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(edited as of December 2021)
Chapter Two.
"Lisa Jane Turner, I swear to God, if you've taken yet another pair of my jeans – "
There was a sound of over dramatically played hurt and shock from outside Allie's room at her words. "I most certainly have not!"
Allie was currently at the back of her wardrobe, covered by the clothes she had pulled from the dust of the darkness where they had sat for God knows how long; she was pretty sure there were stuff she had bought when she was sixteen – and that had been back in 2006, meaning that it was far from being acceptable by today's fashion standards. She rolled back onto her legs, feet tucked under her as her hair lay in disarray around her, glasses pushed up to keep the brown, soft curls from falling into her face and catching on her eyelashes.
Normally, Allie wouldn't be in such a rush to get in at an earlier time for work, but after having left before the usual time she finished yesterday (for absolutely nothing, she might add), she couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt tug at her heart and, thus, she had gotten up a half hour early to get in just that bit earlier, knowing that Francis would be opening up shop and starting the morning clean down. Allie knew he wasn't really upset about her bouncing out but part of her was still unsure if he had been serious about her being on clean up duty for an entire week; she could not and would not handle the thought of cleaning the bathroom stalls as she used to back in her trainee days.
Clicking her tongue, Allie began to push all that was spilled out onto the floor back into her closet unceremoniously, foot catching on an assortment of fabrics and clothes before they lay in an unorganised heap in the back of her closet, appearing bloated and falling over one another in an assortment of limbs made up of empty arms and legs.
That'll be fun to clean up later, Allie remarked before she quite hastily shut the door to her closet, pausing to see if it would all tumble out then turning to grab the hair brush on her beg, dropping her glasses so that they sat on the bridge of her nose while running the bristles through her strands.
"What do they look like?" Lisa hollered from the other room, the T.V kept at a low volume as she crunched down on the somewhat stale Special K that she had announced that she had found lurking at the back of a cupboard. Allie was pretty certain that the cereal had been there when they moved in, but she wasn't going to tell Lisa that, call it pay back for always stealing her clothes, or what you will.
For all her friend's cleanliness (well… she was better at keeping things cleaner than Allie was and her room was a sure sign of that), it seemed that keeping things clean didn't extend to the washing – despite the fact that Allie had quite clearly stated for the past few days that it was her turn to do the washing and the pile of clothes laying in the basket wasn't getting any smaller.
As per their agreement when the two decided to move in together, the chores were swapped around every week and Allie knew that Lisa would do her part – sooner or later.
Most likely being much later.
Allie finished brushing through her hair, using her fingers to comb the long tresses upwards so that they rested atop of her head while she searching for a hair tie. An apartment with only girls and we can never seem to find a hair tie.
"They're black, have tiny flowers embroidered into them along the seams," Allie called out, eyes finally spying a rather worn out hair tie hid snug beneath her bedside table, and bent scooping it up as her arm holding her hair began to ache from being held up for some time. "They're high waisted and have roses on the pockets."
There was no answer from outside her room and Allie decided that she would just have to wear the only other pair of clean pants she had, the rest sitting in a pile to be washed.
"Oh."
Allie straightened as she padded to her half open door, peering out into the room where Lisa was sitting, her bowl of cereal laying soggy and forgotten. Sure enough, Lisa was indeed wearing her pair of pants and Allie's eyes sharpened into tiny dots as Lisa gave a sheepish grin, standing to unzip the pants and push them down her legs before tossing them over to Allie.
Had this not been a daily occurrence, Allie might have laughed.
"Okay, maybe it is time I did the washing," Lisa offered, turning to sit back down as Allie pushed her legs into the jeans, tugging them up until she fastened the button, satisfied as they sat above her hips, ends rolled up above her ankles.
"You think?" Allie snorted, darting back into her room as she perched on the edge of the bed, shoving her feet into her very worn out pair of shoes, bag on her shoulder and pocketed her phone, gloomy at the fact it had not charged during the night and the battery was now edging itself closer to being less than fifty percent.
Satisfied that she was all ready for the day ahead of her, Allie turned to leave, closing her bedroom door while patting her pockets and rummaging in her bag to check if she had everything; her plug had broken some time ago and she had been using the laptop to charge her phone and Allie was in dismay at the fact she would have to fork out money, yet again, simply because she couldn't walk properly on her own two feet and just had to spill her drink all over the plug.
"Damn, you seeing this?" Lisa whistled, turning Allie's attention towards her and reaching over to grab a hold of the remote that lay discarded on the table in front of her as she began clicking on the volume button, turning it so that Allie could hear it. "They've been reporting on Sokovia and the situation."
Briefly, Allie paused in her steps, pushing her glasses up her nose so that she would be able to see more clearly and moving to stand behind the couch to watch the scene as it played out on the news; it was the same set up as it had been for the past two months: buildings decimated, women and men looking utterly lost and fearful, children crying with tears running down their dust marked faces.
