Read Love Condemned: Beginnings Online
Authors: Stephanie Brown
Love Condemned: Beginnings (4 page)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Adrian
felt himself slip deeper into the darkness, losing the battle. He tried to pull free, but he could not seem to get out. Just as he felt himself slip, something pulled at him, brought him back out of the darkness.
‘Adrian.’
A voice called out in the distance. He could not tell where it was coming from. Then he heard it again. ‘Adrian.’
He could feel something grab
him, though it felt very distant. His eyes opened and took a moment to focus. Miranda. Instantly, he felt himself calming down.
‘
Are you okay?
’ The words hung there for a while. They reached his ears, but Adrian could just not seem to process them. As his breath slowed and he regained his wits, Adrian realized what Miranda had asked him.
“Yes, I am okay….I …think. I….I ….yes, I am okay.” Adrian
put his head in his hands, leaned forward, and tried to shake the last remaining feelings of the dream. As he leaned forward, he felt the gentle touch of Miranda’s hand on his back. It made him feel safe, if that made any sense at all. It was not like he couldn’t take care of himself. But he felt like he was not alone and that he would not get lost in the darkness.
Miranda was still a little worried when he leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, and his face buried in his hands, but he said he was okay. She sat back on her own chair again, still on her knees, but placed a hand on his back to try and make him feel comfortable again. She didn't move it, it just lay there.
When Adrian seemed to be feeling better and sat up straight again, Miranda put her hands in her lap
and looked at him for a moment. She took on a more comfortable position with both her knees up to her chest and her toes buried in the narrow space between the two chairs. She sat back against her pillow trying hard to remember when the last time she had a nightmare. It must have been years ago. She usually didn't even remember what she dreamt.
Miranda noticed suddenly that the bus was slowing down, and quickly glared
out of the window to see they ended up in a traffic jam. She couldn't imagine traffic jams forming at night, so the only logical conclusion had to be that there had been some kind of accident out ahead.
"Do you get nightmares often, or do you think you'll be okay for now?" she asked Adrian in a careful voice, not knowing what kind of answer to expect. Miranda suppressed a yawn, finally feeling the sleep starting to pull at her.
Adrian was thankful to have Miranda with him on this trip. He considered himself very lucky to have met her. “I get them once in a while, but I think that I will be okay. Don’t worry.”
He repositioned himself a little more comfortable while Miranda prepar
ed to sleep. The bus had slowed to a stop, which indicated that they will be there a while. Adrian laid his head down more to the left towards Miranda. Without thinking, he had put his hand over hers on the arm rest. He was asleep again before he knew what happened.
Miranda stared in turn at the bigger hand that was covering hers and to Adrian's sleeping face.
Uhm, what just happened?
The answer was obvious, but there were two things she didn't understand. The first was why on earth he would do something like this. The second was why it felt like a small electric shock was pulsating through her veins at his touch. Flashes of conversations shot through Miranda's mind.
Guys don't talk to me. Handle with care. Not attractive to men.
Miranda swallowed. This was ridiculous. Six hours in a bus could throw her off bala
nce with an incident like this? Normally, she would have instantly pulled back her hand, but now she was already staring at the one that was hiding hers for a couple of minutes. Miranda clenched her jaws and cursed herself for this ridiculous behavior when she slowly, and ever so careful not to wake Adrian, slid her hand from underneath his. Her body was tense when she looked at his face to see if he had woken up by it. The only thing that changed slightly was his steady breathing, which was interrupted shortly before continuing. Miranda exhaled.
When she wrapped her arms around her knees and tilted her head to the side to lie against her pillow, the warmth his hand had transferred to hers slowly faded. For a moment, she wondered why she
had
to ruin the moment again, why she
had
to pull back her hand. She couldn't help but look at the man next to her. She guessed he was only a few years older than her, maybe twenty-five. His dark brown hair was almost black in the dark bus. For the first time, Miranda noticed she found him quite good-looking.
