Chapter 3 Words in the Dark

Their breathing was the only noise in the room.

Sarah moved a little and tightened the blanket around her bare shoulders. Alex shifted too; his hand grazed hers under the blankets.

She grinned unintentionally.

He whispered, "You okay?"

Sarah responded affirmatively, "Yeah. Just... thinking."

Alex raised himself on one elbow. Sarah could see his question in her eyes even in the low light.

Regarding what?

She paused. She might explain it somehow. That odd combination of happiness and dread whirling within her?

She murmured finally, her voice small, "I don't usually do this."

He laughed, warm and understanding rather than mocking.

"Me neither," he said. "Still, I'm grateful you did."

Sarah considered him-really considered him. Disorganized hair. Drowsy eyes. That natural smile. He was not perfect. And perhaps that's what made him so real.

She inquired, "What about you? What's your narrative?"

Alex exhaled. She momentarily wondered whether he would remain silent.

Still, he added, "I was meant to be somewhere else tonight- a gathering. Some tedious task for employment. I missed it."

"Why?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. I simply... wanted something different, I suppose."

Sarah kept a close eye on him. She sensed more he was not saying.

She did not push,though.

She reached for him instead and let her fingers graze gentle patterns over his chest.

Speaking like this-half-hidden in the dark, touching but not looking straight at one another-felt simpler.

Sarah murmured, "I left one."

Alex stressed, "A boyfriend?"

"An ex," she fixed her error.

He remained mute and allowed her to go on.

"I believed I had everything worked out. You know, the ideal strategy. The ideal existence. But one day I found myself waking and wondering why I did not even know myself anymore."

Sarah forced a hard swallow. The memory still hurt.

"I departed therefore. Packed my bags. Altered everything. Modern flat. New employment. New... me." She chuckled bitterly. "Or at least, that is what I tell myself."

Under the blanket, Alex's hand found hers and squeezed softly.

"I'm happy you did," he replied.

Sarah's throat tightened from the sheer honesty in his voice.

She whispered, "You don't even know me."

"Not yet," he replied. "Still, I would want to."

So casual, so hazardous, those words sent her a wave of hope and anxiety.

Their silence stretched for a while longer. The city hummed beyond-a distant wailing siren. But it was only the two of them in this tiny room.

Sarah laughed and was comforted by the warmth of his body and the constant rhythm of his breathing.

She thought, just perhaps, she might let herself believe in tonight. Tomorrow everything shattered nonetheless.

But Alex spoke once again, his voice nearly too faint to discern just as she was ready to fall into slumber.

He remarked, "I wasn't meant to be in that bar."

Sarah blinked, uncertain. "What do you mean?"

With his jaw clenched, Alex gazed up at the ceiling.

"I was not just skipping a session. I was slated to be flying towards yet another city. Beginning anew."

Sarah raised her head and scowled.

"Why not go?"

Alex turned to see her then; his eyes black and unfathomable.

"Because something told me to stay."

He said it like a penance, like a alert.

Sarah then experienced a chill unrelated to the frigid air.

Perhaps she was not the sole one fled from something.

Perhaps Alex had secrets as well.

Secrets that might revolutionize everything.