Sensations

Wind blew against his sedan. Abraham clenched his fist along the weather stripping and braced himself. He lifted his shoulders and arced his neck. His face hid within his raised collar and he slammed the door closed. He rubbed his palms together and blew into them. Abraham flinched. His lips pressed into a tight line and the sound of his grinding teeth echoed in his skull. He pressed his fingertips into his forehead and pushed against the pain that emanated there.

The impatient driver laid on their car horn again. Abraham exhaled through his nose and raised a palm in their general direction. He kept his eyes pinned to the pavement. He followed imaginary footprints that he had made every day for the last five years towards the familiar double doors. Abraham lifted an arm and reached for anything cold and metallic. His fingers gripped and sunk into something soft, bare, and warm. His eyebrows furrowed and he inhaled. The fresh scent of citrus and Pantene conditioner was pleasantly overwhelming. He lifted his lids.

She stood eye-level and raised an eyebrow. Her lips tilted into a crooked smile and she glanced down at her arm. Abraham took quick breaths and retained his blank stare. His head throbbed and he concentrated on the steady pulsation of her blood pushing its way through her veins. The sickness in his stomach subsided and he sighed. He released her arm. "Are you going to drag me back inside, officer?" Her words drifted into Abraham's ears like a wave of water over a burn. It eased the wound the car horn had cut. "They said I was free to go."

"Do you have to?" The words came before he could stop them.

She smiled. "Have to what?"

He raised an eyebrow. He was still touching her arm.

"Go?"