Bloody hell, Miranda, get a grip on yourself,
she thought furiously, and firmly closed her eyes. That was quite enough of that. She remembered she still had her headphones around her neck, and put them on her ears again. The battery would probably be dead when she woke up, but it would help her get to sleep. Besides, by that time, she had someone to talk to. Focusing hard, Miranda chose one of the relaxation techniques she had learned during her yoga training and applied it on herself. Soon, all the thoughts were banned to a corner of her head and her mind went blank at the moment sleep got its hold over her. She would wake in exactly the same position she went to sleep in.
Chapter Eight
He reached his hand out and gently touched her shoulder, “Miranda? We have stopped again.” Adrian
was tried to be quiet so he did not startle her, but it appeared he was too quiet. He reached over again and repeated a little louder, “Miranda. We have stopped, you should wake up now.”
Slowly, Miranda opened her eyes. Still tired, she dropped her hands away from her knees so she could rub her eyes. When she finished, she looked over at Adrian with a strange expression, almost questioning. He did not understand what the look was for because he did not recall putting his hand over hers the night before.
“Well, I am going to stretch a little and use the bath…..the loo.” Adrian laughed just a little at the word. It was definitely an English term that he was not used to using. Before Miranda could reply, Adrian got up and left the bus with a few other people.
Adrian did not waste any time
as he headed to the bathroom. Unfortunately, there was a short line. That is the drawback to travelling in larger groups. As he waited in line, a similar line formed at the women’s bathroom as well. Adrian couldn’t help but notice a strong accent that he could not place, but understood that they spoke English. He looked over to see two women in their early twenties as they talked like they had not seen each other in weeks. One of the girls looked his direction and saw him. Quickly, Adrian diverted his gaze and faced forward waiting for his turn.
To his side, he could hear
whispering between the two women and they both started to giggle. One of the girls was not as quiet when she said, ‘He is pretty cute. I wonder if we can keep him.’ Adrian started to blush, not knowing how to react. He was glad that it was his turn to enter the bathroom, being chased by more giggling. Adrian washed up a little in the bathroom, tried to clean his face and wash away the tiredness he felt. He realized that he had gotten his sleeves wet in the process. He removed his long sleeve shirt, keeping the small white sleeveless undershirt on. It was not the best looking thing that he owned, but it would serve its purpose and was dry.
Adrian wash
ed his face a little more with the cold water. The tattoo on his right lower arm was a reminder of many things to him in his life. People would see it as a mesh of different designs wrapped around his arm. To him it represented his creativity, his fascination with the fantasy world, courage, bravery, and being strong enough on the outside to not let the little things penetrate. When he was finished, Adrian went to the small café to find something that resembled food and coffee. He was still very tired from him four day walk and he needed to replenish his energy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Slowly, Miranda awoke from her well-applied trance. ‘
Miranda. We have stopped, you should wake up now.’
She opened her eyes and lifted her head from the pillow, rubbing her eyes to wake up.
Oh yes. The bus. Rome.... Adrian.
Her head shot up to look straight in his eyes, immediately flashing back on last night, his hand over hers. Why...? But, even if she wanted, she had no time to ask the question.
“Well, I am going to stretch a little and use the bath…..the loo,”
Adrian said, and before she could reply he was already off the bus with a group of others. Miranda stayed in her seat for another couple minutes, going over every detail of last night and why it seemed like nothing had happened. Perhaps he was trying to avoid an awkward situation, or perhaps he simply didn't remember. Miranda shook her head wildly to get the brain twists out, and then folded her blanket again. She put it on her chair and placed the pig pillow on top of it. Then she took her bag and left for the loo and the shop for coffee.
There was a bit of a line at the loo, and Miranda was just in time to see Adrian disappear in the men's room. She took her place in the line behind two girls that she hadn't noticed before. Blonde, both of them, and whispering excitedly in something that was supposed to resemble English. Miranda frowned, trying to catch a bit of the conversation to find out where they could be from.
".. but really, try for him! He's cute... "
"Try and sit next to him, he's in the front of the bus, right behind the driver."
Miranda stared at them, a pinprick going through her heart when she thought about herself being abandoned from Adrian's side, either by these girls, or perhaps by Adrian himself. After all, blonde was supposed to be much more attrac
tive than brown hair. She swallowed when the girls had both found a free toilet, being the last one in line. She gazed at her reflection in the mirror she stood next to. Was it just her, or did she look paler than usual? And her hair was a mess... how could anyone like her?
