it seemed the world relished in her suffering.
and so, suffer she will.
pernicious (adjective)
/pəˈnɪʃəs/
having a harmful effect, especially in a gradual or subtle way.
~~~~~
she held a numb finger out from under the shelter that protected her from the powerful onslaught of nature. the sting of drops cut her skin until she could almost feel blood drip from the tip of her finger down to her wrist. but it wasn't red like blood. it looked just like water. it was hiding the pain she suffered perfectly. it was painfully mendacious.
she saw a tall figure dressed in a long black trench coat run up to where she was, a disintegrating newspaper held above his head to shelter him from the deceivingly transparent drops of blood.
he cowered under the short shelter, his height almost the same as it. he moved his hands which gripped the newspaper tightly from over his head, his knuckles white from their taught clenching.
she could finally admire his features. he had a nice side profile. his eyes were a dark, misty blue, mimicking the thunderous sky they were hiding from. his pale peach lips were chapped, and cheeks red from the cold. his black hair was slightly drenched, and a single strand curled over his forehead and rested just above his arched brows like it was strategically placed there to make the final touch on his celestial face.
she must have been staring at him for quite a while now, because he finally noticed her beside him. his eyes widened slightly before he smiled politely, a light dimple appearing on his left cheek only. she was half expecting him to be the typical cold-hearted CEO like in those romance novels she would read. but the way his smile reached his eyes and the dimple decorating his cheek would make him look a decade younger really added to the sincerity of his kindness.
she hesitantly smiled back and nodded her head once before looking back out at the seemingly infinite downpour.
"a bit nippy out there, isn't it?" the man leaned down slightly to be heard over the thundering rainfall. she looked back up at him, to see a gentle smile on his face as he quickly lifted his eyebrows expectantly, and brought them back down.
she really couldn't get over how gorgeous he was. having been around for a couple of decades, and been in just as many meaningless relationships, you'd expect her to have some experience with handsome men. but not with any quite so sublime.
not knowing how to respond without making an embarrassment of herself, she just nodded her head vigorously a couple of times, earning a hearty laugh from him. the deep rumble of his chest and the way he threw his head back as the dimple appeared again, a little deeper this time, all threw her off guard. and she blushed heavily, looking away so he didn't see her crimson face.
his laughter eventually subsided, but his genuine joy did not, as was obvious by the way he continued to smile and look towards the red girl beside him, his smile deepening even more.
she was beginning to get cold. she shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. she wore a cardigan over her office dress, but nothing thick enough to protect her from the cold. he saw, and immediately took his trench coat off.
her eyes widened at the muscular arms hidden beneath his coat, bulging out of the white shirt he wore. he placed his coat over her shoulders, but didn't move his hands from her shoulders even after she held onto the front of the coat to prevent it from falling off. the tiny drops of rain which managed it's way under the shelter splattered against his shirt, and she wanted to curse them for making the white shirt cling to his skin and muscle until it was practically a transparent piece of clothing.