This segment seemed more focused on the clean-up of the place – clean-up, as if it was such a simply mess that one could push away and never think of.
It made Allie grimace, wanting to turn away from it because it was hard to watch, it always was, and the media never shied away from showing the brutality of the situation, of how saving the world came at great human expense. All over the internet were people trying to speak up, trying to be heard as they called for help in finding their lost parents, children, husbands and wives but their cries fell on deaf ears.
Their fifteen minutes of fame were up as soon as someone with a more tragic story came along; the story couldn't be ignored and was being pelted at the public from angles.
She couldn't go on Facebook or Twitter without people debating and arguing like it was something that they could weigh their opinion in on. It was being used as fodder for the news and media alike for the past two months ever since it happened, and it didn't get easier any time it was shoved in front of her.
Allie didn't like to think of a world outside of her own, didn't want to think of those people stuck beneath bricks and buildings, trapped and dying but lying forgotten because the rest of the world had been saved. She couldn't afford to think of those people, she had to think of herself and her own life, what it took to get here, to get to safety and that small part of her, that part of her Allie had to bury when she was so young and shoved so cruelly into the real world cried, wondering when she had lost her humanity, her empathy, for the sake of survival.
A coil of self-disgust slithered around her heart, making a lump dig itself into the base of her throat, becoming bloated. Her eyes were glued to the screen, watching as videos played of the incident in Sokovia, of how the city was torn, ripped from the ground and one poor soul managed to capture it, hands shaking and shouting in some unknown language and trying to run away before they were consumed by concrete, dust and blackness.
Allie turned away from the T.V screen, not being able to stomach it for much longer. It made her palms slick, hands shaking beside her before she curled her fingers in towards her palm, fists clenched at her side; Lisa, sighing, flicked through the channels, deciding to sit back and watch a much lighter choice of morning T.V watching instead of the news, settling re-run of Friends for the moment instead of getting to the laundry, as she had promised.
Allie pulled her coat around her tighter, hands in her pockets as her zipper pressed into her skin, grasping a hold of the handle to the door before turning around.
"I'll see you later," Allie called as she went to leave the apartment. "Make sure to get the laundry done; and don't call or text me unless you're dying or dead!"
There was a brief shout of acknowledgement and a farewell before Allie closed the door behind her, patting her bag for her keys, satisfied with the returned jangle of metal at her action.
Just one step at a time, one day at a time.
"I can't believe that when you said I was going to be on clean up duty, that you actually meant it," Allie stated, somewhat in disbelief and glaring at the mop that had been thrusted into her hand not moments before. Her nose scrunched up, crinkling, as she held it away from her, not wanting to smell the remnants of previous spills from years before hand; for all she knew, it was older than her.
Francis stood in front of her, arms crossed and looking a bit too amused for Allie's liking.
As per her planning, Allie had arrived early and had begun the usual wipe down of everything, trying to make up for the previous day and it seemed Francis was going to let it be swept under the rug, that is, of course, until he had dug out this monstrosity after some poor, butter fingered business woman had dropped her drink while trying to balance her phone, wallet and cup, spilling across the floor and splashing the legs of anyone in proximity.
It was late in the afternoon, not long after her break, and Allie had refrained from sneaking into the back to check on her phone, as she was sometimes prone to do.
Today, it was just her, Francis, Kyle and some other newbie, a girl who had started working there a month ago and who seemed so nervous that Allie was sure that she was going to pass out at any given moment. Allie sympathised with the girl and couldn't help but remember how she had been when she first started; crowds had never been her forte and it had been hard in the beginning, sometimes she would have to escape to regain her breath, heart shuddering and shattering her chest as she tried to recollect her thoughts and scattered self.
Allie hadn't had an anxiety attack in nearly two years, but she could still vividly remember how they felt and the feeling was something Allie didn't want to experience again any time soon.
At her words, Francis tilted an eyebrow, freeing an arm around his chest to motion her forward to the cut off area. Customers were warded off from the small spill zone by a simple wet floor sign but even despite it, some were still idiotic enough to step in it, dragging their feet and making the mess even worse.
"When was the last time you've spent a day on clean up duty?" he asked, brown eyes sparkling and clearly not as serious as he would have been had it been literally anyone else, his tone not harsh as a manager's should have been and not making Allie scamper off to deal with the problem as she would have had she been new. Having known the man for half a decade and being the second oldest on staff, with Francis being the eldest, the two were thick as thieves at work and knew that one would never be able to take the other seriously.
"I don't know," she replied, giving a small shrug and a smile. "How long ago was 2012?"
Francis let out a bark of laughter, reaching over to give her a hearty slap on the shoulder, nearly knocking the broom out from under her in surprise and almost making her stumble before Allie caught herself, glaring at her manager through her eyelashes.
