Romance: The Second Chance - Contemporary Romance (Romance, Contemporary Romance, Suspense Romance Book 1) (11 page)

             
Pain. Searing pain... Burning...
Burning.

              Abby woke to a scalding, unbearable pain on her left side. She was on fire. The thought woke her up instantly, and she began to roll on the floor, frantically trying to stop the fire from spreading. To put it out. Screaming the whole time.

              It hurt more than anything she had ever felt in her life, but when she looked down after a full minute of flailing around on the carpet, the flames had gone out. Only a gaping, charred red hole remained.

              Just looking at it nearly made her pass out, but she couldn't let herself. She had to get out. The end of the hallway was consumed in fire, and the length of it swam in thick black smoke. The door was right in front of her, or should be, but she could hardly open her eyes in the smoke.

              She felt the blackness creep back into her vision, attempting to force her back to sleep. To save her from having to deal with the excruciating pain that consumed scorched and broken body.  She coughed, tasted smoke.

             
If I sleep I die.

             
She forced herself onto her stomach, dragging her limp body forward inch by painful inch. Until she could feel the wall in front of her.

             
The door. Where’s the door?

              She searched frantically, sliding her hands across the wall. Nothing but the rough bite of plaster.
The fire crept forward down the hall, the heat of it agony on her burned side. And then—

              There.

              A fresh burst of adrenaline gave her just enough strength to reach up and turn the handle. Throwing the door open with a rush of cool air.

              Her body fell out onto concrete stairs, tumbling into the dry grass below, and she lay there, too weak even to cry out. She could barely breathe. Exhaustion consumed her. There was no one around to hear her even if she called. And the pain. The pain was insufferable.

              She closed her eyes, and let the darkness take her.

             
“H
e
kissed
you?”

              Every time Abby tried to tell the story, Molly said the same thing. Abby just blushed, and said nothing. After so many torturous inquisitions from her friend, it felt good to turn the tables.

              “Come on, you have to tell me! I'm your
best
friend remember?”

              “Not a lot of competition around here,” Abby said smugly.

              Melody shot her a look, and Abby laughed.

              “I'm only joking, you know
I love you
Molls.” Clearly overemphasizing.

              “If you really loved me you would tell me the rest,” Molly huffed, offended.

              Abby laughed again, but decided she'd had enough fun at Molly’s expense. And she was dying to tell someone about it anyway, if only to try and make sense of it herself. So she told Molly everything. From her debacle with Melody, to Eli giving her the roses, to the lighthouse and the gorgeous view, to the candle lit dinner, and finally... the kiss. Abby had never heard Molly so quiet. Hanging on her every word. Only the occasional sigh slipped through her lips, as she melted just as Abby had done when it had happened to her.

              “Oh my gosh, that's
so
romantic” Melody said. “I wish Eric would do something like that for me.”

              Abby laughed. “Well maybe he will.”

              Molly just looked at her. “So now what?” she asked after a moment. “What's the next step for you guys?”

              The question took Abby by surprise. She hadn't thought of that. What
did
this all mean? Were they dating now? Were they a couple? Maybe Eli had gone home and realized what an awful mistake he’d had made and now he didn't want anything to do with her. Maybe he was just trying to recreate what he used to have with Hannah, but couldn't, and now wanted nothing more than to be just friends.

              She didn't know, but she now she wanted to find out.

              “Come on,” she grabbed Molly and headed towards Splash Café.

~*~

              “Ay, I'm proud of you gringo. You really did your homework this time.”

              Eli had spent the past hour talking about nothing but Abby. Ricky, who was both listening and making the food, was excited for him.

              “I told you she was gonna be a lot of work to win over. But obviously you are up to the challenge.” Ricky said as he left the sizzling fries from the deep fryer.

              “Yeah... I'm just nervous I overdid it.” Eli said. “You know, when Hannah died, the love I woke up with every morning for her never stopped. It kept coming long after I had anyone to give it to. Rudy helped, but a dog isn’t a person. All this passion has been bottled up for so long, that now, when I finally have a chance to let it out, I feel like I can't control it. It's all coming out at once. And I don't know how it makes Abby feel.”

              Mostly, he wasn’t sure how she felt about the kiss. He’d told Abby he would never do anything she wasn't ready for, and then gone and kissed her anyway. She’d gone along with it, and it had felt incredible, but he was nervous he had pushed her. Too far, too fast. He might have scared her off.

              “Well, you're about to find out.” Ricky said. Eli looked at him, startled. He was pointing towards the boardwalk. Eli followed the path of his finger and saw Abby and Molly approaching.

              Even though he was nervous to see her, Eli couldn't help but be awestruck by her beauty. Looking at her never got boring, or old. If anything, his spirit grew with each new moment.

              “Hello girls!” Ricky said to them as they approached. They waved and said “hi” back. “They're all yours pal,” Ricky murmured as they walked up to the counter. He turned away and head towards the back, and Eli was left on his own.

              “Hey Molly.” Eli said casually. Just being this close to her instantly made his day better. “Hi Abby.”

              “Hi Eli.” He struggled to read her body language, only adding to his anxiety about the previous night.

              “Brr,” Molly said, “You guys are making me cold. One night you’re kissing on a mountaintop, the next you’re barely speaking to each other.”

