'Erik… I did not expect to see you'
She turned and meeting his presence so close to her after so many days of its absence became overwhelming. However, there was something new in his look. His intense eyes were watching her with resolution.
'If you are leaving because I've just come here, just don't. Not yet. I'll only take a minute or two of your time', his voice sounded genuinely sincere and grave. 'Please…'
She nodded, staring at him with attentive eyes, looking forward to hearing what he intended to tell her.
'I apologize for absolutely everything that has happened. I…I shouldn't have done this to you. You are totally unaware of what I've been through. So unaware, so innocent that', his voice turned slightly sorrowful, 'that I don't think it fair to make you pay for that, Angie. I know and understand why you don't want to speak to me because of how I've treated you so far…'.
A small smile escaped the girl's lips. 'My attitude towards you lately has nothing to do with what you told me that day, even though it might have seemed that way…'. She straightened her posture and lifted her gaze, searching his. 'Listen, I've suffered very much too but sometimes you must leave the past in the past because, otherwise, you'll end up broken'.
Erik looked away, taking a moment to understand the deep meaning of her statement. Leaving the past in the past would be the best solution so far...
For a moment they stood in the same position, looking into each other's eyes, with only a thick silence that made its way through the thin space between their bodies as the mute witness of their exchange. Soon, the silence became deafening and, far from made them comfortable around each other, built a great wall between them.
Angie finally found her voice. 'Well… thank you very much for taking the trouble of coming here to apologize but I've still lots of things to do…'.
She was about to go when Erik's arm stopped her. This time there was a very short distance between them.
'Promise me that at least you sincerely accept my apologies'.
Once more she found herself under the spell of the closeness of his presence. She could smell his perfume and listen to his breathing.
'Don't worry, forget it ever happened if that's what bothers you…'.
She had the intention of leaving but his eyes had her frozen in place. She could only sail forever in his gaze…
Gently, her small hand rested on his left cheek, as she stroke it lovingly. It was a delightful sensation that of caressing the skin of the man who had fascinated her since the first moment. So delightful that soon she forgot all about the chores that needed her attention…
She watched him tenderly while surrounding his neck with her arms. And she captured his mouth in a kiss. The kiss was timid at first, but soon, the hunger of not having met his lips, presence and words for an eternity lit the flame of uncontrollable passion within her. Angie caressed the nape of his neck, entangling her fingers in the locks of dark hair, as she explored, insatiable, the mystery of his mouth. Her hands began moving over his shoulders and chest, seeking and wanting to know every fibre of him. She moved away, smiling, and stood on tiptoes so that she could whisper in his ear.
'I do not know how you've done it, but you've become in a part of my world and now I neither can nor want to throw you out of it…'.
Her passionate whisper sunk in his mind. He really wanted to say something back but no words left his mouth just because he couldn't understand how everything had gone so far.
She needed him, so much that she couldn't even control herself. Right then, more than ever, she only wanted to feel his presence. A rain of her kisses showered him, from below his ear to the corner of his mouth and down his neck. She paused the sweet torture over his pronounced Adam's apple and kept going downwards. Erik closed his eyes briefly, still startled by the swift turn of events and of the way she had of giving absolutely everything, unstoppable and generously.
He grabbed her hands tightly and perhaps a bit aggressively. 'You never have enough, hm?', he smirked.
She laughed. He had never seen her laughing so openly and cheerfully. She could have even been taken by another person, for her eyes and face were completely exultant, lively and full of hope. For a moment he saw her as beautiful as in that strange dream of his, when she had been lying on the bed and her hair was splayed over the pillow, like a vision…
Due to his unresponsiveness, she was about to really leave when Erik's arms had her trapped with a desperate force she had never known in their other encounters. He encircled her waist and started kissing her with the same passion she had showed him before. So strong was his impulse that she couldn't feel the pain that shot through her when she collided with the corner of the table. She did not abandon the kiss for a second. On the contrary, she came closer to his body, accommodating her legs around his, while she tried to undo the first button of his waistcoat. The caress of his lips on her pulse made her knees shake and a shiver go through her spine. God, that could not be happening. His kisses became more demanding as he passed over her shoulders and the peach-coloured skin that showed through the low neckline of her dress. Swiftly, his hands travelled down the outline of her figure, her muscles tensing at the touch. He stopped at her hips, which he gripped with both hands. He could listen to her contented sighs and feel every beat of her thundering heart.
He moved backwards and smiled at her, checking that she did not really expect that kind of reaction from him. He got back to kissing her lips, slowly and deeply, as one of his hands stroke her leg softly. Finally, he moved away.
'Is this your way of accepting my apologies, then?', he looked at her slightly amused.
Her breathing was still visibly altered and her lips half-opened. 'I guess so…'
Erik caressed her cheek briefly and furthered the gap between them.
'I think we both have certain occupations that need our attention, don't we?'.
She nodded with undisguised frustration. 'You are right'. She smiled, her cheeks still flushed. 'I…I will see you in a couple of hours'.
He made a sign of assent as he watched her rearrange her clothes and go out to the streets again. Once he was alone, his gaze turned to the spot that Angie had left vacant. Perhaps that change in his life was beneficial and forgetting Christine was just something that time would do by itself, wouldn't it? With these hopeful thoughts he descended the stairs that had led him to her apartment.
The cracking of wood awoke her. She removed her hands, which had been covering her face, and looked up from the floor. She sat up when she saw the doorknob turning. Édmond came in with the suitcase he had supposedly managed to bring back from the residence.
'I hope I did not leave anything behind…', he watched her, slightly worried. 'Your eyes are red, I think it would be better if you tried to have a rest'.
'You already know that it's hard for me but I can try it'. Her words sounded cold, though she did not dare to look at him directly.
He took some steps forwards and held her arm to catch her attention. 'As long as you are here, I can assure you that you are completely safe'.
Christine look around, a strange smirk forming in her mouth. She shook off his hand. 'Here? I doubt very much that I could ever feel the slightest bit comfortable and safe in this junk-room, monsieur, that is without taking into account the uncertainty regarding what those people you were referring to are planning to do with me'.
'You'd better control your tongue', a flash of a threat crossed his eyes.
Without replying, she stood up and turned her back to him, walking to the back of the dark room. She did not want to talk to him. In those moments, a mixture of self-loathing and hatred towards the mean, ambitious man behind her, would have made her explode anytime. It was not until she heard the door being locked when she decided to move again. She could very well start unpacking the few things she had left in her former room, not so long from where she was.