stage and at first she didn't see him, not until Myles introduced her to her new partner for the next sixteen weeks. "Hello, it's very nice to finally meet you," when she heard him say this she couldn't help but notice something extremely familiar about his voice. As soon as she looked up to meet his gaze, her eyes once again met those dark piercing eyes that she knew so well. She was stunned and didn't know what to say, so instead she took his outstretched hand to shake it, but as soon as their skin touched she wished she never had. The feeling she got every single time his soft skin touched hers surprised her every time. She felt warm, loved, and like all her problems had just melted away into oblivion; she had never been able to explain it. She always had a certain expression when she felt this way and there was no doubt that he noticed. When he gently pulled his hand out of hers she quickly snapped back into reality just in time to hear what Myles was saying to her. "Haley, you and Nathan will have no problem working together, his audition was flawless, it's like you two were made for each other." She had no idea how this was going to work. Everything about this man made her tremble, she couldn't think straight. It was absolutely incredible the power he had over her, and after six years of absence it was still there.
Myles was extremely eager to start rehearsal with the cast completely finished, but his plans were stalled when Haley quickly stood up and ran off the stage. It caught Myles by surprise, but if there was one thing he knew about Haley it was that, when she was upset, it was best to just leave her alone. He reluctantly cancelled rehearsal for the rest of the day and everyone left the building except one. Nathan sat down on one of the props and just listened to silence. After about ten minutes he decided to visit Haley's dressing room to see if she was still inside. When he arrived he didn't go in; he just stood at the door and listened. He could barely make out a muffled sound, but as soon as his hand touched the door the sound stopped. On the other side of that thin barrier which will always separate them, Haley had once again been crying. Then all of a sudden she stopped; she felt the air around her getting warmer and her skin being to tingle, and she knew he had come. She didn't say a word and neither did he, and then she felt a cold chill and knew he had gone.
Outside the theater, Nathan was practically sprinting to his car; he wanted to get as far away as possible. Looking at his face a bystander would observe no expression what so ever, but his rapid breathing and the erratic beat of his heart would make it seem as if he were in more pain than she was. When he got to his car he hurriedly jammed the key into the lock. In his hurry to unlock the car, he ended up breaking the key off in the lock. When he saw this he simply turned around and leaned his back up against the car door. After several minutes he let out a long and painful sigh in the realization that he was stuck at the theater, merely a football field away from the lost love of his life.
Back in the theater, Haley was in her dressing room sitting in the exact same spot. Her mind was completely blank, because she knew that if she tried to think she would only be able to think about one thing. In this instance, she was comforted by the idea of being completely numb instead of having to feel. She hadn't blinked in so long that when she did, her eyes had gotten so dry that her eyelids felt like rusty needles against them. Her head shot to the right towards the door and she saw the door handle begin to rattle. The rattling stopped as soon as the reason for its existence realized that the door was locked. Moments later the handle to the other, unlocked, door turned and when the door opened the man who entered wasn't who she had expected. Beau James, Haley's older brother, walked through the door and Haley was relieved it was him yet saddened that Nathan hadn't come back for her. Haley looked up at her brother and walked to him for a hug, they stood in that spot for a while and neither of them said a word. However, Beau was silent for the same reason she was, because unbeknownst to her, he had spotted Nathan in the parking lot hiding behind that car.
Nathan was sitting on the roof of his car contemplating on whether to go in or not when he saw the unforgettable face of Beau James pull into the parking lot. Beau had never approved of Nathan because he always believed that Nathan had too much power over Haley's mind. As soon as Nathan recognized Beau he jumped down and hid behind his car until Beau entered the building. Nathan knew he had to get out of there but still had no way of accomplishing such a thing. All he could do was sit there and hope to God that Haley didn't tell Beau that he was here.
After Beau gave Haley her much needed hug he gently pushed her away and held her at arms length. He didn't say a word because he knew there was nothing to say, he just kissed her on the forehead and she knew that meant he had to go. Beau began his endless walk to the parking lot hoping to God that Nathan was still there, because he had some serious anger and he knew just whose jaw he wanted it to land on. However, when he finally reached that godforsaken car Nathan was no where to be found. Apparently he had gotten smarter over the years and realized when to run.