"Well, someone's gotta do it," Francis laughed, voice like a singsong and teasing her, causing that tilt in Allie's lip to quirk up further.
"You, my dear sir, are absolutely right," Allie said, standing up straight as Francis murmured that he quite liked the sound of being called sir. Allie turned, eyes searching as the tip of her tongue slipped from her lips as she was prone to do when she was concentrating. Then, she spotted a mass head of faded pink curls wiping down a table in the far corner – though, Allie was pretty sure that it had already been done an hour ago and not a single customer had sat at it yet. "Hey! New girl!"
At the words, said new girl perked up, eyes wide behind her glasses and cheeks stained with blotches of pink; Allie motioned her forward and Francis gave a snort as Allie kept that same shark like smile on her face. The girl was soft spoken and had trouble keeping her hands still, always wringing them in front of her or twisting a cloth between her fingers. Allie gave a glance down at the girl's nametag where Kerri glinted back, sunlight catching on the metal and winking at her. Kerri's hesitant and ever ready to comply brown eyes darted from Francis to Allie, as if afraid that she was going to be reprimanded.
Once again, Allie felt that sympathy rise in her as she felt her smile soften on her face.
"Hey, Kerri, would you mind cleaning up the spill out there? It's really important that it's gone as soon as possible," Allie said, voice low and almost apologetic, gentle so as to not sound harsh to the girl or like she was giving orders. Instantly at her words, Kerri perked up, face relaxing and showing just how relieved the girl was at realising her worst fear of being reprimanded hadn't happen nor that she hadn't been shouted at or given out to.
"Uh, sure thing! That's no problem!" Kerri quipped, round face breaking into an awkward grin, beaming as she took the mop from Allie's hands, all too happy to comply as she walked off, shoulders sagging as Allie felt something smack her arm, making her turn as she saw Francis giving her a faux look of disapproval but she could see the remnants of a smirk lingering.
"You're horrible."
"I remember you making me do far worse when I first started," Allie scoffed, wiping her hands on the front of her apron.
"I wasn't that bad," Francis insisted, leaning against the counter, eyes watching the lingering customers, particularly so the group of kids in the corner that had been nursing their drinks for the past hour. Allie gave a snort, mimicking Francis' stance opposite him, taking the time to roll her ankles, wriggling her toes as she stretched to banish the stiffness and aches of her bones.
"Fran, I still have a scar on my thumb from the time you told me to clean each piece of a broken glass when you were the one who dropped it," Allie deadpanned, still remembering how she had spent an hour doing as she was told until Francis had walked into the back room searching for her, quite shocked and in disbelief that she was still doing what he had told her to do until he revealed that he hadn't actually been serious. It had made her embarrassed and so red faced she thought she would erupt into flames, smouldering into nothing but ash.
Francis tsked his tongue and pursed his lips.
"Okay, maybe I was kind of mean. Just maybe," he relented, and Allie gave a breathy laugh, reaching up to tuck away the strands and wisps of hair that had fallen from her slumped bun which had been sluggishly moved from the top of her head to the back of her crown, the soft brown curls spilling and bursting free.
The day was going slow, even for a Wednesday, and Allie almost missed when it was busy, then she wouldn't have stand around feeling as if she was doing nothing as time trickled by painfully. Kyle was in the back on his lunch break and the T.V was nearly muted above them, but she could still hear the small murmur of voices from the speakers, making sure that the place wasn't so filled with nothingness and silence.
"Hey, I know it's none of my business," Francis began, voice that bit lower and he gave a short, small cough, bringing Allie's attention back to him. "But yesterday… is everything okay?"
Allie felt the frown dig its way across her face, but she let out a breath, reaching behind her to take a hold of a neatly folded napkin, unravelling it in her hands and picking at it at the corners, dropping the pieces into a pile on the counter beside her.
While Francis didn't know everything about her, Allie knew he wasn't an untrustworthy type. He meant well, he truly did, but she figured there were some things that were best kept secret and just weren't blurted out to everyone she knew. It had taken years of friendship with Lisa for Allie to tell her about her life and that was even when they were living together.
"Just… Lisa trouble, you know how it is, "Allie lied, disliking the words and how they felt on her tongue, tasting of bitterness. "She got in trouble over something at work and needed help and it worked out."
Francis gave a hum, eyes watching her as she picked away at the napkin and depositing the waste beside her. Despite having known him for nearly five years, there was a line of being friends and being co-workers that Allie couldn't cross, couldn't afford to cross. She could tell that Francis knew she wasn't saying everything, that she was lying straight to his face, but he didn't push and prod her for the truth and for that, Allie was grateful.
There were just some things Allie would have to carry with her for her entire life without another soul knowing to the day she died. Shuffling on her feet, Allie straightened her back and faced Francis again, a forced small smile on her face.
