Stage 16 - JAMIE FLATTERS

chapter twenty four

It must had been some time in the morning when I felt cold liquid pour over my cheeks, then my forehead, causing my eyes to quickly opened and my body to straightened up. I looked around, slowly realizing that I had never left Jamie's apartment as my gaze dropped to the dozed off boy. He looked peaceful, his lips partly pouted as he solemnly breathed, causing his body to gently rise and fall. We must had fallen asleep. A small smile creeping at the corner of my lips as I remembered our night but my thoughts quickly interrupted as the rain started to get heavier, colder. Jamie instantly getting up on his feet, startle by the sudden liquid awakening him as I watched him with amused eyes.

"Come on!" He yelled, stretching his hand for me to take as he aided lifting my body up from the mattress. We quickly ran inside of his apartment, clothes drenched by the rain that wet the wooden floor which caused Jamie to jogged to the bathroom and came out of it with towels. He threw one to me as I watched him dry himself with the other one. I would lied if I said there was nothing romantic about seeing Jamie coming from the rain. His hair a darker shade were messily plastered all over his forehead and cheeks which only made me want to pass my fingers through them. I wished I was bold enough to walk up to him but something stopped me from doing so, a little voice reminding me of everything. Reality hitting me like a wave flooding my every senses and causing me to literally step back which Jamie must had noticed as he stared at me, his eyes laced with confusion. My feet still intuitively widening the space in between us as my heart wished for them to stop.

"You know you don't have to leave if you don't want to." Jamie stated, stepping closer to me in a very comforting way.

"Leave..." I whispered under my breath as my eyes drifted toward the nearest clock, quickly realizing how late in the morning it was. How I had missed my flight by a few minutes. "No, no, no." I repeatedly shook my head, rapidly finishing drying my clothes with the towel before jogging toward Jamie's apartment door, the boy carefully following behind. "God, that's why I never drink." I mumbled to myself before turning to Jamie, "you tricked me with your cocktails."  Jamie snickered to what he thought was a joke as I shoot him a glare, furious at myself to have let my guard down, furious to have waste a full paid seat on a flight back home as I felt dizziness blurred my vision. How would I pay for another flight? I could barely afford traveling for work. I couldn't asked for the production to pay for another one because production meant Hawthorne and there was no way I would be this vulnerable in front of this man again. I turned around to check my phone, my back facing Jamie as I felt my mouth slowly becoming dryer as it was starting to be harder to swallow the lump in my throat that kept me from breathing regularly. No, I thought. Not right now, not in front of him.

"I mean it, Charlotte. You don't have to leave." The boy said, his voice muffled by the thoughts overcrowding my mind as cars did in traffic. The touch of his hand on my shoulder snapping me back, slightly forcing me to turn back around, my glassy gaze dropping to the tip of our shoes almost touching as I tried to get ahold of my emotions. "Hey," He softly called out, both of his hands now cupping my cheeks and gently lifting my face up so that our eyes could finally interlocked. My body stiffened to his ring-clad touch, not the same way it did when Hawthorne was close, it was more like it wasn't used to feeling safe, surprised that one could touch you with such delicacy. "Remember when I told you we should hang out," I breathlessly chuckled to the distant memory of a drunk Jamie calling me in the middle of the night as he also let out a small laugh. "Well, I want to hang out with you this weekend. Stay in London... with me."

Jamie's eyebrows scrunched together, seeking for some kind of answer in my eyes. He seemed like he truly wanted for me to stay which sounded crazy to me. My eyebrows knitted together, I shook my head to decline Jamie's idea, there was no possible way for me to stay. Even in my wildest dream, I couldn't afford it. "I have to get back to New York," I started before getting cut off by the dryness of my mouth, choking on a breath. Even if my heart told me otherwise, the only thing my mind could focus on was a way to get out of the boy's eyesight so I could handle the emotions wanting to overwhelm my whole body. "I have to wrap the studio with Julia and my mom is going to go mad if I don't see her in the next 48 hours."

"Then we have to make the best of those 48 hours." He smiled, his face excitedly leaning closer to mine, glad he had found a way to turn around my words to convince me into accepting his offer of staying with him.

"Jamie. I have to go." I almost whispered with desperate eyes, my hands reaching for his as the cuffed his wrists and dropped let them fall from my cheeks. "I'll call you." I mouthed to the boy, squeezing his forearm as my voice completely gave up in a moment I hoped I would have been able to say so much more. Jamie slightly nodded, disappointment could clearly be seen on his face, darkening his traits as he watched me pass through the door and exiting his apartment. As soon as I closed the door, I made my way toward the stairwell but quickly stumbled on a few steps, my mind feeling disoriented and dizzy by the anxious feelings taking over my body. The ones I had been holding for far too long and thought would make my heart explode. I sat on the cold concrete steps, my hands holding my head in between my legs as I forced my eyes close, stars slowly forming behind my eyelids. I tried to focus on my surroundings to stay grounded, seeking for things I could hear and could help me bring my heartbeat down.

Rain tapping on the windows. Wind echoing in the building. Footfalls.

Footfalls?