It was the night they came back to Los Angeles and Cobb had already left to go back to his children. Actually, everyone had left, except for Arthur who was sitting at a high table, quietly drinking a cup of coffee.
"Arthur?"
She said softly, approaching him from behind.
"Ariadne? Is something wrong?"
He asked, it was highly unusual for the team to talk to each other right after a job, the stakes were high even for a quick smile.
"Well, I don't have a place to stay, I live in Paris. And I really don't feel like taking another flight for ten hours..."
She explained, insinuating that she needed his help to find a place to stay.
"Right. It's usually like this with this job. Come on, I have a room in a hotel we can share."
"Thanks."
She smiled at him and he smiled back, an unlikely occurrence for the Arthur she had known during their work. They took a cab to a nice hotel.
"You take the bed, I can never sleep after so long under anyway."
They had dinner and she went to sleep. After a while though she woke up screaming. He bolted upright, alert and already looking for his gun, but then he realized she had just woken up from a nightmare. He had been through this too, the first time he stayed under long.
"It's okay."
He assured her, sitting on the other side of the bed with a glass of water to give her.
"It was so real. I can still remember it all."
She said, rubbing her eyes and taking the glass.
"I know, here."
He said as he slid slightly closer to her and put a hand on the back of her neck to apply pressure to precise points so some tension would be released
"Do you have your totem?"
He asked her. She nodded slowly and offered it no him.
"No, I can't touch it, remember? No I want you to use it when you need okay? That's why you have it. So you know when you're dreaming or when your awake. Do you wanna go back to sleep?"
"Not right now."
She said, shaking her head.
"Okay, what do you want?"
He didn't know where his softness was coming from but he had the feeling it was because of her.
"Could you, uhh-could you read to me?"
She asked, slightly uncomfortable at the personal request, but in a vulnerable time like this, a voice would greatly help to lull her back to sleep.
"I mean I could but my book is kind of boring..."
"I don't care. I just want the sound of your voice."
He knew she was tired, she was sleepy and she didn't know how the things she was saying impacted him, but he liked that she wanted his help for something, it made him feel needed.
"Okay, alright. I'll read to you."
As he heard himself saying it, he couldn't believe it.
"Thanks."
She said as she sat up a little and moved to the side of the bed. He knew that this probably meant that she wanted him to sit with her but he didn't want to make assumptions so he sat on the couch.
"Sit here with me? Please?"
She asked.
"Of course."
He sat down and turned the bedside table light on. He read to her and she fell asleep in a minute. He felt her head falling on his shoulder and she was out like a light. He decided he should try to get some sleep too and let his head fall on hers. She woke up the next morning tightly held against his chest. She glanced up to his face and saw his peaceful expression and decided to let him sleep. Having always had to sleep with one eye open for danger though, he sensed her moving right away.
"Good morning."
She whispered.
"Good morning."
He said, rolling away from her to sit on the edge of the bed. what had he been thinking? Sleeping in the same bed? That was a recipe for disaster.
"I'm sorry."
He said and got up. He walked to the bathroom to clean up and she rolled over in the bed, more than a little confused. She got up and got dressed in a nice pink dress, she was planning on going out and exploring LA. But her conscience had other plans. Arthur didn't come back out of the bathroom before she left and she was rather thankful for that, not mentioning their closeness was probably a good call on both their parts.
It was an hour later when she looked around and felt very uneasy. She dug her hand in her purse to find her gold bishop, but she couldn't. She let it go and shook her head, trying to get rid of the doubt that she wasn't in reality. The waitress put her cup of coffee down on the small round table of the café and she grabbed it in her hand. She had to put it down before she took a drink because of how bad her hand was shaking. She took a deep breath and tried again but this time, she completely dropped the cup.
"Are you alright miss?"
Another customer asks.
"Uh, yes. I'm sorry."
A waiter made his way over to her to help clean up the cup and she swore she had seen him in a dream, in someone else's subconscious. She shook her head again and dropped a 10 dollar bill on the table.
"I'm so sorry, keep the change."
She muttered before running out of the shop. She looked around frantically, it felt like her lungs were being compressed by an unknown force. She started walking, at first she didn't know where but then she recognized the way back to the hotel. She walked and walked and walked, looking form left to right. Her breathing was fast and erratic. Then she saw a car on the sidewalk.
What?
She thought and it wasn't until it honked that she realized she had walked right in the middle of the street.