~Elena
The sound echoed in my ears like a gunshot.
"Oh my God!" I shrieked, stumbling back, clutching my mouth, then looking up in horror at what I'd just collided with.
I hadn't even seen the wall. Hell, I hadn't seen anything other than that damn painting. But now, I was looking up at the man standing in front of me, eyes cold and judging, like he could crush me just by glaring.
"Who the hell are you?" he snapped, his voice a low, dangerous growl.
My breath caught in my throat. This Man didn't just look like someone, He looked like a wall. He was huge. Tall but not just tall, his presence was suffocating sucking up all the air around. Like he had materialized from the paintings around us and somehow come to life.
"Is he real?" I wondered. Am I hallucinating?
He looked like a terrifying, life-sized action figure of a Greek god. His skin was pale, not sickly, but impossibly white, like he'd lived in a freezer all his life. His hair? So perfectly styled that it looked like it was cut by a sculptor. This man looked like he belonged in a painting, or maybe, I don't know, a perfect male statue?
But that thought died the second his eyes locked on mine, and I remembered what had just happened. The Vase!!
I was supposed to be instantly worried, but all I could think of in that sudden adrenaline-fueled chaos of my mind, was, Is everyone who works here hot?
"What?" he snarled, his eyes narrowing further, confirming he'd definitely heard my ridiculous, muttered thought.
I was dead.
"I'm calling security," he announced, reaching for his phone.
Panic exploded. "No! It's your fault I broke the vase!" I yelled, already reaching out to stop him.
I slapped the phone right out of his hand. It clattered to the floor, and before he could move, I snatched it up.
"Give me back my phone!" he commanded but I put my left hand holding it behind my back.
His eyes blazed with anger. "Give me back my phone," he repeated, his voice dripping with authority, like he was the judge, jury, and executioner.
My hands were shaking. I knew I was about one second away from being escorted out in handcuffs, but somehow, I still couldn't shut up.
"No," I shot back, still hiding his phone behind my back. "Only if you promise you won't call anyone."
I didn't care if it sounded ridiculous. What was I supposed to do? Admit to the security guard that I was just here to use the bathroom?
Besides, I wasn't the one who broke the vase, right? This was his fault.
"You could just pretend nothing happened," I whispered, glancing around like I was plotting a heist. "We could clean this up, and no one has to know."
Then, I added, almost as a joke, "Besides, I heard your boss is strict. He might fire you if he finds out you broke his precious vase."
I almost laughed, but the way he looked at me made me swallow hard.
"Give me back my phone."
His voice was deadly serious, and something in the way he stared made me feel like I was about to be crushed under the weight of his rage. But doesn't this man have something else to say?
I didn't know why I was still arguing. Maybe I just couldn't help myself. But then his hand darted forward, and I immediately knew I had to act fast.
I'd always been good at hiding things as a kid, so I slipped his phone down the side of my pants and into the waistband of my trousers.
He froze, his eyes widening, then narrowing. I could see the gears turning in his head, and for a moment, I thought he might literally just drag me to the security himself.
"See?" I said with a smirk, even though my heart was pounding. "You just have to agree with me."
He froze, his perfect face contorting in disbelief. Then he let out a dark, mocking chuckle.
"This is ridiculous. Why do you think I won't just rip your shirt off and take my phone?" he said, the words sharp as icicles.
I felt a blinding, stomach-dropping terror. "What do you mean, rip my shirt off me?" This was officially no longer about a bathroom break or a quick get in and get out.