Two Pieces of a Puzzle ✔

Chapter Fourteen

ELIOTT 

"Sorry I'm late, I rode my cycle here," he confessed. 

He proceeded to say something else, but I couldn't pay attention. I was too busy gawking over the fact that I was finally face to face with the man I had been searching for for so long. 

Oh how I wanted to drop everything; my pride, my ego and my self-doubt at the same time just so I could wrap my arms around him tighter than ever and never let go. 

His dark eyes were hidden behind thick black-rimmed glasses, and his hair still fell over his eyes perfectly - just like they had always done. 

And that smile. 

I could have sworn I was floating. 

If not floating, heaven had made it's way to Earth. 

His smile was just like I had remembered ten years ago. They were never symmetrical, one side was always pulled higher than the other almost clumsily - but he never seemed to mind; neither did I.

My heart was racing a thousand miles per minute. It was performing a tantalizing act in my chest whilst constricting so painfully, all my thoughts instantly swarmed into the hole that was beginning to form onto the walls of it. 

And there I stood, with nothing to think and nothing to say.

"You didn't tell me you wore glasses," I commented as he took his seat in front of me. 

"Did I not?" he questioned, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion, resulting in faint wrinkles on his forehead making their presence known. 

"Yeah," I breathed out, still unable to process what was going on. "Y-You smell great, by the way. Hope that's not creepy."

"I was hoping you'd notice," he said with a quiet chuckle. "The smell of the shower gel just sticks."

He had taken a shower before our meeting - which meant he had spent a decent amount of time working on his appearance as well. It felt reassuring not having been the only one. 

"You look so much better up close," he complimented. "Still have this nagging feeling that I've seen you somewhere. Gosh, your eyes are beautiful."

"Are they?" 

"Very," he nodded, the grin staying plastered onto his face. "Does your appearance justice. You look great."

"So do you, thank you," I spoke, averting my gaze elsewhere so he wouldn't see the crimson tint that was beginning to form on both my cheeks. "What do you wanna have, then?"

"Oh.. well, you can go ahead and order," he said, waving me off. "Never been a big fan of coffee."

"Why didn't you tell me?" I questioned, suddenly feeling a rush of guilt. "I would've picked another place-"

"No, it's okay, really," he reassured me, shaking his head at my eagerness. "You can go ahead and get whatever you'd like. No biggie."

My stomach began to make noises of complaint; a sign that I was hungry and desperately needed to eat or drink something, anything.

Even then, I placed the menu back onto the table face down and stood up, "On second thought, I'm not that hungry. Let's go somewhere else."

"Hold on, you really don't have to," he began, standing up along with me. "Are you sure about this?"

"A hundred percent," I stated, already beginning to make my way over to the door with him close behind. "How about we take turns picking destinations for today? Your turn now."

"That.. sounds great," he said with a nod. "What about my cycle?"

"I'll try to see if it fits in the boot of my car," I responded. "Why don't you go sit inside?"

I handed him the keys to my car, and our hands ever so lightly grazed against each other. It was no solid touch, nothing that lasted for a minute or even a second. It didn't even last a nanosecond, but I could still feel the ghost of his touch lingering there, and it was electrifying. 

Electrifying in the sense that I lost all train of thought. I was transfixed in my position and had to bear the flames racing to every edge of my body, hitting every corner with great force just to retake the path from which they entered and repeat their cycle. 

Ten years and I would still never get over the way you made me feel.

He seemed unfazed by the touch. 

Of course he would be. He isn't even aware of me knowing his actual identity yet. 

Whilst I was caught up in my thoughts, I heard a struggle coming from the other side and upon turning my head to the source of the sound, I spotted a burglar attempting to snatch Elias' - Eric's - bicycle. 

And he had succeeded. 

With the bicycle secured under his nasty armpit, he dashed toward the direction he had come from, and, not bothering to think twice, I followed the trail in pursuit of the thief.