Granting a Thief's Wishes

"Where did Nicholas go?" I asked when Nicole entered the room.

She shrugged. "Last time I saw him, he looked as if he wanted to punch this guy's face."

I snorted. "Who?"

Not the man he was in a conversation with, I silently prayed.

"I don't know, but he ended up storming out of the building, I guess. Hey Maddie! So I tell this doctor that they really need to change their hospital gowns. Horrid, I'm telling you."

"I wonder if Dolce & Gabbana would make a new awesome line of hospital gowns," Maddie said thoughtfully, the plastic spoon hanging from her mouth as she ponders the new idea Nicole had.

Oh, the world's gone nuts.

I got up from my seat, telling my friends that I needed to get some fresh air – which was partially true. All of what happened to Maddie today took me by surprise, to be honest. I didn't really know how to cope with it yet. Maybe fresh air was just the thing I needed.

And Nicholas.

Somehow when Nicole told me that he looked vicious towards someone, I couldn't really cope with that either. What the heck was he thinking? Nearly causing a scene in a hospital, of all places! I kept walking until I reached the elevator. I pressed the down arrow button and the metal doors pinged opened.

"Ryan," I said, nearly jumping away when I saw his familiar, boyish face. He gave me a grin and beckoned me to join him.

"Guess who broke her leg when she tried to prove that she can do a man's job to me?"

"Megan?" I said, incredulously. "What was the job?"

"You wouldn't want to know," said Ryan, winking. "Where to?"

"Lobby."

We stood side-by-side in an awkward silence, watching the numbers lit up one by one.

"Say, Susannah…you've been wearing that bracelet every time I see you."

"Yeah, it means a lot to me," I replied, looking at him suspiciously. "I'm not gonna sell it just because you think it's a fine replica of a rare fairy bracelet."

"I don't expect you to," he chuckled, rubbing his nose. "But I do want to talk to you about something. The other day, when I drop by to your apartment, the two of you were pretty tense."

"It's because…he stole my bracelet," I said. "I don't know about you but it's not everyday that someone gets to invite a thief into their household. I'd expect half of my collections of gadgets gone by the time he left," I said, giving him a nervous laugh. Why was he asking these questions? It was making me squirm uncomfortably. But of course, I gave him my most charming smile.

Something fishy was going on. I could feel it polluting the tiny space in the elevator. Fishy-pollution.

No. That came out wrong.

"Hmm," Ryan said, nodding. "It's not everyday you get to live with a thief," he added and I couldn't help but laughing.

"True, true."

He leaned closer to me, shot a look around as if we were in a crowded restaurant or something before whispering, "I have a secret."

"Ooh, is it something juicy?"

"Nu-uh, I'm afraid. Every time I ride in an elevator—" he said. The doors pinged open and the number 2 was lit up. No one entered in though. I pressed the close button. "—it's stupid," Ryan said. "But I wish that this elevator would grind to a halt so that I could talk to you more."

In a nano-second, the elevator stopped and the lights flickered on and off for a couple of minutes. The pain in my chest came back and now, I didn't know if it was me panicking again or something else.

Oh hell. Why didn't he wish for something normal (or less cheesy for that matter)?

"Looks like we're—OW! What are you doing?!" I hissed when he pinned me to the cold wall. His grip on my arm was so hard that for a moment I thought he was going to rip my flesh off. "Ryan! Stop it! What is wrong with you?!"

I struggled out of his grasp but it was no use. And when I realized that prying his fingers away was useless, I tried to move around my body so I could kick him but he was on to me fast. He pinned down my legs with his knee. "Let me try this again," he muttered.

"I wish for the damn elevator to start again."

With a nasty, grinding sound, the elevator started to move downwards again. But I didn't care about that. My heart was thudding madly. I felt the adrenaline pumping through my veins so much that I began to get dizzy from it all. I didn't know what I was doing when I – with all of my strength – hurled myself towards him, bumping him to the other side of the wall as the doors opened again. I made a mad dash towards the exit and managed to get scolded by a nurse, but I ignored it.

I needed to get out. Fast.

Fortunately, there was a taxi coming closer so I stick out my arm frantically. It stopped and I yanked the door open. "Just drive, now!" I hissed. But just as I was about to close the door, someone entered the cab and slammed the door shut.

"Ryan!" I yelped. Surreptitiously, he pulled on my bracelet so forcefully that the hooks broke and my wrist got bruised. Funny thing was I didn't feel any pain at all. More like fear and panic.

Great. Now I didn't know if I should stop the taxi or not.

New plan.

"GIVE IT BACK!" I screamed shrilly, causing the driver to lose his focus and the car ended up skidding a bit. He cursed under his breath as I punched Ryan, my knuckles hitting his jaw with a sickening crunch. And I know I shouldn't, but god I was so proud of that one.

"I have rules in this vehicle!" The driver shouted. "No sex, no fighting, no drugs—"

Ryan took hold of my wrist and twisted it before yanking me towards him. "You're mine now, Susannah."

"I'm not an item!"

"No. But you're not human too."

The taxi stopped.

"And no deranged lunatics. Out of my cab, now, before I'll throw the both of ye' out with my own hands!"

You'd expect a wee bit of compassion from a taxi driver. Like in the movies. But noo…