In My Veins (19 page)

I told him he could take a shower first
since we were both morning shower people and I’d clean the dishes and stuff
while he did.

I got to wash the dishes and kept my
ears sharp. As soon as the water started I quickly finished washing the last
plate and ran out of the apartment to go up to the rooftop.

I went up to the now sunny rooftop
garden and glanced around. It was near the rose bushes. I searched around the
rose bushes and there was no sign of the paper. It’s not that windy so I doubt
it flew away… unless it was really windy during the night? The rocks not even
there… so I don’t think it was the wind.

Did someone pick it up? Maybe throw it
away? I glanced under the bench we were sitting on and smiled at the memory.
Did he seriously ask me to marry him? Was that for real? It didn’t feel real.
Can
he marry?

I shrugged off the thought and glanced
around. Sighing, I might not be able to find it. I went to the edge of the roof
that was safely guarded by the brick barrier that went well above my waist I
glanced down at the people walking in and out of the apartment building. I
should probably head back in soon.

Just as I was about to turn around I
felt arms wrap around my waist. I tensed up and looked down to see it was James’s
arms and was quickly put back in ease. His head rested on my shoulder and the
freshly showered scent engulfed me. His damp hair dripped on my shoulder making
me smile.

“Were you looking for this?” he
asked bringing up one of his hands showing a folded paper. I examined the paper
more closely and noticed it was the paper Collin left behind!

“You found it?!” I said excitedly.

He laughed, “After you fell asleep I
couldn’t sleep… I was distracted so I went for some fresh air and to see if Collin
was still around. I saw the paper and took it.”

“Are you thinking about it?”

He heisted and sighed, “Honestly… yes. I
guess the worst has happened already.”

I had a pang of guilt causing me to
tense up. He shifted his head to look at me instead of the traffic and people,
“Don’t feel guilty. It’s not your fault. I’m the one who got in a fight with
him. You tried to prevent me from coming there.” He kissed my check and let me
go. He quickly grabbed my hand, “Let’s go inside?”

I nodded but grabbed his hand so he
couldn’t keep going. “The worst didn’t happen James. I can’t lose you… would it
be safe to go to a foreign country asking around about a curse?”

He sighed, “Baby… being in the same room
as me isn’t safe for you. I have to try anything I can.”

Still feeling guilty he pulled me with
him and I followed him back to my apartment. Once we got inside I went to
shower and get ready for my day. I quickly semi dried my hair and put it into a
cute messy side braid for a quick style and did my makeup in record time. After
picking out a simple purple blouse that was really open in the back. I always
thought showing a little back was sexy.

When I got out he was sitting on one of
my sofa’s and was deep in thought. He looked over at me and smiled. His eyes
looked so worried. I walked over to him and cuddled into his side. “Are you
okay?” I asked as I took his hand to massage it.

“Yeah… I’m fine.” His finger slid down
my bare spine and he kissed the side of my head, “You look beautiful, like
always.”

I smiled sadly. I didn’t believe that he
was okay. I looked up at him and he looked at me. He looked like he had the
weight of the world on his shoulders. “Talk to me…”

He sighed, “It’s really nothing… I’m
just thinking about the whole Collin thing… I don’t know whether to believe him
or not. I didn’t sense any tension or threats when he was around us. So he
really didn’t have his guard up. I sensed more…sadness.”

“So maybe he really did feel bad…” I
said hopeful.

“Maybe…”

I looked up at his now dry hair and
brushed the long strands away from his eyes. “I like your hair long.” I said
and ran my fingers through it, “Let’s go to Romania and see what we can find.”

He looked at me shocked, “I…”

“Come on… it’s worth the try. If not it
will be a well-deserved vacation for you. I remember seeing some pictures,
looks like a beautiful country. I’ve never been out of the States and would
want to go with you…” I tried smiling at him to put him at ease.

He was about to say something but the
door buzzed. I looked at him curiously, “Did you invite someone?”

“No…” he said tensing.

I stood up to go to the buzzer, “Who is
it?”

“Ellie…” she said plainly, “and Jenny!”
I heard Jenny yell excitedly making me smile.

“They knew where I lived?” I asked him.
He shrugged looking equally confused.

I buzzed them in and David came soon
after. He smiled at me warmly and walked towards the living room, he had been
here before so he knew his way around.

Ellie came with a box of what looked
like pastries and handed them to me, “Um… ‘cause you know…first time over your
house. They’re my favorite cupcakes…” she smiled and followed David. I couldn’t
stop my smile from taking over my face. A teenage girl sharing her favorite
cupcakes is definitely a good sign.

Last to enter was the gorgeous and
chipper Jenny who hugged me tightly. “Everyone’s warming up to you now! I’m
still your favorite though, right?” she whispered as she let go. I laughed and closed
the door after them. Jenny linked her arm around mine as we went to the living
room.

Jenny let go and sat by David and Ellie
who were sitting on the long sofa and I went to stand by James. “Would you guys
like anything to drink or eat?” I think I had a box of tea in the pantry so I
hoped they’d say tea.

“No thank you.” They all said in unison.

I sat by James and noticed they all
looked at us. Their eyes were testing our comfort with each other. Taking note
of how we were sitting close to each other that our legs were touching. Ellie’s
eyes went on James’s hand as he placed it on my leg. Jenny was smiling
approvingly but Ellie still seemed doubtful.

I think, no I knew, James sensed that so
he leaned in and kissed my cheek making me get out of my thoughts and look at
him with a big grin.

I looked back at them and Ellie was
finally smiling as well. David noticed the paper on the coffee table and looked
at James. James nodded making David lean forward and pick it up. He must have
talked to him about it on the phone or something.

