Five years ago…

  “He’ll be there, you know.” Holly said.

  Natalie smiled, going over the work schedule. “I know.”

  Natalie’s best friend and assistant manager Holly Scott, grinned ear to ear waiting for a reaction.

  “What?” Natalie laughed. “I hardly even know him, and he doesn’t act like he’s into me at all. I mean every time I try to talk to him in the dish-room he sort of dodges me.”

  Holly laughed. “Well, duh! That’s what guys do! It’s like reality TV!” Holly changed her voice, doing her best impersonation of a television promo. “Love is in the air, on this season of Ohio University banquets and catering. Will young manager Natalie Day get her special moment with Dish Room Pete, the mysterious brooding senior? Tune in tonight to find out!”

  Both girls broke out in laughter as Natalie threw a crumpled paper at Holly.

  “Shut up!” She yelled, giggling.

  “But seriously though.” Holly continued. “What’s with his whole…Yankee cap, white T-shirt thing? I mean, does he have other clothes?”

  Natalie laughed. “I don’t know.” She said quietly. “I think it’s kind of cute.”

  “Well, what are you gonna wear, since you’re so sure he’s ‘not into you’” Holly asked sarcastically.

  Natalie thought for a second. “I’ve got that red dress.”

  Holly’s reaction was instant. “Oooohhhh!!” She chortled. “THE red dress! Yeah, I think you’re going to be just fine tonight.” She walked off to check the serving trays. “Just fine!” She shouted again as she left.

  Natalie looked at the schedule pretending to be productive, but her thoughts dwelt only on Pete Bishop, and the party his roommates were hosting.

  Later that night…

  Natalie and Holly were first to arrive and the house was packed shortly thereafter. Natalie glowed. The music was lively. The people were entertaining and the lights and sounds transported her in her beautiful dress as she sensed the pull toward something important. Excitement and desire all around her.

  On more than one occasion her eyes would meet Pete’s from across the room. He would quickly look away each time, but it did nothing to dissuade her. Even glances through the crowd were silent messages. Flickers of moments where young hearts say what words cannot.

  Around one o'clock in the morning, guests started leaving, including Holly, at Natalie’s urging.

  Pete’s own roommates, long since gone to the next party down the street, left him with cleanup. And Natalie took the opportunity to wander up the attic steps to where his bedroom was.

  She lingered there, taking in the unmade bed. Guitar and microphone sitting in the corner. “He plays guitar? And sings!” she thought, smiling. “Of course, he does.”

  Downstairs, meanwhile, despite trying to focus on the mess, Pete was acutely aware that the beautiful girl he’d been talking to at work had wandered off, likely to his room, and had not returned. “If I go up there and she’s there... there’s probably no going back.”

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  He paused, debating, holding a trash bag filled with red solo cups and empty beer cans. But after one last moment of contemplation, he took a deep breath and headed upstairs.

  “Who is this girl?” he wondered, unable to suppress a smile. “She’s got guts. I’ll give her that.”

  As he got to the top of the attic steps, their eyes met. Natalie stood there, in the middle of the room, hands clasped casually behind her back, rocking back and forth on her heels. Smiling at him.

  “So, you play guitar, huh?” She took a step toward him as she spoke. “Will you play for me?”

  “Nope,” Pete answered quick, a curious smile now on his face.

  “Why not?” she asked innocently.

  “Because I’m not very good,” he replied, adding, “I think your friend left.”

  “She got bored.” Natalie lied, feigning her own boredom.

  “Your friend is gone…but you’re still here.” He clarified. “So, I guess that means I’m supposed to keep you entertained?”

  They were standing so close they could feel each other’s heat. The moment arrived. Neither moved.

  “This is it.” Natalie realized. “Finally!”

  But just then, something unexpected happened to the young Natalie Day. Standing right where she wanted to be, in front of the guy she wanted to be with, …she hesitated.

  A sudden nervousness, not because of anything he did; just a feeling, an instinct that, “This is not going to be like any relationship I have ever had.”

  Like a voice of its own. Something only she could hear, echoing within the inches between them.

  So, although her plan was to kiss him in that attic (more accurately, her plan was to get kissed by him in that attic), she faltered, noticeably frozen. And all she could do to break the silence was to blurt out the first random thought that entered her mind. Which is exactly what she did. “What is… your favorite… type of dog?”

  He looked at her, confused. “What?”

  “No!” Her inner voice screamed, “I can’t believe I just said that! ‘Favorite dog?’ No! He probably thinks I’m an idiot. I’m smiling like an idiot, that’s for sure.”

  She forced a laugh, trying to cover her turmoil. “I just want to know! What is your favorite type of dog?”

  He leaned against the railing, grinning, keeping his eyes on hers. For the moment, at least, he was still… hers.

  “I like mutts, I guess. You know, the kind of scruffy-looking dog that follows a movie character around at the end of the world.”

  It was a weird exchange. There was no other way to describe it. She knew it, and so did he. Yet after a silence, they laughed, and the sound transformed the room. The tension in the attic evaporated. Humor disarming them both. Pete walked over and sat down on a small couch, and Natalie joined him.

  They spent the next few hours talking. Laughing. Taking turns asking random questions. “What is your favorite kind of pizza?” or “What is your biggest fear?”

  It could have turned into more. They each wanted that. Though, for reasons not entirely clear, they didn't act. As though they shared an unspoken understanding that they were both holding something significant and fragile, and neither wanted to risk losing it by being reckless.

  Eventually, they fell asleep, comfortably safe, lying beside one another, not having accomplished anything that they both desired and feared.

  And the low light of the attic cast guitar-shaped shadows across the floor. Shadows, like people …watching.

  6E+24

  “She reminds me so much of dear Lilith,” Raphael said. “Before ...”

  Like a reflex, a smile appeared on Gabriel’s face at the mention of Lilith’s name. “You’re right,” he added. “She was so brilliant. So … bright.”

  But the smile faded as he seemed to stare past the lens, beyond the Kaleidoscope, and into time. “She …,” though whatever Gabriel was about to say was forever caught in his throat.

  “Did you ever learn what happened to her?” Raphael asked.

  Gabriel went silent. A distant look in his dark green eyes. A lifetime of memories, flashing by. “I did not.” He finally answered. “Whatever her fate, it was … complicated, I’m sure.”

  “It’s always complicated in love.” Raphael’s response was so natural that it was almost impossible to fault him for the painful reminder.

  So, Gabriel didn’t respond with words. He simply turned, giving his friend a sad, expectant stare.

  “I’m sorry, Gabriel. It’s been so long, and it’s just that they …” Raphael gestured to the image of the love-struck Natalie frozen in the fractal. “… they remind me so much of the two of you. My heart broke for you both that day. I only wish …”

  “It’s alright, Raphael,” Gabriel interrupted. “I know what I lost.”

  Raphael tried to continue his apology but was quickly shut down as Gabriel held up his hand slightly, his golden wings opening.

  “Resume.” He said, and the fractal scene obeyed as Natalie’s image came to life.

  6E+24