Sorry it took a little longer than usual, guys. But I really like this chapter! Reviews would make me a squeal like a happy little schoolgirl. :D
Audrey scuttled after his retreating form, making sure not to stumble over the coffee table. The door breezed open with a shove of his pale hand, the bell chiming pleasantly through the dark, cold air. Audrey wrapped her long sweater tighter around herself, adjusting her bags in her hands and taking small, hurried steps to catch up to Matt's long strides.
He was lighting a cigarette when she came up on his side. Audrey bit her lip at the scent of the smoke. Matt took the cigarette out from between his lips and held it over to her, still staring straight ahead. "I owe you." As he spoke, the remnants of smoke drifted out of his mouth. Audrey shook her head and looked away. "I'm trying to quit…" she managed to say, with half the confidence she was hoping for. Matt lifted a shoulder slightly in a shrug and returned the cigarette to his lips.
The streets were lined with the occasional passerby, on their way home in the glow of the late sunset. Audrey shoved her hands in her pockets. "So… what did you do? After you left Whammy's, you know?" She directed her question to the cracks in the ground. She heard him exhale before he answered.
"Eh. Just got a place around here." His voice hardened slightly. "Mello had most of it taken care of for me." For a moment, the only sound was the shuffle of their shoes.
"What about you? What did you do when you got out of Whammy's?" Audrey cleared her throat quietly and looked up to see him eyeing her from her peripherals. They turned a corner. "I left; moved to America. I met a lot of new people, and just kind of… I dunno, just hanged around. Then I came back here, to Japan. I guess I missed it here. I set myself up an apartment, a job, all of that…"
"Yeah, I, uh, heard about your apartment." Audrey looked up at him curiously. Matt laughed dryly. "A twenty-something woman burns down her apartment with a cigarette, it'll be in the papers."
Audrey's mouth made a small O of understanding and acute embarrassment. They turned another corner.
"Here you are, then." Matt gestured to the tall building they were standing in front of. Audrey tore her gaze away from his. She smiled quickly and mumbled a quiet 'thank-you', turning to leave.
Matt watched her enter the building, the cigarette hanging out of his mouth, his hands shoved into his pockets. He sighed her name into the dead night air.
Audrey stepped into the darkness of the second floor with a slight sigh of relief. The main room was empty and she had no idea of time. Reaching her hands out, she made her way to her bedroom down the hall to the right. She flipped on the light and set her bags on the floor. Audrey moved to sit on the edge of her bed, facing the large, open window.
She had forgotten drapes.
The city below was lit up for as far as her eyes could see, an infinite glow of bright colors stretching out to the oceans. Audrey looked around for a moment and grabbed her purse. So much for kicking the habit… she thought as she pulled out the pack of cigarettes. Being around Matt was just… too strange. The way he looked at her seemed to shoot her nerves with a bazooka. She flicked her lighter at the end of her cigarette and inhaled deeply.
The thoughts buzzing through her head dimmed to a manageable hum when her focus shifted the smoke filling her lungs. She was still wondering when she would see him again, even after she put out her cigarette and stripped off her clothes. Audrey crawled under the covers with a slight sigh. She pulled the sheets to her chin, looking out at the full moon over the bright city.
Her eyes fluttered shut.
She was moving… amazingly slow. She was unsure of whether her feet even touched the ground. Fire… everywhere. Flashes of memory: Dropping her graham crackers, falling off of her bike, blowing out candles… bright, white lights. Blindingly bright lights.
Audrey was awake as suddenly as she had drifted off. She sat up, rubbing at her hair, again cursing herself for forgetting the drapes as the bright sunlight dilated her pupils. She got out of be with the conviction in her head of getting those curtains immediately. "I refuse to wake up with the sun…" she mumbled sleepily, making her way to the bathroom.
She showered and dressed quickly. Watari was seated in his usual chair, reading the morning paper as he did daily, she assumed.
"Watari, where can I get curtains?" She hopped onto the couch, folding her legs under herself in one fell swoop. Watari clucked at her from behind his paper. "Dear Audrey, I'm sure we have some around here." Audrey shook her head and scrunched her nose. "I need the sunlight, Watari." And Matt. I want to see Matt.
Watari peered over his paper, looking out of the tops of his steely eyes. He raised an eyebrow slightly. Audrey shifted in her chair. "And the exercise. Do you know of any places?" Watari folded his paper and set it on the coffee table. "There is a reliable shop not too far down the way that specializes in linens of the sort." He gesticulated off to the left with his hand. "You'll find what you need there."
Watari stood up and left the room, probably intent on getting her a map. Audrey took the opportunity to go grab her shoes and jacket. She was tying the laces when he re-emerged, extending a folded sheet of paper to her.
"So you don't get lost." He smiled as she took the papers. She returned his smile with a small one of her own. "Thank you, Watari."
The older gentleman watched her leave the complex with his head tilted to the side. My, how she had grown, he thought to himself with a soft sigh. Watari returned to his chair and picked up his paper.
Audrey glanced down at the map once before folding it a few times and depositing it into her pocket. Though the sun was warming the horizon, the air held a decent chill. Audrey strolled at a leisurely pace down the street.
The coffee shop wasn't as far as she had originally thought. She ordered the same coffee, took it black, and set out again. The city was waking up: people walking dogs, jogging, just all around getting where they needed to be.
Audrey walked with a small smile, sipping her hot coffee and watching as the people breezed by. A large fountain caught her eye, settled in the middle of a grassy green square that was off to the side of the street. She scanned the premises of the park, and when her eyes landed on the swing sets, she took deliberately slow steps, trying not to appear too eager.
She stopped in front of the towering fountain. Her reflection bubbled in the clear water. She tossed a coin into her eyes with a slight shrug. Audrey turned her attention to the empty swings. Of course, it was too early for school children to swarm. She ran her fingers over the cool chain links with a slight smile, sitting with an almost happy sigh.
Digging her heels in, she began to rock back and forth gently. Audrey heard a soft laugh from somewhere behind her.
Matt, hands shoved into the pockets of his vest, was shaking his head and walking toward her. "Maybe its time to grow up." He said with his familiar tone of sarcasm. Audrey looked up at him from over her shoulder. "Oh? Maybe that works for you, but I like the simple things." Matt moved to lean against one of the poles supporting the swing set.
"Why are you out so early?" He tilted his head to the side as he spoke, his red hair falling into his face, moving ever so slightly on a breeze.
Audrey reminded herself to not get distracted so easily. She held up her coffee cup. "Just my daily cup of liquid energy." Matt tried to fight a small laugh. He faced away from her.
Audrey was too much for him. She was no longer the little girl always munching a graham cracker but her wide, silvery eyes still looked right through him, even if her pretty mouth was smiling at him.
He could feel her gaze on his face.
"I guess the shameless staring is something you never grew out of." Audrey's jaw went slightly slack. A vibrant blush crept to her cheeks. Matt chose to ignore it.
"And I suppose you never figured out the whole brain-to-mouth filter business?" Audrey was hoping her remark had come out as witty and sarcastic as she had intended. Matt smirked at her. She hid behind her cup, disguising it with a sip of coffee.
"Why do you always turn up in the most random of places?" Audrey looked down into her coffee. Anything's better than looking into those condescending eyes of his... She looked up anyway.
"Why do you always ask pointless questions?"
Matt shrugged. "The only way to learn anything is to ask questions." Audrey tried not to laugh. "Oh, okay. Now you're a philosopher of sorts." Matt scoffed at her, slipping into laughter himself. She was contagious. He was infected.