When Our Stories Entwine

Chapter Twenty - Maggie

Maggie -

I couldn't wait to hear from Jackson, but a simple phone call wasn't enough. I wanted to touch him, to feel my fingertips tracing the ink drawings all over his skin. I wanted to feel my lips pressed tight against his and taste the mixture of metal and mint on my tongue. My mind was plagued with him in my every thought until Nick provided me with a brief distraction.

The rooftop view is beautiful as I stand leaning against the slim metal barrier that's my only separation from a straight drop. When Nick first brought me up here the view made me sink to the floor with dizziness, but now, after sharing the second bottle of wine, the shining city lights and tiny people lining the street intrigue me more than anything.

"Maggie get back over here. You're too close to the edge." Nick shouts from a few yards away.

I brush him off and suddenly remember the phone still held tightly to my ear with Jackson's voice booming inside it. I can hear his clear attempt to stay calm, but even in my drunkest moments, I couldn't mistake the sound of his voice on edge.

I try to keep conversation but my mind keeps drifting to the people on the street. Like tiny ants, they wander about their night with no clue that I'm watching them. How high up here are we? Fifteen floors maybe? I take the elevator to the top floor to my office multiple times a day but I suddenly can't think clearly enough to count.

Lights decorate the nearby office buildings and I can see the club I used to work at lit up like a Christmas tree. The music is always so loud down there but up here, however high we are it seems as if it's muted.

The people below us seem like little specs and for a moment I pick out a few people I used to work with. I'm not sure if it's actually them or not, it's much too far away to tell, but my drunken mind has already named them Beth and Sam.

Bethany and Sam seem to be in some kind of argument and as I lean closer to look Nick yells at me to get back from the ledge. I give him a glare and continue listening to Jack.

I've missed his voice, it's been less than a day but I feel like I've been deaf without it. I close my eyes and picture his lips making the sounds.

"Who is with you?" Jack asks through clenched teeth and I imagine his perfect jaw tensing.

"That's just Nick. He's helping me read through some of these scripts. He brought wine!" I hear the words coming out of my mouth but I don't feel myself saying them. A spinning sensation fills my head and my stomach clenches uncomfortably.

"I'm ordering you a fucking cab." Jackson shouts and I open my eyes. He is not starting shit with me right now. I longed all day to hear his beautiful voice and this is what I'm blessed with, the angry emotional Jackson.

"You absolutely are not. I'm a grown woman and I do what I please." I shout back into the phone, holding it away from my mouth so I can look at his name as I yell. "Besides, even if I wanted to leave I couldn't. We're locked in."

I hear him shouting back but before I can hear the words my phone slips from my hands and falls fifteen floors to the street.

My first thought is, 'Please God don't let this hit someone.' My second is just, 'Jackson!' as I lean over the barrier to attempt to catch my phone.

Before I can properly react Nick is yanking me back from the ledge and scolding me.

"Damn it, Maggie! I told you to back the hell up from the ledge!" Nick crosses his arms in anger and begins grumbling to himself, "God damn daredevil woman, always getting me into trouble."