"So, how are you and the boyfriend? You never told me about him."
Despite being a clear attempt of changing the subject, at her words, Francis' cheeks turned a darker shade of pink, scarlet beneath brown parchment as he didn't bother fighting the smile that made its way on his face. "He's fine, we're fine. Getting along good."
Allie gave a grunt, scrunching the napkin up in her hand until it was a ball in her palms and threw it at Francis' forehead, causing the older man to blink in surprise and be pulled from his thoughts. "That's the face of someone who's in love, not the face of someone in a fine relationship."
"Okay, and what about you? Any secret boyfriend or gentleman caller you have hidden away that we don't know about?" Francis teased, bending down to scoop the deformed napkin in his hand and to throw it back at Allie, hitting her shoulder and nearly falling to the ground before she managed to take a hold of it, rolling it back and forth between her palms briefly before placing it down beside her small pile of torn pieces of the paper towel.
"Please, I haven't had a boyfriend or any gentleman caller since I was 20," Allie sniffed, not at all too bothered by the revelation. The last boy she had the privy of being in a relationship had been her age and was not what one could consider being boyfriend material; if she remembered correctly, he had been far too immature for her liking and was a complete and utter slob.
Not to mention he had been a one and done kind of guy in the bedroom and her first sex experience had been her worst sex experience and it never improved during the brief few weeks she had been with him. She had managed to break it off after two painful months and she still cringed when she remembered how hard he had cried.
"That's… a long dry spell," Francis whistled, eyebrows raised in surprise. Allie gave a small shrug, almost somewhat bothered that her lack of sex seemed something to pity.
Truth be told, she had never been interested in that area and only indulged out of curiosity and she never revolved her life around it when she had been at college. It hadn't bothered her growing up (she had much more important things to focus on than boys and sex), yet sometimes she wondered if her one and only terrible relationship had knocked her off the lookout for love.
In the five years that Allie had known Lisa, the other girl went through a total of four boyfriends, some lasting longer than others. Not to mention Lisa had made it her sworn purpose in life to set Allie up on blind dates earlier on in their friendship before she realised that her friend had little to no interest in pursuing the men offered to her.
You're young, you have time, Lisa would comfort Allie whenever she would come home from another date, alone and still looking as prim and proper as she had left. Allie didn't feel like she had time, she felt as if her life was a ticking bomb and everything was going to explode in her face. One day, maybe far into the future, she hoped for a tiny sliver of domesticity, to finally be able to breathe and not worry about everything being uprooted at a moment's notice.
But, that was for another time to daydream about and Allie simply gave another lift of her shoulders in response to Francis' statement.
"You know me, just waiting for the right sugar daddy to spend the rest of his short life with."
Francis gave a small bout of laughter when a voice from the staff room called out.
"Hey, Allie, your phone's ringing!"
A deep sigh was forced through her nose as she shook her head; despite the fact she did have some battery left, Allie wasn't going to risk opening her phone screen and then having it die on her.
Plus, she knew exactly who was calling, even though she had made it clear to not make any contact throughout her day at work. Francis gave an amusing disapproving look at Allie as she tried to pull an innocent look before she turned back to call out to Kyle.
"Just ignore it! Do me a favour and turn it off!" Her voice felt too loud for the quiet place and a few faces turned to look at her, making her cheeks burn briefly in embarrassment before she turned back to work, sweeping the discarded napkin and the torn off pieces into the bin as the door opened, bell ringing and tingling gently to notify them of a new customer. Francis gave her a small smile before he departed, one that she new to be a here we go again look whenever someone entered, unsure if they would be the customer from Hell or someone who would be, shockingly, pleasant.
Allie took a deep breath, recollecting herself before she pushed that forced smile that hurt her cheeks back onto her lips for show.
"Hi! What can I get for you today?"
Just as Allie predicted, tufts of clouds were beginning to trek across the baby blue sky, puffs of white and grey etched into the backdrop and nearly swallowing the sun. Her eyes narrowed, and she zipped up her coat, her barista uniform hidden, and the wind prevented from attacking whatever sliver of skin that was bare.
To say she was dead on her feet was an understatement; Allie remembered how much her back and feet ached when she had first begun, nearly keeling over after spending three hours on her feet with not being able to have a five-minute sit down. It had taken a while to get used to, but she had done it and now, only the balls of her feet ached slightly as she began to walk home, toes wiggling in her shoes and making her step awkwardly, but no one paid any heed to her.
Despite growing up in the middle of nowhere, where most of her neighbours were cows and sheep, Allie had, to her surprise, become used to the city life; she had grown fond of the lights and the noises, the car horns and the large crowds that were so easy to get lost in.
But, it had been hard at first.