Nathan knew that Beau would come back out eventually and he didn't feel like having his face crushed, so he decided to sneak back into the theater on the other side of the building. Nathan had just turned the corner to the hallway leading to Haley's dressing room when he saw Beau exiting his own destination, and he quickly bolted back around the corner and hid until he was sure that Beau was out of the building and gone. While he was hiding from Beau though, he started to get an immense feeling of doubt in his gut, and wasn't really sure anymore if he should go see her or not. After several moments he decided to screw his gut and he slowly made his way down the never-ending hallway to her dressing room door.
After Beau left, Haley sat back down in the chair she was previously occupying. She felt a little better and comforted about her situation even though her brother didn't actually say anything comforting. She had absolutely no idea what she was going to do about Nathan; she didn't even know where to start to figure it out. This was all she was thinking about, where to start thinking, until she heard footsteps.
Nathan was heading towards her door when he realized how incredibly loud the sound of his heavy feet hitting the floor had become. Unfortunately for his nerves, he only realized how loud he was being when he got to her door, so he knew that his presence was known. Knowing the door was unlocked, he swallowed his pride and his nerves and opened the door, and he walked right into those oh-so-beautiful blue eyes that had forever been seared into his memory since the first time that he saw them.
It was the first day of senior year and Nathan couldn't wait to get to his first class, because it would take him that much closer to getting to his last class. When he walked through the door leading into his first period AP Lit class with his friends surrounding him, he saw her. As soon as their eyes met every single noise around him completely drowned out and all he saw were those blue eyes. The light reflected in them so perfectly that you could see small glints of, he swore it was gold in her eyes. This entire moment happened in exactly three milliseconds and then he quickly proceeded to his seat, as did she. As most high school students know, the first day of school always holds pivotal information that will help you with the rest of the year, but one boy wasn't listening to a single word. The entire class all he did was stare at her, waiting and cherishing every couple of minutes when she would look up and meet his gaze for a split second. He could've just sat there and watched her fiddle with her pencil all day long, but the school bell schedule had other plans in mind. The incessant ringing sound was the first thing in an hour that tore his attention away from her face, and when he looked back she had already left the classroom, leaving him with that insatiable feeling of wanting more. Nathan's memory had only taken a few seconds in reality, but that was long enough. His nerves were now completely gone and he was filled with an oddly excessive amount of confidence and the ever so familiar feeling of more. Without even thinking of everything that needed to happen between them prior to trying this, he took two steps and he had reached her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close, and its not that she didn't resist, she didn't make any movement except blinking. He noticed this very unaffectionate response but brushed it off. He once more looked into those hypnotizing blue eyes for a few seconds, and then he began his quest to close the gap between the very eager lips of two very mystified people.
Haley had known that someone was at the door but she couldn't be sure as to whom it was. That is until he opened the door. She wasn't exactly surprised by his presence, but by the way he was staring at her, with such unadulterated adoration and love, the last thing she expected to find on his face. Then in a flash of light he had walked across the room and grabbed her up into his arms. For a moment, he just held her there looking deep into her eyes and she into his, but what each found was completely different. Where he found love and warmth she found betrayal and pain, so when he began to lean into her, she was utterly confused. His slow descent to her lips gave her just enough time to come to her very reluctant senses. She gently placed her hands upon his chest; he however took it as a sign of affection and began to lean in a bit faster. As soon as she realized her message had been way too subtle for a male to comprehend, she used all of her strength and shoved him away from her. He stumbled back from her and when he looked up there was no emotion in those eyes, but not in a good way, they were so cold and unfeeling that she had to look away. When she heard footsteps once more, she looked up and he was gone. The only thing he left was an open door and a broken heart. She was looking around the room hopelessly, hoping to find something else of his even if it was just the scent of his cologne, and there it was.
A small folded up piece of lined paper lying on the ground beside her feet. She slowly bent down to pick it up to see what secret it held. When she opened it up she felt like a leprechaun finally finding its pot of gold. On that small piece of paper in the faded pencil lead read: Downtown, corner of 5th and H Street, Marriott Hotel room 309. She couldn't be sure if it was his but she had to find out, she quickly gathered up her things and headed to her car, not fully knowing what she was doing but knowing she had to do it.
