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The next morning....
S
treaks of sunlight were spilling onto the white linen sheets from the window right across the tiny room. The phone on the wooden side table continued to ring off the hook; the first three rings went unnoticed, but then the person in bed started to stir a little. He grunted as he moved the strands of black hair out of his eyes and yawned.
David looked down to notice that his body was completely tangled with Angela's. The girl was completely passed out next to him, and her fingers were intertwined with his; their legs were looped over each other, and as David's gaze shifted, he saw a glimpse of the dimples popping up around the corners of her cheeks, and he smiled to himself until sadness washed over him as he thought about everything that had happened. He wondered what had happened for them to end up like this.
He looked down at her as she was lying in his arms, and he noticed her flinching a little. Little did he know she was stuck; she was replaying the moment repeatedly in her mind. She kept twisting and turning the memories that wouldn't leave her alone.
The dark hallway with the flickering lights in the distance kept coming back to her; as she imagined it, the memory was fuzzy, and she could barely even walk straight. She would take in deep breaths as she rushed towards the wooden door before her; all she wanted was to save him, she had promised to keep him safe, and she had done the opposite. Angela's eyes were glued to her palms even as she drowned further in the depths of the nightmare.
Her palms began to sweat with anxiety that washed over her body. She thought about the way the gun felt heavy against her palms; she wondered how it had even ended up there, her grip tightened around the firearm, and she could see the old man's face in the distance.
She couldn't understand what had happened; she could have sworn that her surroundings were blurring together, and as she was seconds away from passing out, she pressed the trigger. The sound of the bullet slipping out of the barrel of the gun made her heart skip a beat.
She was supposed to see the old man's body falling to the ground, but instead, she heard a familiar voice.... she heard the scream, and that was when her heart dropped down to her chest. Her body went numb at the sight of all the blood, and she felt dizzy. She was so deeply lost in the memory of what had happened she started to feel like she was being suffocated. She pushed herself off the bed and rushed out of the bedroom, and everything began to close in on her, and she grabbed onto her throat, trying to breathe in.
David was sitting on the bed when he watched her slowly yanking herself out of his arms. He had barely even processed what was going on, and she had already left.
On the other side of the room, Angela had no idea what was going on with her body. A part of her knew that she needed to get up...she needed to get away. She pushed himself out of bed without even thinking twice or noticing the fact that she had been in David's arms; she just knew she needed to get away.
She rushed towards the bathroom at the end of the hall, and as soon as she stumbled inside, she grabbed onto her chest as the pain rushed up her entire body, making her freeze. She could hear the water drops trickling down the sink, one by one; her eyes trailed each droplet of water that landed upon the white porcelain surface below.
She gripped onto the edge of the sink, and she was so lost in her thoughts she barely even realized that her knuckles had turned a dark shade of red. Angela twisted the knob, and the water pressure increased; she held her palms still underwater for a few moments.
The cold water made contact with her skin as she splashed it across her face and let it drip down her skin. She looked up with the water droplets still clinging to her eyelashes; she looked up to the mirror hanging above the sink on the wall. It was oval-shaped, and she could see her reflection clearly in it staring back at her.
For a while, Angela just stood there; she kept starring at herself. Her skin had turned pale, and she could see the light pink-colored rims under her eyes; it was probably the trauma that had gotten to her all at once. She ran a hand through her hair, and she could see that a haircut was overdue; split ends had started to show up in her otherwise healthy hair. As she stared at herself, she tried to get rid of the feeling of suffocation that rushed through her body. Her hands had started to sweat as the image of the blood that spilled from Toby's body came before her, and she whispered under her breath, telling herself to calm down.
David waited carefully outside of the bathroom door, knowing that she may need her space. He knew that something was up, and he wanted to be there for her; he just hadn't figured out how to do that yet.