The shoving and pushing of shoulders and hands had made her anxious, had made her heart clench and palms slick with sweat, unable to breathe as she was suffocated by people who gave her no second glance, no second thought. It made her feel that, at any given moment, she was going to be swept away, nothing left behind for people to remember her by. She couldn't handle how loud and close the people were, not being shy to come up to her and try to talk or sell her something and it had made her throat closed up, air sucked from her lungs and making her feel there was not enough space in the world to regain her breath.
Allie had been eighteen and had no one, no friends or family, was picked up and dropped into a foreign, strange country, back pocket filled with money and a legal status as a citizen. Allie should have been grateful, should have been ready to start a new life but all she could think about back then was how strange the people were with their accents and their way of living and how much she missed home, a hole digging itself in where her heart should have been.
The worst time of her life had been when she had first came here, when she had been so alone. Allie never thought that someone could ever die from homesickness, but it had felt so real, so palpable that she wondered about who was going to bury her if she died. But she hadn't; she had survived and managed to build up a somewhat comfortable life for herself.
But that didn't mean she didn't miss her real home.
She missed the green fields and stone walls, how every place had a second name, the summers that lasted for two weeks and the winters that lasted for much longer. She missed the people, she missed not having to repeat herself because someone couldn't understand what she was saying. She missed the smell of fresh air, of being able to take a lungful of it without spluttering and coughing.
Allie sometimes entertained the thought of going home, of throwing caution to the wind and hopping on the next plane back to Ireland and never looking back.
But she couldn't, she knew she couldn't.
Here, she was secure, safe and she had friends, had people who cared about her. Maybe it was the memory of place that made her miss it more.
Taking a breath to untangle the knot in her heart, Allie scattered all thoughts of home from her mind, blinking and recollecting herself as she tried to refocus on the present, not wanting to lose herself to the past; the now of the present was filled with living, breathing people whom she loved and who loved her and the then of the past was filled with old bones and skeletons she had buried and there was no use digging them up if they were only going to drag her back down.
Things had started to get better when she had met Lisa; it had been such a coincidence, such a fleeting chance that if they had not met then, they would never have met.
Before the job she held, she would work odd jobs, nothing too serious to settle down in. The panic of having to leave again made her not want to grow roots – just in case, she would always say to herself. It had been at one of her jobs that Lisa had wriggled herself into Allie's life. Allie was near to finishing up, wiping down the sticky tables and picking up stray glasses left behind by people and Lisa had been working in a corner, typing away on her laptop with her face scrunched up, crease digging itself between her eyebrows in frustration.
Allie had simply gone up to tell Lisa that she needed to move as it was getting late and Allie needed to wipe down the tables.
That was what was supposed to happen.
Instead, Allie had spent the next half hour talking to a complete stranger as she fixed her computer, the other girl going on a rant about work and school and how done she was with it all.
Allie hadn't meant to do it, but Lisa was just someone who attracted people to her. And she had been nice and not made fun of Allie's accent so that instantly put the other girl into Allie's good books.
They had spent a few months talking and strengthening their friendship when they found out, to the surprise of both, that they were attending the same college, albeit different classes.
There are days where Allie couldn't imagine her life without her friend, without her family; she didn't even want to think about the life she might had led had the two never met.
It probably would have been sad, filled with loneliness and most likely alcoholism.
A soft muffled roll of thunder from above wrenched Allie from her thoughts, her feet pausing as her gaze turned upwards, squinting at the dull, hazy light of the sun that was trapped behind the dark, rumbling clouds that were stretching themselves across the world, nearly bursting with the promise of rain. Exasperated at her weather predictions coming true, Allie further pulled her coat up so that the collar rested beneath her nose, head ducked down with eyes cast to the pavement as the metal of the zipper pressed impressions above her lip.
Allie rushed to get home, not wanting to linger in her thoughts any longer as a few pedestrians that passed her murmured about the bad weather, while others gave frightful glances to the sky, wondering and fearing about the thought of an attack on humanity once more. Allie took notice of the few people, mainly those with children hanging from their arms, dashing quickly into coffee shops and fast food restaurants, much to the delight of their kids who knew nothing of the potential threat that was always present outside of Earth.
Allie tried not to think of how ludicrous aliens and monsters and gods were ten years ago and how now, the entire world was filled to the brim with them, nearly bursting at the seams and threatening to overflow.
Allie gave a sniffle, quickening her pace and throwing glances left and right when crossing the street and giving a small wave to a driver when she was allowed to pass, the habit of doing so never leaving her throughout all these years.
Part of her – the part currently getting more soaked by the second – wished to call for a taxi, but the jangling of loose change in the bottom of her purse seemed to mock the idea, pushing her to continue her brisk walk home as she hoped that she wouldn't wake up the next morning to a blocked nose and a head stuffed with cotton and pain.
By the time she neared the apartment building, her hair was on the verge of being completely drenched as her walk quickened into a jog, feet no longer caring to dodge the pooling puddles on the side walk.
