Fallen (24 page)

H
e
headed
f
or the balcony again
,
b
ut just
before he stepped out
the door,
he turned back.

“You’r
e wrong about me not liking you,” he
said earnestly
,
and I felt my heart skip a beat.

As
if he heard it, he
flashed
a smug grin
and disappeared over the railing.

I stood there
anticipating the impact
of his landing
, but there was only
dead air
…no crash…no commotion.
I
darted for
the
balcony
to lean
over
and
examine
the
trellis
he used
.

My mouth dropped open.

There was a trellis
,
but it was leaning against the back of the house…twenty feet away. I walked the perimeter of my balcony,
searching
for any possible way up.

There was none.

A
curious
smile
rose up as I shook
my head
in amazement.

Once again, he’d disappeared
-
quickly
and quietly
– without any trace
.

Staring
out from
the balcony
at the vacant street below
,
I realized that
a big part of me –
far bigger than I wanted to acknowledge –
was hoping
and
waiting
for
his
return.

Groaning in frustration, I
decided
I was too exhilarated to
sleep.
Before I was even downstairs, I
heard
Ezra, Rufus, and Felix
passionately debating the value
of oil versus butter
.

Stepping
into
the kitchen, Felix let out a hoot.

“
You came!”
he
squealed
, jumping
up to
hastily prepare
a
plate
of pie.

“Think you’ll be regrettin’ it…” said Rufus.

“Hey
…
y
ou’re eating it!”
Felix retorted.

Rufus winked at me – signal
ing
that the pie was edible.

After setting
a slice
in front of me
, Felix sat and
continue
d
devouring his own.

“So Felix…” I said
,
picking up the fork
he gave
me. “
Where did you ever learn to cook so well
?”

Rufus broke into a
fit of laughter. I
n reaction,
Ezra elbowed him in the shoulder.

Felix scowled at
him
before answering. “I
studied under the top chef in
Paris
,” Felix announced. “I’ll have you know.”

He
gave me a firm, proud nod.

“I didn’t know that. Very impressive.”

Felix went on to
explain
how he’d branched off and
began learning
to appreciate creative expression
using
various foods that most would consider too healthy to incorporate
into
their dishes.

Much later that night, long after
we’d all reinforced
Felix’s belief that he was an excellent cook
, I laid awake
listening to
the jazz music coming from bars down the street
. As I analyzed
my conversation with Eran
from earlier, I paid close attention to
how I felt at each moment.

I rolled over
to look
out the French doors I’d left
open a crack.
My mind was focusing on
Eran
’s
sudden appearance
through those same doors only a few hours ago
and
I had to
fight
the wishful feeling that it would happen again
…
right now.

I swung my legs over the tall bed
and
slid down
to the floor
. I then quietly tiptoed
out
onto
the balcony
so as
not to wake my roommates
.

I glanced down and
recalled
how
Eran had
managed to land
soundlessly
.
Considering the distance to the ground, it was nearly impossible.

Not
being
the least bit tired, I sat
down
in
the
chair and propped my feet
up
on the railing
to think
back over tonight’s passionate interaction with Eran
and, in particular,
his last statement to me
.

He
admitted to liking
me. Not in those words exactly
,
but
it
still lingered in my mind like a pleasant
day
dream. He also
called
me an
enigma
,
b
ut he was the epitome of
an
enigma,
something I’d have to express to him when I saw him next…which I
found myself hoping to be
very
soon.