After using the toilet,
she found herself in an empty restroom. The two joined sinks were both unoccupied, and Miranda set her bag on the ledge. She stowed away her vest in it and took out a hairbrush. Furiously, she brushed her hair with her headband between her teeth. She couldn't believe how she could be jealous when there was nothing to be jealous about. And the confusion that seemed to be turning into a routine wasn't the most welcome feeling in the world, either.
Miranda spent some time
brushing her teeth and cleaning her face. It felt good to feel a little refreshed. When she left the loo, she saw that most people were already boarding the bus again. Her watch told her she had a couple of minutes left.
Not hungry,
she thought rebelliously, and walked past the department with food without giving it a second glance. Instead, she turned back to the bus with one cup of ice cappuccino in her hand and one in her bag. Caffeine and a massive dose of sugar was what she needed now.
"Miranda! I think you're the last one," said Alice, and nearly pushed her in the bus. She stumbled up the steps, trying to balance herself by grabbing a random pole, and looked up to go to her seat. Just before her, a pair of bare legs extending out from a short jean skirt turned right and into the seat that was supposed to be hers. Miranda cringed.
This isn't really happening.
Her heart dropped as she walked up the few steps and stared at the blonde girl that had thrown her blanket and pillow on the floor and was now doing her very best to flirt with Adrian.
Miranda had wanted to shout that was her seat, but the words just didn't seem to come out of her mouth. Her hand, which had been around the handle of her cyan colored bag, fell down to her side. Carefully, she glanced at the seat next to the second girl that was now empty. It was in the middle of the bus next to the aisle. After a second, she looked back at the girl that was now in her own seat and gazed at her challengingly. Instantly, Miranda was reminded of the reason why she had no girlfriends. They were mean, mean behind each other’s back, mean to your face, and mean to each other. It was always about a conquest for the best man. Well, this time, Miranda wasn't going to walk away without trying.
"That's my seat," she said sternly, her jaws clenched together.
Chapter Nine
Adrian had just finished eating a croissant and grabb
ed some coffee for the trip. He walked over to the bus and expected to see Miranda sitting in her usual pose. As he started up the steps, he saw long legs that led to a short skirt. Adrian knew that they did not belong to Miranda, so he was not surprised to see that it was one of the blonde women he saw in line at the bathroom.
“Uhm….I think that seat is taken.” Adrian tried to say politely.
The girl looked at him with a devilish grin, “It is taken by me now. Looks like your little friend was not interested in keeping you company any longer. Take a seat and I will entertain you.”
Adrian looked around the bus to see if he could find where Miranda had moved to. Without success, Adrian let out a long sigh and took his seat. The girl next to him crossed her legs
and made sure that she had his attention.
“My name is Sophie.” She reached out her hand to make sure she had contact wi
th Adrian. Something told him that she had done this before and very well. He did not want to be rude though and reached out to take her hand and shook it gently.
“My name is Adrian, pleased to meet you.”
To Adrian, she was a very attractive girl. It would not be the worst thing in the world to have to sit next to her. But inside he felt a knot in his stomach, like Miranda decided he was not worth talking to any longer. Maybe it was his nightmare that scared her off.
“Well, I have to confess something to you.” Sophie turned to face Adrian
, smiled at him and pushed her long blonde hair back away from her face. She really was good looking, but it was not the same beauty that he saw in Miranda. Miranda had the feeling of her personality and natural calmness that was attractive to him. Sophie continued, “I saw you in line at the bathroom and I had to say hello.” She looked down a little and tried to pretend to be shy, “I think you are cute and I wanted to talk to you more.”
She was good, but not that good. Adrian could see the act for what it was, just an act. He would not be surprised if she used that line on many other men and had been successful. If he had sa
t next to her on the bus first, it might have worked on him also. But now things were different. That thought kind of scared him because it suggested that he liked Miranda more than he was willing to admit.
Before Adrian could reply, Miranda had walked up, "That's my seat." Startled, Adrian almost jumped out of his seat to apologize. Instead, Sophie replied first. “It is not your seat anymore. Move along little girl and leave us grown-ups to talk.” Adrian knew this was about to get ugly and he was literally caught in the middle.