When Nathan felt Haley shove him away from her, something inside of him died. He truly thought that it would work, and hadn't prepared himself for if it didn't. He wouldn't let her see him in such a crushed state, so when she broke eye contact he made a run for it. He didn't know what else to do. He knew he should've waited but he needed a cold shower and fast. When he got to his car he was so desperate to get away that he just broke his back window and climbed in through the trunk. He had been driving for about two minutes when he began rummaging through his pockets looking for the address of his hotel. When he finally realized it wasn't there he only had one thought: damn. He knew he must've dropped it in the theater somewhere. Now he would have to call the only other person he knew who lived here, someone he really didn't want knowing that he was in town: James Grant.
When Haley got to the hotel she made it halfway through the lobby to the concierge desk and froze. This was way too much drama for such a short period of time. She knew full well that if they didn't run into each other accidentally, he would eventually come looking for her. So to avoid anymore drama for as long as she could, she turned around and walked out, but she wouldn't have to wait for very long. As it happened, less than fifteen minutes after Haley left the hotel, Nathan walked in with James Grant. They were clearly arguing about something, but even if you were eavesdropping you wouldn't be able to understand what they were saying. Not because you couldn't hear them, but because they were speaking Latin.
Myles Stakes was sitting in his office when he heard Haley leave the building. Two hours had passed until her return, and Myles was still sitting in his office waiting for her, he was always waiting for her. It only took her two minutes to appear in his office after he heard her enter the building. Myles had never been the jealous type, but she was acting too strangely to pass up the question. "Where'd you go?" Haley didn't miss a beat with her response. "I went downtown to see some friends but they weren't home, so I came back." Haley's heart was beating a little too rapidly for an innocent person. She knew she hadn't done anything wrong yet she was filled with an unexplainable guilt. She hadn't physically cheated on Myles, true, but her emotional betrayal was beginning to get the better of her. However, like a trained professional she was able to keep her cool. She was always able to fool Myles, and that particular thought didn't help her guilt any. After a minute or two of just staring at each other, Myles made the first move by slowly walking towards her. When he reached her she saw the warmth and affection in his eyes and she began to relax. The way he wrapped her waist in his arms was so tender and loving that she couldn't help but give into him. He was so gentle when he pressed his lips to hers that she almost couldn't tell that their lips were even touching.
Every time he touched her, he kept falling more and more in love with her. However, Myles was never the one to just jump in without precautions, yet there was something about her that he simply couldn't resist. Whenever she allowed their lips to touch he achieved the greatest high any man could ever experience. It felt as if he was reborn. Her lips were so soft, as they gently moved against his, like she was afraid of what would happen if she let him go any further.
Haley could feel her temperature rising as Myles kissed her, but for all the wrong reasons. It wasn't Myles that brought out this fire in her and that bothered her more than any one person could ever fathom. Moments later, it was Myles who pulled from the embrace and looked so deep into her eyes, yet not deep enough. Her eyes were still closed, even though he had stopped kissing her a while ago, but only because she couldn't bear to look him in the eye. Although, when she did, she could see that he took the gesture in a completely different light when she saw that tiny smirk playing at his lips. Myles, seeing the reaction, hadn't yet realized that it was guilt and not anticipation that kept her eyes closed tight, not that he ever would. Blinded by love, so cliché, yet so true. The two just stood there in each other's embrace waiting for the other. After several moments, Myles, who had been staring at Haley's lips for the longest time, looked up to find she was staring at the floor with a look of dread resting on her flawless features. With the simplest gesture, he quickly showed Haley exactly how much he meant to her. All he had to do was lightly place two fingers beneath her chin and slowly lift her face until her eyes met his. And with eight letters, he made all of the guilt, dread, and anticipation she had been feeling completely fade into oblivion. Myles slowly leaned down, gently pressed his lips to her, came back up and adoringly whispered "I love you," and with that she couldn't resist; those three words always getting the better of her and making her feel safer than she ever had before. With her right hand, she quickly wrapped her arm around his neck and pulled his lips down to hers. Hungrily kissing his lips as if it was the last thing she would ever do, her other arm slowly made its way around his neck resting atop her right arm while her hand played with the hair at the nape of his neck. Myles couldn't believe his luck, the most exquisite ever born into this world was kissing him, he couldn't have wished for anything more perfect, well he could but that would be held for a later discussion. As soon as oxygen became a problem Haley had no choice but to pull away and look and a look of pure happiness on the face of Myles Stakes. With that, she gazed right into his eyes and in the heat of the moment, impulsively exclaimed "I love you, too." That was all Myles needed and he soon had her in yet another earth shattering make-out session that wouldn't be ending for some time to come.
