Do You Believe In Destiny?

Chapter Sixteen

She'd never been a terribly big fan of those cheesy, predictable romantic movies everyone else seemed to enjoy. She'd just never understood how they could possibly apply to real life.

The hopeless fall...the inescapable attraction...the happily ever after...

They weren't realistic - they were just improbable representations of what everyone wished romance could be, not what it truly was.

But recently, she'd begun to think that maybe the people who'd written such frivolous stories were on to something.

How long had she and Normani stayed atop that tower, generating enough heat between them to withstand the cold and then some?

How did every shade of the color red immediately bring the girl to mind - and a smile at the same time?

How was it possible for one person to take up so much of her thoughts?

It was only after she'd poured out her heart to Normani through her lips that the fire within her had died down to a smoldering ember - still very much alive, but safely contained within the walls of her heart, to be rekindled at some other time.

Every second of their night together still lingered on her skin like an invisible tattoo - presenting itself to her every time she moved a muscle. Something as simple as a soft breath of air would raise goosebumps on her arms as if Normani's hand had just passed across her once again.

But even this constant reminder of the brunette wasn't enough - the floodgates had been opened and she burned for more.

More touching, more kissing, more everything.

It was terrifying and exhilarating - unsettling and intoxicating.

It was like nothing she ever could have imagined.

And it might not be decent or proper,  but neither of those words seemed to register when she was in Normani's presence. There were no such things as too fast, too little, or too slow. 

There was only Normani.

It was only when she'd found herself sitting in the back of the limousine for the solitary drive back to her home that she felt the crushing weight of her actions.

It was only when she'd slipped the extravagant engagement ring back onto her finger that she felt her happiness begin to leave her.

They couldn't be together...it could never be. The expiration date for her freedom had already been set.

But an addiction like this wasn't so easy to cure - her feverish desire overruling the whims of pragmatism.

Which is why instead of sitting at home poring over the confirmed guest list, she was currently headed towards Normani's apartment, liberating herself of the infernal band locked around her finger once more.

When the vehicle glided to a stop in front of the building, she instructed the driver to wait - remembering to bring Normani's jacket with her as she exited. Rushing through the cold into the familiar lobby, she pressed the button to call an elevator to the ground floor. Once it had arrived, she stepped calmly inside and waited for her exit on the fifth floor - neatly folded coat held in both hands.

Her controlled movements camouflaged the nerves rampantly coursing through her body - appearing to be a model of grace while suffering from an infection of butterflies.

Taking a deep breath, she tried to release the air in a slow, steady stream to prove to herself she wasn't actually anxious. Instead, it rushed out in jagged puffs of air, uneven in every sense of the word.