67 Breathless

After I said bye to everyone, with Ethan saying he'd call me later, I let out a heavy breath in the car.

"Thank you, David. My friends must have surprised you."

"Not at all, Ms. Xenos. It's nice to know that your friends are real everyday people who obviously care about you." David responds, moving onto the 75 to head back to Dallas. 

"I didn't invite Ethan over by the way, if you choose to tell Jackson about any of that." I grip the hem of my sleeve and adjust it, just to give my hands something to do.

"That's none of my business, ma'am. I only told him about taking you to the hospital because you were not looking well. Even if you didn't have the wound on your face, I would have told him you were not looking good. Please do not worry, Ms. Xenos."

"Oh. Okay, thank you, David." I feel a small amount of shame for jumping to the conclusion that he would say something to Jackson about it. It's not like I'll be keeping it from him either. 

When we arrive at the apartment, I thank David and bid him goodnight, feeling lonely in this place by myself. I decide to take my drawing pad with me up to the roof after I make some hot tea.

I'm sketching away the city skyline from this vantage point, since it's so close and the lighting really makes for an interesting sketch. My phone goes off and I answer it, putting it on speaker.

"Hello."

"My Lita, how is your face right now?" Jackson's voice comes over the speaker.

"It's okay. A little swollen but it will be fine."

"Are you going to work tomorrow?"

"No, Mr. Dornell, both of them actually, gave me until Monday off."

"Okay, good. I hope you know I'm going to make sure Sawyer's people hang Sybil in the courtroom for her attacking you."

I sigh, "I figured as much. So did you ever find out how she was even hired?"

Jackson grumbles out, "Apparently, her aunt worked in my HR department. She saw the opening I made for YOU and thought she'd just let her niece take the position."

I set my pencil down, "You made a position for me?"

Jackson hums in acknowledgement.

I groan and shake my head.

"Yes I know, I forgot about it when we first had the discussion to take the position down. It wasn't flagged as a position that was necessary to fill."

I sigh, "Well, at least it's going to be taken care of now." 

Jackson hummed through the phone. "So what is my beautiful woman doing now?"

"I'm sketching the city skyline, enjoying a cup of tea."

"Oh? A cup of your tea sounds good right about now."

I chuckle, "You are in the UK. I'm pretty sure you can get some tea there too."

"But it tastes better when I'm with you." 

"I'm sure it does." I giggle, but roll my eyes at his words. "I went to Lirael's after the hospital by the way."

"Oh? How are they doing?"

"Good, they were having a hump day barbeque."

"Hump day barbeque." He lets out a barking laugh, "That's one I haven't heard before. Nice. So was the whole crew there?"

"No, Sarina and Brian stayed home with their twins. They're still too little. However, Lirael invited Ethan over too." I add.

"Huh... okay, and?" 

"Nothing! She thought Ethan and Alyssa would be good for each other. She's hoping that something develops by sticking those two together a bit more often. I made sure I kept my distance and sat near Lirael and Aman." I explain the situation. 

"Alright, is there anything else?" Jackson inquires.

"I'd really appreciate if Ethan could hang out at these get togethers and not have to worry about you two fighting. Is that possible?"

Jackson lets out a heavy breath before stating, "Yes. Why are you asking?" 

I sigh heavily, "Because I wanted to make sure it was alright and if it wasn't I would say something to both Lirael and to Ethan about it."

"Okay. Thank you. So how did Lirael hit on you this time?" Jackson changes the subject, obviously done with the conversation.

I let out a shocked, breathy laugh, "What?"

"How did she hit on you this time? Don't act innocent now. Every time you two hang out, she flirts with you. Come on tell me." He teases a scoff from me.

"She just said after all this press mess is over, that she hopes we'll join everyone at more of their get togethers. She said you can't hog me to yourself all the time. That they should be able to have fun with me too and she gave me a wink when she said that."

Jackson's laughter cuts through the phone and I roll my eyes at him. 

"I told you she hits on you! I'll remember to let her know, she can play with you as long as I'm around to watch."

"You will not!" I scold him. 

"Why not?" He snorts.

I scoff a few times, huffing to collect my words, "Because! I said no!" I finally spit out laughing.