Sunlight had started to filter in from the clouds, and he felt the warmth of the rays falling upon his skin; they were comforting, and he was suddenly pushed out of his thoughts. That was when he brought his attention to the sound of running water in the bathroom and shrugged; he knew he couldn't stand outside forever, and he knew that something was going on with her.
After a few moments, David knew he needed to do something. She had been in there for what felt like forever, and he had started to get more worried by the second. He finally gave in and raised his fist to knock on the door, but as soon as his knuckles made contact with the door, it opened itself with a slight push. He found himself standing in the doorway a few feet away from her, he could see Angela's body, she was standing by the sink, and she was gripping onto it with all the energy in her body.
He could see her staring up at her own reflection; it seemed as if she was deeply lost in her own thoughts. He watched her for a few moments as she was so completely lost in another world that she didn't even notice the door opening.
David knew that what had happened with the bullet and the shooting had gotten to her, and he hated seeing her so hurt. It was going to take a while for her to recover from it, and he knew that for a fact. He took a few steps forward carefully, not wanting to scare her or catch her off guard; once he was close enough, he whispered her name under his breath, but she still didn't budge. Worry took over his face; he gently brought his hands forward, and as soon as his palms made contact with the side of her arm, Angela jumped. She almost caused David to trip over his own feet and fall backward, but thankfully, she held herself steady right when she was about to fall back.
David saw the look of surprise written across Angela's face, and he noticed that she had zoned out completely. He watched carefully as Angela moved forward and spoke up as she placed a hand over her heart.
“I....when did you wake up?”
The look of worry was starting to wash over David’s face. He had to admit that he didn’t like seeing her this way at all. He spoke as he took a step into the bathroom and came closer to her.
"Angela, are you okay? What the hell just happened? You looked like you were in another world."
He let out a loud sigh as she tried her best to dodge the topic, but it was there, and it needed to be talked about. He could tell that she didn't want to talk about it. She moved over and shut down the water from running down the drain; she ran a hand over her own hair, messing it up along the edges; she looked over at him with wide eyes, and suddenly, he felt his heart skipping a beat.
David knew very well that she didn't want to talk about what had just happened, and he took a deep breath. She looked away from him, and suddenly a sense of silence filled the air. They both had open wounds that they were trying to ignore, but they knew deep down that they had a lot to talk about.
Angela wanted to make things better, but there was just too much going on at once, and the pain was getting harder to handle by the second; on the other end, David had so much to worry about he really wanted to forget what had happened, but it was something both of them had suffered from, and he knew that it would take time for both of them to heal.
Before he had the chance to talk to her, his phone began to ring in the back pocket of his trousers; Angela stopped in the hallway. She turned back to look him in the eyes, and he gave her an apologetic shrug as he saw his assistant's name flashing across the screen. The realization hit him in seconds; he knew that he needed to pick the phone up. Despite everything going on in his life, he still had a business to maintain and a reputation for keeping up. He knew that if he disappeared for too long, people would start to ask questions, and it was a matter of time until the paparazzi and the tabloids would rush to get anything to print with his name in the center.
He pressed the phone against his ear, and Angela watched from a distance. Loose strands of his hair were falling over his forehead as the water was still clinging to the edges of his eyelashes; the sunlight coming in from across the window was falling directly upon his face as he spoke to the person on the phone.
Angela took a few moments to admire his presence; despite everything that they had been through, she still couldn't help but carry the same feelings for him. She didn't know how he had that kind of a hold over her, but as puzzling as it was for her, she wanted to hold onto it for eternity.
A few moments passed, and finally, he withdrew the phone from his ear. He looked over at Angela, and the expression on his face shifted. He looked like a little kid who had just been offered candy as he walked towards her with his eyebrows raised, and she could see a smirk dancing along the edges of his lips. She almost got worried as she spoke before he even made it close to her.
"What is it? What happened?"
David finally spoke just when he anticipation of what he was going to say had started to get to her.
“Would you like to be my date to the annual Upper East Side Masquerade Ball this evening?”
