Thunder rumbles again. I take it as a sign and knock on her door loud enough for her to hear me if she decides to jump in the shower and warm up.
Time passe. It could be a century or a second, and I wouldn’t know. The only thing on my mind, as I pace back and forth, is that I hurt her, and I didn’t mean to. I wasn’t trying to.
“Go away!” she shouts.
“Open the door, Riley.” I pound on it four more times.
“I’m taking a shower. Go home!”
“Open the damn door!” I shout again. Fuck, I would scare myself if I didn’t know what was going through my head. I try again, toning it down this time. “Riley, open the door, please.”
Footsteps echo behind the door, frenetic at first, and then they stop.
“Please, open the door,” I whisper, hoping she’s on the other side.
She pulls it open, with her soaked hair, red-rimmed eyes, and a shirt that swallows her whole. “What?” she shouts. The perfect juxtaposition. She looks so fragile. So hurt. But she’s still full of fire on the inside, like a stunning, mighty firefly.
I stand there, dumbfounded by her and her beauty, losing my words yet again at the sight of her.
And what a sight she is.
She’s breathtaking.
“Are you just going to stand there and stare at me? You’re going to catch an ailment if you don’t dry off.”
I chuckle.
“What’s so funny?” she questions, arms crossing over her chest.
“You.”
“I’m glad you find this situation funny.” A million shades of red dance across her chest and face.
I play stupid, allowing my heart time to settle. “And what situation would that be?”
“Are you really going to make me say it again?”
“Enlighten me.”Tell me what you think I find funny. Spell out for me like I’m five.
I want to be one hundred percent sure, Riley.All things I want to say, but I don’t.
Come on, Firefly. Read between the lines.
“I just embarrassed myself over there, okay? Sorry I misread it all,again. Now, I would like to eat a pint of ice cream and never speak about this again, so please—” she points to my cabin, “go home and let me keep some dignity, yeah?”
“What did you misread?”
She narrows her eyes at me. “Are you okay?”
“Very much so.” Lie. That’s a lie. I’m not.
“How much did you drink?”
“A beer.” Just one, because when I noticed she was drinking by herself on the riverbank, I felt an urge to meet her there.
“Do you have trouble understanding English?”
I smile as I say, “I did once upon a time, but not anymore.”