All that mattered to her was getting home as quickly as possible, changing into a pair of dry, clean clothes (if Lisa had finally decided to get the washing done for once) and nursing a cup of tea between her aching and stiff fingers.
Allie didn't give a second glance as she crossed the road to get to the building, eyes downcast and letting out a shaky breath to warm herself, feeling it rush down her top and sleeves; she narrowly missed knocking herself into a car parked in front of the building, just about dodging it at last minute, stumbling over herself as she glared at the vehicle from behind. It was sleek and black, sticking out like a sore thumb against the less than pleasing to the eye building if was parked in front of and Allie was half tempted to give it a right good kick at nearly causing her to trip over before she spied a driver through the window, watching her with hawk like eyes and Allie dropped her gaze down again, rushing inside and not bothering to suppress the shiver that ran down her spine at the feeling of being out of the cold.
Her entire face felt somewhat numb, tingling from the chilliness that was seeping in through the crack beneath the door and Allie took her hands from her pockets, stretching her fingers and knotting them together to bring her arms over her head, satisfied at hearing a bone pop as she relaxed, bringing a hand to tug the hair tie that was keeping her slumped bun in place, freeing the damp brown tresses to fall down over her shoulders, heavy with the rain but already dripping dry.
Everything seemed to ache, and Allie eyed the stairs with a glare, deciding to opt for the elevator and pray that it would finally work.
Allie pressed the button, giving another sniff as she dug around for the keys to her apartment, unsure if Lisa was home or not; the elevator slowly, but surely descended, and Allie's stiff fingers tried to grasp a hold of the key chain, jiggling the bag to catch a sound of the metal keys before she felt her phone brush up against the back of her hand. She had been in such a rush to leave work that she hadn't even remembered to turn her phone back on in order to check what it was that Lisa wanted.
A rumble from within the elevator paused its descent and Allie watched, scowling as it remained stuck at level 3.
So close, yet so far.
It was typical, really, that the elevator didn't work as it seemed to hold a vendetta against the young woman and never appeared when summoned by her.
With a curse beneath her breath, Allie begrudgingly began her climb up the stairs, dragging one foot behind the other as her phone turned on, the home screen appearing. Allie slipped the key ring through her pinkie finger and watched as the notifications rolled in and there were ten missed calls from Lisa, all spaced throughout the day since half three up until a half hour before hand.
Allie felt her brow furrow as she scrolled through the missed calls, ten from Lisa and one from an unknown number.
Then, came the texts; they mostly comprised of 'answer ur phone!' and 'please reply asap!' And so forth, up until the last text, which had been sent around the same time that Allie had finished and left work for home.
Allie stared at it, quite shocked and she stilled upon reading the words.
DON'T COME HOME.
Allie paused in her footsteps, staring at the screen and was unsure of how to proceed. Once again, a rabid, all-consuming panic took a hold of her, instantly fearing for the worst as her mind began to torture Allie with all different types of scenarios, of reasons for Lisa's texts; her keys were brushing against the side of her hand, as if reminding her she was nearly home, taunting her. Her mouth felt dry, tongue sticking to the roof of her mouth as her heart tripped in her chest, too loud and harsh in her ears.
What to do, what to do? Rang in Allie's head and she could feel her chest seize up, contacting and her mind being pulled apart as she tried to think, tried to form a response to the situation. Gathering enough of herself, Allie regained some control of her shaking hands to open up the chat, thumbs slipping on the screen as she tried to type out her message to Lisa, breathing too loud and shallow, and –
Her writing paused, and the screen froze, before it turned to black, the battery giving out as Allie stared wide eyed at her reflection, feeling that the universe was out to get her.
Great, just great, Allie hissed, grip on her phone tightening and skin stretching over her knuckles, fading to a pale yellow. She knew the signs of what has happening to her, could feel her stomach knotting and her breathing quicken, short and sharp and not enough to make the ache in her lungs subside.
While part of Allie thought of the worst-case scenario, another part of her, a somewhat rational part, was trying to calm her down, trying to make Allie not as worried due to the events that happened the previous day which had begun exactly like now.
For all Allie knew, it was nothing.
Or it could be the very thing she feared.
Her mind was torn, and with a shaky gulp, Allie pocketed her phone, facing towards the stairs and the way she came before her gaze whipped upwards, to where Lisa was either waiting for her, or there was no one there. What to do? Listen to Lisa and not go home or make sure her friend was alright?
The dilemma was pulling her either way and there was a headache burrowing in her temples and the cold was eating away at her clothes and –
"Oh, screw it," Allie murmured, resuming her climb though doing so much faster with her heart hammering beneath her chest.
Everything seemed quiet, too quiet and it felt eerie, making her nervous and ready to jump at any slight noise. Allie drew closer to her own apartment, hands unsteady and feeling dragged down by her clothes, a bead of rain that had clung to her hair rolling down the back of her neck.
