Love Unscripted Read Free Page B

the frame to keep myself from falling down.
    “ Door,” I quickly answered, my shaky hand pointed to the direction, but he was already running through the pub.
    Instead of escaping through the kitchen door around the corner, he flew through the first door he saw.
    “ No, not that door!” I breathed out, tripping over my own feet as I followed him inside. It was too late; he disappeared through the door that led up to my apartment.
    “ Damn it!” I cussed out loud.
    A split second after he vanished from view, the front door flew open and smacked loudly into the wall. A small group of women barged in; behind them were men with cameras, but oddly they stayed outside.
    “ Whoa, hold on there! Wait! Oh no, no!” The words were just spilling out of my mouth as I ran towards the door. Instinct told me I had to stop them before they got too far into the bar. It was obvious that they were what he was running from.
    “ We saw him come in here,” one of the crazed looking women barked as she tried to press past me.
    “ No, he’s not in here - he ran out the back door,” I shrilled, blocking her advance with my arms. “If you run down the street you might catch him.” I hoped my lie sounded convincing.
    “ You all have to get out of here. NOW! Don’t make me call the police!” I yelled as I herded them back to the door.
    The instant they were out, I locked the door behind them and hit the light switch . Shit, what do I do? I started to panic. There was a large crowd of photographers and people starting to pile up on the sidewalk. Many of them were already mashing their faces to the glass, trying to look in my windows.
    I moved as quickly as I could, sliding on my knees across the wooden bench seat at the first booth by the door. I felt like the hapless human, the last survivor, who has to fend off the attacking zombies all by herself. My heart was pounding in my chest when I dropped the blinds down on their intruding faces.
    My thoughts spun in circles as I ran from window to window. I was so preoccupied with obscuring their view that I hadn’t even noticed where he was.
    I tried to replay the last sixty seconds over again in my mind. Was he still inside or did he manage to make it out of the building after all?
    Did he slip out the back door when I was distracted?

Chapter 2 – Open Doors
     
     
    I slowly cracked the door lead ing upstairs to my apartment, my eyes straining to see if I could spot him. There he was, sitting huddled up on the top landing with his face buried in his arms. His hands were shaking ever so slightly.
    I could see that his shirt had been ripped; part of his stomach was visible through the large, frayed tear. O h my God! What happened to this poor guy?
    I felt a little more courageous since he was obviously in distress, so I opened the door wider and cleared my throat so he would know I was standing there. I had no idea what to say.
    “ Sorry,” he pleaded, cautioning me with open hands. “I’m not some crazy maniac. Please, please don’t scream.”
    “ It’s fine… it’s fine. I know who you are,” I said in my softest voice, trying to calm him down. “Um, are you okay?”
    “ Not really,” he whispered. He was gasping for air, his hand covered his heart. “Can you give me a minute?”
    “ Sure,” I whispered back. “Take as long as you need.”
    “ Not the back door, I take it?” he barely uttered, pointing his thumb over his shoulder to the door behind him.
    “ Ah, no. That’s the door to my apartment.”
    I wanted to give him some privacy, so I started to back up out of the doorway.
    “ Are they down there?” His trembling fingers covered his eyes, his palms pressed into his cheeks.
    I looked back up at him. “No. There’s no one here.” I had to take another deep breath; my heart was still pounding from the surge of adrenaline.
    “ I threw everyone out and I locked the door. All the blinds are down too - no one can see in. It’s okay, you’re safe here. I’m,