“What’s that?” Ellie asked peeking over
to the paper in David’s hand. “Who’s Andrea and why does she live in Romania?”

James sighed and explained the Collin
situation to Ellie and Jenny. Ellie sat up, “You’re going right?!”

“I don’t know…” James said sadly.

“I think you should! Don’t you Karina!?”
She asked me. Shocked that she even considered James to go after being so
protective I could only simply nod.

“What if it’s a lie…?” James said.

“It’s worth the try James…” I said
squeezing his hand. He sighed again and nodded hesitantly. I smiled that he was
at least hopeful.

After they left James and I sat in the
living room and planned out the trip. His record company had a deal with an airline
so we got our last minute flight prepared. I called work and used my sick days.
Told my family that James wanted to be sweet by surprising me to a trip to
Europe. And we were ready to go.

After planning everything out, I noticed
James was getting tenser by the minute. I glanced at the clock and it was
already four in the afternoon. James started scooting away from me inch by inch
and I realized he must be getting hungry. I put down the papers and stood up,
“Are you getting hungry? I kind of am... Want me to cook something or order?”

“What’s faster?” he asked with pleading eyes.

“Ordering pizza? They always deliver
within thirty minutes. Cooking or ordering anything else would take at least an
hour. Unless you want noodles again.”

“Okay. Pizza it is.”

The pizzas came just in time. Knowing
he’d be really hungry I ordered two with every meat topic they had. He ate as
if he had been starving for days and finally would slowly drift closer to me as
his tenseness faded. I really hope there was a cure for this… I hate that he
feels so uncomfortable around me.

Just as we were getting back to extra
comfortable the door buzzed again. “Who could that be?”

I pressed the buzzer waiting for a
reply, “It’s me Tiff!”

Tiffany!

James looked at me wide eyed as he stood
up “I’ll hide in your room.”

I was about to argue and tell him to
stay but he grabbed another slice and dashed past me into the bedroom.

Just in time too because Tiffany knew
the code to the door and had started knocking. At least she practically warned
me before… I felt guilty that James thought he had to hide. Tiffany would understand…
I hoped.

She hugged me and came in. “How are you
feeling?”

“I’m okay, how are you?” I asked looking
past her to see if there was any sign of Collin before closing the door.

“Good. I’ve been worried about you since
you left yesterday. Have you talked to James?”

“Yeah… we’re okay again.” I smiled. She
sat on the couch we were sitting at and glanced at the pizza boxes on the
coffee table. “Want some?” I asked.

“Um…no. I just ate out with my Dani-bear…but
do you have company or something?” she asked looking around.

“No… no one’s here.” I lied.
“Dani-bear?”

She smiled, “That’s what I call him.”

“Wow.” Was all I could say.

“So you had a box and a half of pizza…”she
asked looking at all the missing slices. “I mean… I’ve been letting it go that
you had not been to yoga in weeks but this is pushing it.”

“I’m really hungry… when I’m sad…”

“I thought you and James were okay?” she
inquired.

“We are. We’re great actually. He’s
taking me to Europe tomorrow.” I didn’t realize how crazy that sounds for a
couple that just got in a fight till I actually said it out loud to someone who
knew we had been in a fight.

“You two just fought and he’s taking you
to Europe as an apology!? Whoa. You struck gold. Not only does he have a nice
bod, he gives good make-up gifts. You’ve got yourself a keeper.”

I looked in the direction of my room and
cringed, “Yeah…” I laughed nervously with her.

“Oh my gosh, that’s amazing though. You
want me to help you pack?!” she said cheerfully.

“NO!” I said a little too aggressively. “I
already packed and my stuff in his car ready for the early flight in the
morning.”

“Oh okay, well then I need you to
explain everything.”

I told her we just had a
misunderstanding and he showed up at my apartment last night and we made up. I
kind of explained the make up in detail because he was so sweet but didn’t say
anything about the getting married thing since we haven’t really talked about
that in detail yet.

She swooned, “I swear. The day you went
to the coffee shop was such good luck for us. You met James and I met Daniel
because of you meeting James.”

I cringed at the mention of Lana. 
She eventually left after half an hour which is record time for her visits.

After she left James appeared behind me
as I closed the door. As I turned around I pulled him into a hug, “Why did you
leave? Tiffany would have been okay with everything.”

“Thank you…” he said

“For what?”

“You lied for me… I know how much you
hate lying.”

I smiled realizing he wasn’t tense
anymore because he ate. That doesn’t make him any more different than other
guys.

‘What’s so funny?” he asked looking
confused.

“Nothing…just thinking about how all
guys are the same. You guys always get cranky when hungry and once you eat you
can’t keep your hands off your girlfriend” I poked his hard abs making him laugh.

I felt James’s eyes on me as we sat in
the plane quietly. He found it weird that I trusted him enough to go in a plane
thousands of feet in the air with no escape. I didn’t even think about the
‘need to escape’ till he mentioned it. But I didn’t want to or need it. I held
onto his hand tightly, more afraid of the turbulence than anything.

“Baby… why didn’t you mention the
engagement to Tiffany?”

I was surprised by his question, “Um… I don’t
know. I guess I wanted to wait till we
really
talked about it… just in
case you changed your mind or something.”

“Changed my mind?” He said as if the
thought was crazy. He squeezed my hand between both of his, “Of course not.
Where else am I going to find a girl who would go in public with this” he
pointed to his eyes. I smiled at the thought of all the stares he got from
wearing sunglasses and a beanie in the airport.

I laughed, “True.”

He looked down in his lap as the
stewardess came to ask us if we wanted anything to drink. I answered no and
looked back at James so that he could look back up. “How about you sleep? I’ll
wake you up.” I suggested.