The next day Myles was still all smiles. "I can't believe she loves me, me!" He had been whispering that since he had gotten up that morning. As always, he was the first to theater, because to day they were having rehearsal, no matter what. When he arrived at his office he opened the room and just stood there; closing his eyes, he took a deep breath of her lingering scent, simply reminiscing about yesterday, the greatest day of his life. After a few moments, he walked into the office, closing the door, and walked over to go rest on his couch while he waited for everybody else to show up. Myles had been asleep for a good twenty minutes when he felt a weight on his chest; he slowly opened his eyes to see the smiling face of Haley looking back at him. Instantaneously, a huge grin spread across his lips. His hands went to her waist pulling her closer to him, while he bent his neck up to meet her lips, but before that happened she smashed her lips to his, slamming his head back against the pillow. As he lay there, reveling in the fact that this was his life, he heard a squeak but didn't think anything of it. Come to think of it, at this moment, he was completely incapable of forming any coherent thoughts, with her lips hungrily attacking his. Suddenly, they were both startled out of dreamland when his office door was slammed, shaking the entire doorframe. They both sat up quickly looking for someone, but there was nothing except an empty room and a closed door. Obviously someone had seen them, now they just had to figure out whom. To prevent any other prying eyes, they decided to pick up their activities later in a more private room.
Haley was walking down the hallway towards Myles' office and heard heavy breathing when she reached the door. Curious as to the source, she quietly opened the door so she wouldn't be noticed and had to stifle a laugh when she saw what was making the noise. There on the couch she Myles' fast asleep, he always looked so cute when he slept. She quietly and slowly tip-toed over to him and when she reached him she couldn't help but stare. She really did love him, to an extent, but in this moment her doubts her subsided for a short period of time. She gently ran her fingers through his hair, and then proceeded to position herself over him. As soon as she laid herself on top of him she saw his eyes flutter open and a grin form on his face from ear to ear. She felt his hands situate themselves on her hips and pull so there were no gaps between them. Haley then noticed him leaning up and would have none of that. With speed she didn't even know she had, she pushed his head back onto the pillow with her lips against his. With how crazy her life had just become, if there was one thing she was sure of, Myles was most definitely an excellent kisser. She didn't know where that boy learned his tricks, but she sure wasn't complaining either. Unlike Myles, her thoughts were running like crazy, but she didn't hear the noise. However, she did hear the door slamming so hard it nearly made jump out of her skin. She wasn't sure who saw them, but now that someone had, she knew the only thing she just got was more problems. Haley stood up and started flattening her clothing where Myles hands had begun to rise up under her shirt. When she turned around she was gently pushed up against the door and his soft and inviting lip met hers. "No, don't go yet, we were just getting started," Myles said in between kisses. Haley response was not exactly exciting but it was however logical, "We shouldn't do this here, we don't want anyone else finding out, later, I promise," she cooed as she tenderly stroked his cheek. Unable to resist her charm he pushed himself up off the door and gave her the room she needed to open it and leave. As soon as she closed the door behind her, she made sure that she had properly fixed all of her clothing and began walking towards the stage; before she could get there though, a hand reached out and pulled her into a room. Before she knew it another's lips were attacking hers, at first she was scared then she realized who it was, and when the lips moved to her neck just below the ear, she became aroused.