"You're not even a little curious to what that woman could do to you?" Jackson continues.

I splutter, "I ... uh.. maybe.. no.. it doesn't matter!" I finally growl out. "It sounds like you're the one who's more curious."

"Whoa! Okay.. sorry I took the teasing too far. No, baby. I just know it gets you flustered." He growls playfully over the phone, "You know I don't want to share you with anyone."

"Okay, you selfish beast. Did you know about Sunday?"

"Sunday? What's going on Sunday?" 

His lost response makes my heart sink. 

"Nothing, I guess they were going to get together on Sunday. I might join them." I say, doing my best to swallow the disappointment that he did not remember my birthday.

"If that's what you want to do, that's fine. You know, I miss you, but I'm wiped from the flight and need to get up early tomorrow. I should let you go sweetheart so I can get some sleep."

I sigh, "Alright, I miss you too. I'll talk to you later. Goodnight."

No longer in the mood to draw, I gather my stuff up and start making my way to go back in side.

"Hello, neighbor." A masculine voice calls out in the night.

I pause and look around to see who just said that. "Hello?" 

"Over here!" I see movement up over the privacy fencing between the two apartments.

"Um hello?" I call out hesitantly. 

A bearded man, with dark hair leans over the privacy fencing from atop the bar and grill area to look over on my side.

"Hello! Now you see me! Sorry, I saw you were on the phone earlier so I didn't want to intrude." He has a nice warm smile that has me pausing.

"Hello, um thank you."

"I'm Derek by the way. Derek Mor." He informs me.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Mor. I'm Melita Xenos."

He scoffs, "Mr. Mor is my father, call me Derek, Ms. Xenos." He grins widely.

"If you insist Derek. Well it was nice to meet you. I was just going inside for the night. Enjoy the view." I smile and wave as I enter the apartment hearing him yell goodnight as I do. 

We wouldn't be staying here for much longer and with Jackson not remembering my birthday, I wasn't in the mood to socialize anymore. I take a bath and carefully cleanse the area on my cheek before slipping into my satin pajamas, slip on my robe and make another cup of tea. I step out onto the balcony that wraps around the apartment. As I walk around keeping my eyes on the horizon, I come to the corner and my elbow bumps the corner of the building. My tea sloshed and I checked to make sure I didn't get myself wet. I made the crucial mistake of looking down.

I immediately got dizzy and gripped the wall of the building. My heart was pumping like crazy, my hands and legs started shaking to the point I was having trouble staying on my feet. I'm gasping for breath, struggling to calm myself to head back to the open door. The other side of the building was not so bad, with the elevator and garage area under that was attached to the other fire escape stairs. There was nothing under this section of the balconies. 

"Ms. Xenos! Are you alright?!" 

I glance to the side and see my neighbor on his balcony area, looking at me with concern.

Shit. This is embarrassing.

"Um.. Yeah...! I became dizzy!" I shout to him, my knees knocking against the side of the building.

Derek jumps over the waist high divide on the metal balcony and hurries over. "Here, let me help you back inside then. This is not a good place to have a dizzy spell."

"Thank you." I mumble, keeping my eyes closed, as he gently ushers me to the open balcony door. The second I'm inside my legs try to give out on me.

"Whoa! I got you." Derek helps me to the bed. "Here let me take this for you." He takes my cup of tea and sets it down on the bedside table. 

"You suffer from vertigo? Do you have any medication you need to take?" 

Derek started asking me questions and I had to let out a shaky laugh, making him stop.

"Sorry. I don't suffer from vertigo. I'm afraid of heights." 

He cocks a brow at me, "And you went out on the balcony?"

I groan, "I know it sounds crazy, but as long as I keep my eyes on the horizon, I'm fine." I cover myself better with my robe at the revelation. I look at Derek a little more closely and my heart starts beating crazy again, but for a new reason.

Derek is gorgeous. With dark hair and green eyes that want to pierce my soul, I'm practically frozen in awe. His beard is kept trimmed and neat along his strong jaw line that pulls my attention to those perfect lips. 

"Okay. Well that wasn't very smart. Is your husband on his way home at least?" 

"Oh... I'm not married." I say breathlessly.