She was conscious of everything, of her breathing, her shoes on the creaking stairs, the low muffle of the neighbours as they lived without knowing how quickly Allie was falling apart, teeth threatening to rip the fragile skin of her lip, not bothering to watch her movement before her foot caught on the top step and Allie stumbled, letting out a loud curse before she stood again, pushing her hair back behind her ears as her eyes focused in on her apartment door, stomach knotting and throat closing up, drawing closer and closer before –
There was a hurry of steps and Allie heard a clamber, as if someone had tripped over themselves before the door flew open and Lisa squeezed herself out through a small crack in the door. Allie stilled, staring at the sight of Lisa emerging from the apartment and relief flooded through Allie, waves of it drowning her fear and panic so rapidly that they were swept away as Lisa faced her friend, wide eyed and pale.
Before Allie could stop herself, she flung herself into her friend's arms and held her, fingers gripping the material of Lisa's tops and threatening to tear it. Allie was never one for sharing physical affection – save for when she was drunk or moments such as these. She couldn't remember the last time she had hugged Lisa without the other girl initiating it or the two being drunk but the fact that Lisa was alive and okay made her push past her usual uncomfortableness with touching people and hold her friend close, just to make sure she was real and alive.
"Oh my god, I was so worried!" Allie whispered, voice raspy and not bothering to conceal the worry that had wracked her heart moments before hand. "I thought something bad had – "
Allie couldn't finish because Lisa peeled her off of her, pushing her back towards the stairs, puzzlement etching its way onto Allie's face at Lisa's actions.
"Al, you need to go," Lisa hissed, not even bothering to explain herself, becoming forceful with her pushing and not daring to raise her voice above its harsh whisper, raspy at the edges and desperate while ignoring the look of confusion that had appeared on Allie's face. Allie's eyes glanced over Lisa's shoulder and to the apartment, spying that the door was left half open before they made their way back to Lisa's green eyes, feet trying to plant themselves on the ground to subdue Lisa's pushing.
"Why, what is it? Has something happened?" Allie questioned, voice quick and she pulled herself from Lisa's grip, trying to make sense of the situation. Lisa shook her head, hair loose and flying around her, determined to keep her voice low as her hand wrapped itself around Allie's bicep, nails digging in through the damp sleeve. Allie couldn't say the words, didn't want to say them because if she said them it might be real and everything, her life, world, all she had would be over and she would be back at square one – and square one meant that she would be all alone again.
"I sent you texts and I tried to call you," Lisa explained, unsteady and gulping while drawing herself close to Allie, briefly throwing her gaze back to the apartment door. "You need to leave, okay? It isn't safe – "
"What do you mean it isn't safe, Leese?" Allie pushed, tugging her arm free and desperately trying not to fall victim to her preying thoughts. If it was what she thought it was, then neither she or Lisa could stay in the apartment. Lisa shook her head and attempted to give Allie another push towards the stairs, frightful and unable to find her voice. Allie tried to fight against Lisa's shoving, but she felt so small, so weak to fight against the fear and terror that was chewing her insides, eating her from the inside out and making her feel hollow and fragile. If Lisa could just explain what was going on for once in her life –
"You need to go, Al, you need to – "
"Are you alright out there?"
The two women paused, both wide eyed at the voice coming from the apartment. Allie stared at Lisa, floundering as she tried to collect her thoughts at the fact there was a guy in the apartment.
Lisa placed a finger over Allie's mouth, indicating that she wanted the other woman to remain silent as she gulped, her other free hand reaching up to hastily run through her knotted, black strands. Allie felt that if Lisa's finger had not been pressed up against her lips, her jaw would have fallen open in shock. Lisa gave a shake of her head, clearly indicating that she did not want Allie to open her mouth and speak before she turned over her shoulder, trying to find her voice.
"Uh, yeah! Everything is okay! Nothing for you to worry about, it's just my neighbour!" Lisa's voice shook, warbling on the end of the sentence and not even her touch on Allie's lips could stop the smile that was quirking at the corner of her mouth. Lisa took her hand back and it only made the grin grow wider. Allie's fright seeped away, making her feel somewhat embarrassed once again for fearing the worst, for assuming that everything was always going to end but she had never felt so calmed and her worry had been eased, allowing her to finally drink in the air around her to soothe her burning lungs.
"Is there… a guy in our apartment?" Allie teased, not bothering to stop when she saw the warning look in Lisa's eyes. "And in broad daylight? My, my, Lisa Turner, you scoundrel."
Not in the mood for games and not sharing in on the teasing banter, Lisa shoved Allie back towards the mouth of the stairs, voice still hushed and afraid of being over heard. "No, it isn't – it's not… listen, Allie, you need to leave. Please, just listen to me and just… just come back in a few hours, alright?"