Nathan wasn't sure if it would work, but he was hiding in the room anyway. He had seen them kissing and it hurt, really hurt, but he was determined to prove that she still had feelings for him, so he decided to hide in the room and wait. He was sitting in the silence when he heard the faintest noise that sounded like giggling, he then heard a door shut and his temperature began to rise. The sound of feet hitting the floor started and began to get louder as the feet drew nearer. He didn't even know if it was her or not. As soon as he could tell the person was in front of the door, he opened it and pulled whoever it was into the door. He spared a split second to see who it was before he began to kiss her with the biggest smile glued to his face. He only became happier when she started kissing him back. After a few minutes of making out, his lips left hers and he began a trail of kisses along her jaw line until he got to just below her ear. He heard the softest of moans escape her lips and loved the fact that he still had the ability to make her feel this way. As he began to nibble on her earlobe she began to unbutton his shirt; she had it off of his body in a matter of seconds. As he made his way back to her lips, his hands began to move under her shirt to the warm skin on her lower back, all the while her nails digging into his shoulders. He felt her hands move up to the nape of his neck, before he knew what was happening she had a handful of his hair and was pulling his mouth more into hers than it already was. She shoved her tongue into his mouth and the make-out session reached a whole new level. Not truly believing that this was finally happening to him again, Nathan pulled away only for a second just to look at her. He saw her flushed cheeks, messy hair, closed eyes, and her lips wondering where the kisses went. He just stared at her for a few seconds and then he saw her slowly began to open her eyes. They just stood there for a few moments staring at each, their bodies still pressed up against one another. He smiles with true happiness for the first time in a long time and leaned back in for another kiss. However, he never got close enough to reach her lips, because her hands pushed against his bare chest hard enough so that she has enough room to escape his grasp and flee from the room, leaving him a complete state of perplexity. Seconds after she left the room, he heard a door slam and a lock click and realized that she wasn't coming back. It only took a few minutes for his happiness to fade, and he picked up his shirt from the floor and put it back on in defeat. Not knowing why she ran away, although he assumed it was because of Myles, as soon as he was once again dressed; he left the room and made his way to stage. When he reached the stage he was the only one there, so he walked over to one of the props, bringing his finger to his lips he just sat there remembering the feel of her lips against his.
Haley just ran out on Nathan, her mind completely spinning, what had she done? She's not a cheater; she's changed since high school. Why did he have to make her feel that way when he was around? She was happy with Nathan once, they just couldn't have that now, and she was with Myles and didn't plan on breaking up with him anytime soon. She was so confused; she had been pacing for at least five minutes, she never paced, that was her brother's job. She knew that she had to go back out and knew he would be there, so she decided on pretending like it never happened. She took one look in the mirror and let out a sigh at her appearance. Her lip gloss was smeared all over her lips, her hair was a complete mess, and her clothes were wrinkled. It was pretty obvious as to what she had been doing earlier. She quickly ran a brush threw her hair and straightened her clothes. She then looked back up into the mirror and reapplied her lip gloss. Taking one last deep breath, she unlocked the door, opened it and headed for the stage. Haley took her time in getting to the stage because she wasn't sure where Nathan had gone. However, when she got to the stage she was slightly relieved to see Myles there setting up his director's table for rehearsal, this meant that she didn't have to be alone with Nathan. She knew there was no way she would ever be able to handle that right now. There was one downside though, since it was still extremely it would only be Myles, Nathan, and herself reading lines for the next hour. Myles was ready to start reading lines so he called Haley and Nathan over to his table to collect their scripts. Nathan and Haley were only a few feet away from each other when their names were called but apparently Haley is the only one that heard, because she soon realized that Nathan wasn't following her to the table and looked back to see where he had gone. As soon as she turned around, she wished she hadn't, because she saw Nathan sitting against a prop completely spaced out with his fingers to his lips, and she knew exactly why. Having Myles in the room didn't help her guilty conscience any or the millions of questions that once again started running through her mind.
Myles was getting impatient so he looked up from his table and saw Haley standing there just staring at a completely spaced out Nathan. He called her name once more and she whipped around and plastered a huge innocent smile on her face. Myles simply looked at her with a suspicious look until she gave him those puppy dog eyes and he gave in. he motioned for her to get Nathan and come over to the table.
Haley now felt even worse than she did before, she couldn't believe that Myles had caught her staring at Nathan. She didn't want to get Nathan's attention because she knew she would have to touch him, and she knew she would feel tingles. She quietly walked over to him and nudged him with her foot. Met his eyes met hers she saw all of the love, desire, and lust in his eyes, but she also saw pain and sadness. The look he was giving she hadn't seen in an extremely long time. She never realized how much she missed it. That one look made her want to jump on him and just start kissing him again until there was no sadness and pain left in that look. But she knew that she couldn't do that, so she simply turned around and started walking towards Myles and was thankful when she heard his footsteps and knew he was following her.