Reverie [Bruno Mars - Editing]

Chapter sixteen

Chapter sixteen

I held my breath.

I suddenly remembered a time when my mother suddenly gathered me into her arms  and ran into the basement that was hidden under the floorboards. I was only five years old. We hid in the darkest corner, and she would tell me: “Shh, Adrian, sweetie. This is just a game of hide and seek.” Her voice was soothing and she caressed my hair, but I wasn't scared of the seekers upstairs, even when I heard their steps creak above us. My mom was a warrior. Moms aren't afraid of anything. We would win the game. I know now of course, that my mom was literally run by fear. 

These people were the cats, we were the mice. We lost the game.

The rise and fall of Bruno's chest on my back prevented me from falling into the hole of the memory, it even kept some of the fear away. Is that what happens when you really love someone? They make you feel as though the bad things cannot reach you as long as they were by your side? Does it strip every detrimental sentiment, every unwanted memory and replace it with something soft and gentle, so fragile that in any moment your afraid that it might break or just fly from your grasp and you're afraid to let go? 

You're even afraid to feel its touch?

I could hear Joseph moving around the room. His whistling was a joyful tune, sickly sweet. Then it abruptly stopped; I felt Bruno stiffen. I shut my eyes. A silence dragged through the air, and I had a prickling feeling that Joseph was watching us. Before my eyes could open Joseph's whistling resumed and I heard the soft click of the door as it closed. He was gone.

Bruno swore under his breath in relief. “Good thing we're both pretty damn small.” I almost wanted to stay like this, just us huddled together through the hurricane of everything happening around us but instead I stood and held out my hand. He looked up to me, startled. “What?”

“Come on,” I urged, but with a smile. He reached and grabbed my hand and I helped pull him up. His hand was rough and nice.

“Where are we going?” Bruno asked as I continued to pull him towards the door. “Where do you think?” I said. “We're following him.”

“Who? Joseph?”

“No. Rihanna.” I rolled my eyes and laughed. “Yes, Joseph.”

Bruno stopped walking, causing me to stop too. I looked back at him. “You know, Adrian,” he breathed. “you're—”

“Crazy?” I asked.

“If crazy means amazing then yes,” he smiled warmly. “you're crazy as hell.”

* * *

It was harder than we thought, following Joseph through the labyrinthine passageways. We continuously had to make stops, making sure we were a pretty far distance away from the whistling until it was a faint sound that resonated back to us in the darkness. Bruno and I communicated through hand gestures so we were often touching each other. Just a hold on the arm to signal stop, and just a graze on the elbow to keep going. I led the way. Bruno's breathing was soft, barely audible, behind me.

When we reached the end of the hall, Joseph's pitch lowered. We stood still. I peeked around the corner the tiniest bit, just to see the white shadow disappear within the walls. I faced Bruno, beckoning with a finger for him to come closer. His mouth again bumped against my cheek and ran along my skin until he found my ear. His voice was breathy. “Yeah?”

“He's gone. Make a mark?”

Bruno, fortunately, still had his fingernails. Mine were bitten down to stubs. He followed me and planted tiny, crescent-shapes on the supple walls until we were at the place where Joseph entered. I nodded my head and we quickly left, heading in the opposite direction. Our tour wasn't over yet. The light at the end of the hallway was coming into view, but what scared me the most was the silence. No murmurs. No complicated jargon was going on in The Lobby.