Closer To You | ✓

2

CHAPTER TWO

❀

Easton woke up the next morning to the warm rays of sun that filtered through the blinds.

He sat languidly on the edge of the bed, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand when he felt the wetness dripping down his chin. A groan tore out of his mouth when the thought of being covered in drool hit him.

The digital clock on his nightstand showed 09:19 am, the perfect timing to match the headache that slowly begun to spread through his temples. Head spinning, he felt about with his hands until they finally made contact with the jar of pills on his bedside table. Unscrewing it, he plopped one into his mouth swallowing forcefully while gulping down a glass of water. 

He knew this couldn't be healthy, but he'd been barely able to sleep four hours straight lately, the story still stuck in his head and coming up at him in the most ungodly hours of the night. 

He'd wake up with vivid memories of his dreams which only pushed him to keep writing the lines that flowed through his mind at a restless peace. 

He couldn't help himself. He'd been caught by it. By the life that radiated from it, the peace, the joy. She'd caught him in her spiderweb in an unintentional loop since the moment he begun typing and he couldn't seem to let go.

Sighing, he gripped the tense muscles at the back of his neck, his fingers threading through his messy brown hair, making it pop up in wayward directions.

Pushing himself from the bed, he made his way to the kitchen wishing to ease the grumbling of his stomach. He fixed himself a cup of tea and a few bagels and walked towards the desk, taking a sip as he sat on the chair which had lately become the only place he could be found. 

Opening his laptop, he returned to the document he'd saved just a few hours ago and kept typing.

-

After calling her assistant to clear her schedule for the day, Chloë made her way towards the Starbucks across her building, looking forward to her daily coffee mocha. Her walk determined and purposeful as her hips swayed to the side with every step. 

As consequence of being a dancer and training regularly, her body took the lean side, tight muscles, long legs and arms, but that didn't mean she wasn't spotting curves in all the right places. 

Sitting down on a booth at the back, she sipped her mug as her eyes wandered over the place. She'd always enjoyed to watch people as they got ready to begin their routine day. She loved to guess their personalities by the way they acted even on the smallest of things like folding and unfolding a paper napkin over and over again; not far from the girl sitting beside her who was looking outside the window with a frown as her mug lay forgotten to the side. She looked worried, Chloë could tell by the distant look in her eyes that her mind was playing her a hundred different scenes about why the person she had expected for the last hour hadn't arrived yet.

It was a family thing. Her aunt had been observant too and had taught her the real difference between watching and looking. She learned she could watch everything, but that didn't mean she did actually look at it. 

She suddenly felt herself going back to that place. The place she always tried to avoid. 

Her aunt had been an amazing woman and had planted some deep life lessons inside her, ones she still treasured just as she treasured her. With her help she'd been able to discover the beauty on the most simple things in life and that had led her to carry out the highest of her dreams. To become a ballet dancer. She would have never gotten to where she was if it weren't for her insightful advice.

She'd been a four-year old when her mother took her to ballet classes and she had never stopped since then. Even after the chaos that unfolded in her life during her teen years, dancing had always helped her cope. It had always been that place where she could find peace and safety, the place where she didn't feel so alone anymore. She'd imagine her family there, supporting her with bright faces and proud smiles and they'd give her the strength to keep fighting.

They reassured her that she wasn't alone, and now that was confirmed by a complete different reason.

Finishing the last drop of deliciousness dripping from the mug, she stood up with a last kind glance to the girl at her side and left the shop. Her heart pushing her to risk searching for that reason.

The one with those unusual calming deep-sea eyes.

-

The distant vibration of his phone took Easton's nose away from his computer screen. With a shake of his head, he retrieved it from the kitchen counter where it had been left forgotten.

Logan: Hey man, wanna go out? I heard about this pub a few blocks from the park and I need my fairytale fairy to take me away from my sister's annoying friend right now. You in?

He sighed, Logan always had problems with his sister's friends. Didn't need to be a mind reader to know the details why.

Easton: Sure, I'll pick you up in ten.

Logan: Thanks man. You're the best. I owe you.

Shrugging on a clean T-Shirt, he picked his car keys and left the room. Forgetting about the open laptop on the desk.

❀