Wrecking Ball.

You were so innocent, but you were stealing my heart
I fell in love in the back of a cop car

The next day at work felt like it wouldn’t end. Every time I looked at the clock it was only 5 minutes since I last looked. The amount of coffee I had today to survive was unbelievable, too. I had finished all my paperwork so early that I just had to wait till 6. Only three more hours to go. Great.

I sighed and closed my laptop, trying to fight to keep my eyes open. I gave up and crossed my arms on my desk and rested my head on them, slowly shutting my eyes. This exhaustion was worth it. For the first time in my life, I didn’t have control over everything, and that didn’t seem to bother me. I couldn’t help how I felt about Erik, and I couldn’t stop him from retuning the favour. It was almost like he broke some sound barrier to get close to me. For once, I was letting time do what it wanted.

My mind traced itself back to last night. Remembering the curve of his lips on my skin, speaking his native tongue to me, causing me to melt into his lap. That one strand of his hair that was unruly and always fell past his eyes. Just thinking about these things sent to me another planet.

Just then my phone buzzed, causing me to almost jump out of my seat. I cursed a little bit before picking it up. It was Erik.

“How’s work?”

“It sucks. I still have 2 ½ hours.”

“I’m sure it will go by fast. By the way, wear something comfy and warm for tonight.”

I paused, raising an eyebrow at my phone, “Why?”

“Just do it. I’ll see you at six.

I shut my phone off and sighed. I had some sort of excuse to go home early now. My eyes wondered to my outfit of a red chiffon blouse, leggings and gold pumps. This wasn’t exactly comfy.

Another hour strolled by and my boss let me leave since all my work had been submitted and sent off to head office. As I got home I threw another pod into my keurig coffee machine as I went off to get changed. I kept my leggings on, but just wore some uggs with them, and a zip up hoodie. Should be warm and comfy enough? I think so.

When I got over to Erik’s place, he greeted me with a warm smile and an even messier bed head.

“Sorry I just woke up from a nap.”

“Shut up, I’ve been work all day.”

He just laughed and enveloped me into a hug. I nuzzled my nose into his shoulder and felt his warmth for a mere moment. Erik pulled away to walk back into the kitchen to retrieve a backpack. He threw a case of beer, a bottle of fireball whiskey, a bottle of Dr. Pepper and some plastic cups into his bag. Confused, I raised an eyebrow.

“You look scared.”

“Well, I’d like to know where are you taking me?”

“You’ll see.”

“Dammit.”

He just laughed and we left his apartment. I got into the passenger seat of his car and his hand automatically grabbed onto mine. I bit my lip to hold back my smile, but it was itching to appear, which Erik saw. A small smirk appeared on his lips as his hair fell passed his eyes. I wanted to so desperately brush his hair aside but I tightened the grip on his hand instead.

I grew nervous the longer the drive went. He pulled out onto the highway towards the direction of the airport. We were way past the city lights and my familiarity. I had to breathe deeply to control my questioning fear. I knew he was taking me somewhere safe, but still, I couldn’t help but wonder.

Erik pulled onto a darker road that was full of loose gravel. The road had no lights and lead up to a hill. He flicked his high beams on as he drove past a chain link fence.

“Erik, that sign said no trespassing.”

“It’s fine. It’s pretty much abandoned.”

His words weren’t convincing me. I felt something in the pit of my stomach. Usually I didn’t give a shit about breaking the law, cause hell, I did it every now and then. But something was scaring me a bit. Then again, maybe it was him that was scaring me. He was more uncontrollable than a child's wind up toy.

The car came to a stop and I swallowed the lump my throat. Erik slid the keys out of the ignition and looked over at me. I couldn’t help but show him I was a bit concerned about where we were. He sighed and wrapped my hand up in his, pressing his thumb into my palm.

“Emma, I wouldn’t take you somewhere dangerous.”

“I know, it’s just … I don’t want to be the next victim of some Blair Witch shit out here, okay?”

He laughed, “It’s not like that. Trust me. Besides even if the cops showed up, my Maserati would leave them in the dust.”

I just rolled my eyes and got of the car. It was dead silent and it was nice not hear the roar of the city constantly ringing in my ears. The sky was covered in a blanket of stars that shined brighter than any Tiffany’s diamond could. For once, I could hear myself think. No phone, no computer, no agenda. Nothing.

Erik grabbed a flashlight and I followed him up the hill. It was a bit cold but it felt nice. He turned a corner towards a tall oak tree that was surrounded by grass. My eyes wondered past him towards the skyline of the city. There were also faint sounds of planes taking off in the distance. I was speechless.

“Oh … wow.”

“I told you.”

I just nodded and continued to look out into the distance. This was incredible. Erik put a blanket down and offered me a drink. The fireball whiskey hit my lips and the heat trickled down my throat. I sat down on the blanket and Erik sat behind me, wrapping his arms around my stomach and resting his chin on my shoulder. He stole kisses every now and then on my cheek or neck. I loved that. A lot.

“So, why Ottawa?” He asked. “You’re from Toronto, right?”

“Yeah. The right job came along. I’ve always liked it here. It’s a big city, but not like Toronto. I feel like I can breathe here.”

“You like your job?”

“Love it. I’ve always been creative, so I like the idea of getting paid to design websites, email promotions and store signs for a company.”

I felt him nod against my shoulder as he clasped me tighter. I didn’t say anything. I just closed my eyes as I tipped my cup back. The buzz was getting to my cheeks slowly. Erik poured me another drink and cracked a beer open for himself.

“How did you find this place?”

“It was just by fluke during the summer. For training camp we often find places to run at 5am, and we came up here one morning. Took me a while to remember where it was, but I started coming here after a while to clear my head after everything that’s been going on. Like, the media can’t get me here; my phone gets no service out here. It’s perfect.”

“It really is. Plus, you can actually see the stars really well too.”

He reached out and point to a cluster, “Do you know what constellation that is?”

“No.”

“Oh, I was hoping you would.” He laughed.

I slightly turned around and his face was mere inch from mine. Our closeness caught me off guard. Sometimes I forgot for comfortable I could be with him, and in moments like this, it was almost terrifying that it happened so fast. But it was a good kind of fear, though. He gently brushed his mouth with mine before we both looked out at the sky again.

"I get jealous seeing planes take off sometimes." I said.

"Why's that?"

"Because there's people on them. Going somewhere special, or just taking a break from life. It's not really fair."

"Where's your somewhere special?" He asked.

"Rome." I whispered.

"I'll keep that in mind."

I squirmed a bit so I was closer to him. I was growing a bit cold, but his body warmth heated me up a bit. Things grew a bit silent between us and I could tell Erik was trying to piece together what he wanted to say to me about his marriage. But I wasn't going to push him. When the time is right he would speak out.

“Emma, remember when I said I wanted to talk about, well, you know.”

“Yeah?” I grew nervous, he was going to admit it to me.

Before he could open up his mouth to speak, we suddenly heard sirens and flashing red and blue lights.

Fuck.