There was something in Lisa's face that made Allie want to comply, that made her believe that she should listen to her friend and do what she said; Lisa's hand gripped Allie's shoulder, driving her towards the exit and pausing at the top of the stairs, staring down at her friend as Allie stared back up, unsure of what to say or how to proceed.
The situation seemed off kilter, and there was a voice at the back of Allie's mind trying to make sense of everything, of the texts, the missed calls, her friend's appearance and the fact there was a guy in the apartment.
With a sombre look, Allie gave a nod, hand reaching up to cover Lisa's and placing one foot down the next step of the stairs.
"Alright, I'll leave," Allie complied. "I'll see you in a few hours."
Lisa's body sagged with relief, her hold on Allie's shoulder loosening before dropping, a rushed thank you leaving her mouth as Allie gave a nod and a sympathetic smile. Allie hitched her bag up her shoulder, stuffing her phone in her pocket and turning to go when the mischievousness in her reared its head, smirking in the back of her mind as she paused on the stairs for a brief second and quickly turned to rush past her friend.
Lisa gave a shout, of her name or something else, Allie didn't know as a laugh left her lips, bursting in to the apartment while fondly remembering how it wasn't the first time Lisa tried hiding a guy in the apartment in broad daylight. Only that time, the guy had been completely naked and didn't speak a word of English.
Allie hoped that, at least this time, the guy was wearing clothes; she didn't need an eyeful of a random stranger's junk.
Allie fell past the door, quickly moving in through the apartment, shoes thundering against the wooden floorboards as she heard Lisa's voice, trying to coax her out of the apartment before she resorted to using force in order to push Allie out the door and into the hallway; Allie didn't understand as to why that Lisa was so determined to make Allie leave as she had never acted like that in the past, had never been so eager to have Allie make haste when there was a guy over.
Too late it clicked, and too late did she feel like kicking herself in the ass for not listening to her usual, pessimistic self and realising the situation was way worse than what she had hoped it to be and it was then that the realisation that she maybe, probably should have listened to her friend hit her.
The two women paused as Allie finally saw the form of the man, sitting with his back towards the two and seemingly unaware of the scene that happened out in the hall; however, at the sound of footsteps and voices he perked up, turning around to face them, leaning forward to place the mug he had been sipping from down on the coffee table. Even from the back of his head, there was something that was familiar, something that was setting off the alarm bells in Allie's mind and made her think that she had recognised his voice from somewhere, but she just couldn't place it, couldn't connect the dots.
By the time Allie saw half his face, she realised she most definitely should have listened to Lisa and began to entertain the idea of darting from the door – or maybe jumping out of the window would be the better option.
Lisa gave a meek oh, no beneath her breath as her hand dropped from Allie's arm, staring at the man that was intruding in their home. Allie tried to make sense of it all, tried to blink and hope that it wasn't real because it couldn't be real.
Her mouth nearly dropped open, lips parting to suck in a sharp gasp of air as she took him in, shoulder slumping and her bag fell, making a sound splat against the ground, flabbergasted and mind reeling as she stared at the one and the only Tony Stark.
He seemed quite amused by the spectacle of the gobsmacked Allie, at her parted mouth and wide eyes, how her hair was damp and dripping. He took in her appearance, cocking his head to the side as Allie continued to stare, continued to remain taken aback and unresponsive at the fact that Tony Stark was in her apartment and drinking coffee.
No one spoke, no one moved as Tony Stark stood up, stuffing one hand into his pocket and taking his time as he made his way to walk in front of Allie, mouth tilted upwards into a smirk, her unblinking eyes watching him all the time as he did so.
This can't be real, this can't be real. Lisa moved from beside her, head ducked and trying to seem small as she inched further and further away from Allie, as if she had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar.
Allie probably should have pieced it together, should have been smart enough to probably do the same but her mind was elsewhere, reeling from the revelation that Tony Stark was in her apartment. Her voice had died on her, buried beneath the surprise and shock of this revelation, floundering and trying to remember how to speak, her thoughts an incomprehensible mess.
She didn't know what to do, or say, or think. All that passed through her mouth was: "You're Tony Stark."
Tony Stark paused in front of her, taking in the sight of her half-wet hair and damp coat at a closer range, her wide, blue eyes staring at him and his own back at her, looking something akin to fascination at the sight of shock that was carved into her features. He gave a sound that might have been an amused huff before he gave a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.
"And you're the girl who broke through my security in less than a minute."
Oh.
Fuck.
Wow, I'm honestly just so blown away by all the support this fic has received since I've published it!
Thank you all so much for such a brilliant response to this fic in such a short space of time as it all means so much to me! You guys have no idea how much more confident I am now in this fic after receiving such a fantastic response!
Allie and Tony finally interact next chapter and it's... well, you'll just have to wait and see!
Thanks for reading!
