Read Cristal - Novella for Free Online Page A

15 minutes.”
    She paused for a second, and climbed on the
back of the bike.
    “Hold tight, Cristal,” he called back to her
as he started the engine.
    Mmm, I love his sexy accent.
    She glanced around wondering if one of her co-workers
had seen them. There was no one in hearing distance who could have
said that. Weird.
    She shut her eyes as the motorcycle started moving.
The vibration of the engine made her insides churn.
Cristal leaned closer to Kerim as he made a sharp turn. She
tried to keep a quarter inch distance between them but was failing
miserably at it. The bike sped through the streets, but she dared
not open her eyes. Her heart was pounding hard; her knees felt
weak, and her head was spinning inside the heaviness of the helmet. If I’d known he was going to pick me up on a motorcycle, I could
have taken a cab, she thought to herself.
    Cristal had never felt comfortable in
enclosed places, partly due to her fears of being caught off guard
by an asthma attack. As a child, her father had not wanted her to
rely on a puffer. Instead, he had trained her to control her
breathing when she felt an oncoming attack. Unfortunately, this was
hard to do now with a helmet strapped to her head.
    After what felt like a short but just as
dizzying roller-coaster ride, she noticed that the engine had
stopped and cautiously opened her eyes. She took in her
surroundings and realized that they were parked in front of
Gabriel’s apartment building.
    She let go of Kerim as he climbed off his bike. He
removed his helmet and offered his hand to her. She tried to tell
him that she didn’t need any help but she swayed off balance, her
legs betraying how dizzy and nauseous she felt.
    Kerim grabbed her by the waist with one arm. She felt
her stomach squirm.
    Get this helmet off. I can’t breathe!
    As if hearing her thoughts, Kerim reached
over with his other hand, unsnapped the strap under her chin,
gently removed the helmet and set it on the seat. The cool air
caressed her cheeks. She took deep breaths, drinking in the oxygen.
Part of her realized that Kerim’s other arm was still wrapped tight
around her waist. She wanted to gain her composure but with trying
to get the air back into her lungs, all she could do was look up at
him.
    This close, she was able to see that his skin was a
smooth olive color; his nose perfectly straight and Romanesque, and
his grin was mischievous but playful.
    With the little energy she could muster, she managed
to pull his arm off her waist and firmly pushed him aside. He
stepped back, letting her pass. Yes, he was extremely attractive
but that was a superficial asset. And yet, she always seemed to be
drawn to the Christian Bale or Johnny Depp rebellious
type of guys. Just like her chocolate ice cream addiction, she knew
she had to stay away from bad boys, even if they were delicious
desserts.
    She felt herself blush and hoped Kerim hadn’t
noticed.
    She turned toward the entrance of the
building and marched straight up to the buzzer, leaving Kerim
standing by his motorcycle. She paused for a moment her head still
dazed from the ride. Finally, she managed to enter Gabriel’s buzzer
code. The sound of the ring tone rang out. After several rings,
Gabriel’s voice echoed out from the speaker.
    “Who is it?”
    “Open the door. It’s Cristal.”
    “Sure. C’mon in.”
    A loud “beep beep beep” sound came from the
speaker. She started to pull the glass door open but Kerim who had
come up beside her was now reaching his arm out to hold it
open.
    Okay, so he’s a gentleman but it doesn’t
mean I’m going to fall for that.
    She walked inside trying to focus on the
mission at hand. Kerim followed several steps behind her. Not
interested in small talk, she headed straight to the elevator
bay.
    The building was built in the 1940s; the
lighting was poor, the walls were covered with fake orange suede
flower wallpaper, which may have been installed in the 70s, and the
carpet, once a bright red, was now a