"Just give him time. He'll come around," she said, patting my leg before returning to her laptop.
"So you say," I said rising. "How's the book going?"
"Not too bad. Blaine LeBaron was being a complete pain in the ass, but I think I have him whipped into shape," she said, mentioning one of the main characters from her series.
"Don't be too hard on him. You know he's my book boyfriend," I reminded her, dropping a kiss on the top of her head before heading off to my room.
"You might have to fight off Shana from the A Book Vacation blog on that one," she joked, mentioning one of her favorite book bloggers.
"Shana can have Rob. Blaine is mine."
"Vanessa may have issues with that too," she said, bringing up the main love interest in the story.
"Vanessa just has issues," I replied, walking away.
"Night," she called after me.
"Night. Don't let Blaine and Vanessa keep you up too late," I called back.
"Mmmhmm," was her only answer as she immersed herself back into her writing.
Most likely she would be in the same spot in the morning when I woke with a dozen mini-candy bar wrappers littered around her. Once she hit her groove she could write twenty hours straight before dropping off into a post-chocolate-writing coma. Mark would carry her off to bed when she would finally nod off at her computer, no longer able to keep her eyes open.
And then it really hit me. Now that I really had time to process it, I was gripped by overwhelming grief at the hopelessness of my relationship with Emrys. We'd never hit the status of Mark and Krista. He would never cradle me in his arms as he carted me off to bed. Marriage was the furthest thing from my head, but just knowing if we wanted to, we would never grow old together. Our relationship was on a doomed train ride to nowhere before it ever really started.
Sometimes it feels like life never ceases to aggravate me. I stalked over to my French doors and ripped them open. Cool summer night air flowed into the room, soothing the heat on my cheeks. Maybe I was just being ridiculous. Emrys and I hadn't even determined what kind of relationship we were in and here I was worrying that he wouldn't be around to grimace at my grey hair and dentures.
Still, I couldn't stifle the acute lonesomeness I felt. I wished that Emrys was with me now. Better yet, I wished we were back on his favorite spot watching the lights of the city. I pictured the catwalk clearly in my mind. In that second, everything around me disappeared and I was suddenly standing on the edge of the catwalk I had just pictured in my head. "What the hell!" I yelled, shocked that I was no longer on my own patio. I stumbled, trying to get my bearings, which only brought me too close to the edge. I teetered back and forth, unable to maintain my balance. A sudden gust of wind was all gravity needed and I tumbled off the building into the night sky. A scream tore its way out of my throat as I plunged to my death.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The screams continued as my body rocketed down like a missile. I was going to die. I frantically thought of those I would be leaving behind. A devastated Mark and Krista flashed in my mind's eye, and Lynn and my other grief-stricken friends. I thought of Krista sitting in the living room, burning the midnight oil, not even aware of where I was. I wished I could have given her one more hug.
The blackness around me disappeared and I landed in an unceremonious heap in front of Krista's astonished eyes.
"Oh my god!" she yelled as darkness finally pulled me under.
I woke to raised voices and a strange sensation of déjà vu. Krista was absolutely going off on Haniel. "Why didn't you tell us she could Place Travel?" she asked angrily.
"I was not at liberty to disclose that information to you," he said in his normal monotone voice.
"You weren't at liberty?" she shrieked. "You don't think that's something we should have known? This 'need to know' excuse is getting tired, Haniel."
"What happened?" I finally asked, feeling groggy as I opened my eyes to discover all three of my mentors hovering over me.
"Are you okay?" Krista asked anxiously, helping me sit up.
"I think so," I said, taking stock of my still-working limbs. "I fell off the freaking Empire State Building though," I added, glaring at Haniel. "I Place Traveled. You never told me I could Place Travel," I said in a shrill voice that sounded eerily like the one Krista had used just moments before.
"The Empire State Building?" Krista broke in, shocked. "Why the Empire State Building?"
"I don't know. One moment I'm standing on my patio thinking about the catwalk on the building, and the next moment I'm teetering on the edge," I answered, still glaring at Haniel.
"Why would you be thinking about some catwalk on the Empire State Building?" Krista asked, trying to sort through my story.
"It's a place Emrys likes to take me to," I admitted. "Did I get there because I was thinking about it?" I asked, starting to revel in the excitement of my newly discovered ability.
"You must picture a place clearly in your mind. Once the picture is clear, your body will leave your current location to join your mind at its new location," Haniel explained.