              He watched Abby’s eyes widen. Obviously she’d told Molly about their date, but that didn't bother him nearly as much as her lack of reassurance about it did. She shot Molly a vicious look, but the other girl simply scooted back and said “Alright, I get it. You guys don't need me here. I'll just uh… be over here. Sitting.” She pointed towards an empty table, but made a disgusted face when she went to sit down. “Ew, gross!”.

             
Seagulls
,
Eli thought. He smiled.

              “I'm... I'm sorry about that” She said. Obviously talking about Molly's outburst. “I just needed someone to talk too... you know... process what happened last night.”

              Eli could relate. “I don't mind, really.” He reassured to her, knowing full well how nice it was when someone took the time to do that.

              “Thanks...” She replied.

              Silence.

              “So uhh... how's business today?” She asked, though the tone in her voice couldn't of shone any less of an interest in her question.

Eli couldn't handle it anymore. “Can we please just stop beating around the bush, and talk about what we really want to talk about. Last night. The kiss. How
you
felt about it perhaps?” He immediately regretted just blurting it out like that, but be was also curious how she would respond now that it was out there.

              Abby looked shocked. But then her face straightened, and she spoke softly. “That's why I'm here, Eli. I'm trying to
figure out
what I feel. What
you
feel. I'm fell a little lost in this whole thing. But please, since you have it all figured out, then why don't you tell me? How do you feel Eli?”

              Eli flushed. That wasn’t what he’d meant to say. “Sorry, that was… unfair of me. I barely understand what I’m feeling myself; I didn’t mean to force you to come to any conclusions. I don't know what it all means yet. I don’t know how it makes you feel, but what I said about falling in love with you last night, that was true.”

              Abby's face softened, and Eli knew he had her full attention.

              “Abby, every time I see you my heart skips a beat. You energize me like no one’s has been able to do since Hannah died, and I don't think that's a coincidence. I never thought I would be able to feel this way about anybody else, and had resigned myself to misery, but then you came along, and I don’t want to feel guilty about feeling this way for you. Hannah wouldn't want that. She would want me to be happy. She’d want me to move on and find someone else worthy of taking her place. And Abby, you are. You’re strong, beautiful, courageous, and I can't imagine what my life would be like without you in it. You’re free to do whatever your own heart calls you toward, but just know that if it’s towards me then I’m here with open arms.
That
’s how I feel.”

              Abby stood there, expressionless, blinking, breathless. More than anything Eli wanted to know what was going on inside her head, but he couldn't do anything about that now. He’d laid his cards out on the table. His heart was in her hands, now, and she had the ability to do whatever she wanted with it. It was both a horrifying and an exhilarating prospect.

              The seconds dragged on, and Eli struggled to stay composed. D
o
something, his body screamed.
Say
something.
Fix
what he’d just done. But anything he would say now would probably only make it worse, and he needed to be patient. Let her process and think, and when she was ready,
if
she was ready, she would let him know.

              A single tear spilled down Abby's cheek, and she quickly wiped it away. Eli didn't know if that was good or bad.

              She looked up at him, her eyes piercing through him like they’d done so many times before. She was struggling not to cry; he could see it. She was struggling to keep herself strong, as he had tried unsuccessfully to do for so many years.

              Her mouth began to move, and Eli's world was reduced to slow motion. The birds hung in empty space, the waves disobeying the law's of gravity.

              “Eli,” she whispered, “I'm not who you think I am. I'm not strong, and I'm not courageous.”

              “What?”

              “There's so much about me you don't know, and if you knew... you'd want nothing to do with me.” Her tears broke through, and coursed down her face. “I don't want to hurt you, and I don't deserve your love. I had my chance, and I blew it. Don't make a mistake by loving me, please. You deserve so much better, and I deserve so much worse. I have been so blessed to have gotten to know you for these past few weeks, and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. But my luck ran out a long time ago, and I think it's time I get back to reality. I'm sorry Eli.”

              With that she turned and walked away. Leaving Eli standing alone, broken in half, watching his missing puzzle pieces slip between from his fingers.

             
No!

             
Eli was not going to let that happen. Not again.

              He leapt over the edge of the counter and ran after her. She was almost at the end of the pier when he reached her, when he did he grabbed her and spun her around to face him. Her face opened in shock, but he didn't wait for her this time. He pressed his mouth against hers. Hard, powerfully, passionately. The same choir that sung the night before was in perfect harmony again, but this time even louder and more glorious. When he thought he had made his point, he pulled back and said to her, “Abby, I am so lucky to have found you. And I would be a
fool
to let you go without a fight. If you don't feel anything for me then fine, tell me now, and I will leave you alone forever. But if you’re just scared, or feeling like you're not enough, then you’re
mistaken
because you
are
enough.
You
make me want to be better. You’re the missing piece in my life I thought could never find, and as long as you want me and there is breath in my body, I will fight for you, Abby. I’ll stop at nothing. I
love
you, and all I ask is that you give me a chance to show you the depth of that love. The choice is yours. What’s your answer?”

              She looked at him a moment, still wide-eyed. But what she did next surpassed even Eli's wildest dreams.

              She wrapped her hands around the back of Eli's neck, and pulled herself in to him. Kissing him as passionately as he had ever been kissed in his life. Time and place meant nothing anymore; it was just him and her. One person, one body, one soul.