“What do bạn mean?” Courtney asks, breathless. It felt as if she was just punched in the gut. “You’re taking me… home?”
“It’s too dangerous to keep bạn living with me at Log Cabin. bạn could have gotten killed, and I’m not going to risk your life any more,” Duncan explains. He refused to make eye contact with her, even though they were parked in the alley tiếp theo to the hideout. Duncan twists the key and the faint motor shuts off.
Duncan crosses his arms over the steering wheel and sets his forehead on his wrists with a huge sigh. “But I wasn’t hardly an toàn, két an toàn without you, either, when I was walking trang chủ with those apples that ngày I was almost ran over,” Courtney points out.
Duncan sits up against the driver’s ghế, chỗ ngồi and looks at the ceiling of the Rolls Royce. He faintly shakes his head. “Courtney, let’s face it, I cause bạn thêm danger than what bạn would face alone,” he replies.
“But what about bạn promising me I could be your secretary? I could do that and stay out of danger just fine!” she pleads. Her onyx eyes her huge; she refused to leave him for any reason he could come up with.
“You hardly know half of the things that even go on in Log Cabin!” Duncan protests, “And it would be just as dangerous. bạn don’t even know how much.”
“Duncan--,” Courtney started. She leaned towards him, hands on her knees, as if she was ready to start a debate. Duncan just shook his head, still keeping eye contact, and his hand blindly grasped for the door handle.
“Courtney… I couldn’t live with myself if anything happened to you. I’m sorry, but… I’m taking bạn trang chủ tomorrow morning,” Duncan tells her. He opens the door, steps out, and slams the door in her face. He practically jogs to the front door, wind ruffling his black locks, and not looking back once.
Courtney slumps in her seat, her forehead Nữ hoàng băng giá in wrinkles of shock and confusion. Finally, as if in a daze, she walks out of the car and into the apartment.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The tiếp theo morning, Courtney puts on her sky blue dress she wore the ngày she first met Duncan. She slides on her matching high heels and walks down the staircase. Duncan was waiting bởi the front door in his usual white cotton áo sơ mi rolled up to his elbows and loose black tie. He opened the door for her, and she steps out into the cold. The freezing air nearly blew her shivering frame back into the apartment, but Duncan put a hand on her shoulder to steady her.
He shuts the door behind them and they walk to the Rolls Royce. They climb into the car and shut the doors, confining them to an awkward silence that seemed to stretch for miles. Courtney wanted to completely spill everything and actually talk, because these would be the last moments she ever spent with him. But, of course, she kept her mouth shut.
Duncan drives for ten phút until he gets to the busiest section of Chicago. All the traffic was normal for Courtney, who had lived in it all her life. But Duncan? He was used to the barren streets of downtown Chicago, where only a select few of people owned cars.
He leaned on the horn, startling several business men walking crossing through the middle of the street. Duncan cranked the window down and stretched his head out into the cold air. “Get out of the road!” he shouts at them. With his piercings and fierce expression, the men scrambled for their lives for the sidewalk.
Duncan drove until they got to an expensive apartment building in the middle of town. He bent down in his ghế, chỗ ngồi to look up at the very hàng đầu, đầu trang of the skyscrapers. He let out a low whistle and expertly parallel-parked between two Ford Model-T’s, the closest parking không gian available to Courtney’s house. He and Courtney climb out of the car and walk down the đường phố, street with a large mob of business men walking to work.
They vượt qua, cross the đường phố, street when the light turns red, hoặc just whenever there was a shortage of moving cars. Courtney walks up a short flight of stairs, in front of a huge apartment building. She turns to Duncan, who had followed her. “I probably shouldn’t go in there,” he tells her, motioning to the revolving doors of her apartment, “I’d look out-of-place.”
Courtney just nods, silently begging him to Kiss her, take her back to Log Cabin… anything. But instead, Duncan reaches into his pocket and withdraws a crude carving of a wooden skull. It smelled like cedar, and the sharp scent wafted up to Courtney’s nostrils in the cold wind.
“I’m sorry,” he murmurs, placing the small skull in her hand. Courtney seemed devoid of any sign of life, besides her eyes following Duncan’s every movement, so he gently curls her fingers around the skull. He holds her hand for a moment longer than needed before finally letting go.
Courtney blinks and looks down at her hand, curled into a fist around the skull, and doesn’t notice when Duncan begins to lean down towards her. She finally notices him once his warm lips softly press down on her pink, ruddy cheeks. He pulls away and whispers in her ear, “I tình yêu you.”
This makes her head snap up, but he was already walking at a brisk pace halfway down the sidewalk. Her eyes well up as she looks back down at the skull. She looks up again, burning every detail of Duncan’s retreating form into her brain. She’d never forget him. Not his silky, black hair that ruffled in the wind hoặc his teasing smirk. Not his strong, tan hands that have been in countless fist-fights hoặc his velvety warm, self-assured voice. Not his ice-cold piercings that tickled Courtney’s face when he hugged her hoặc his crisp, white cotton shirts that smelled like a combined mix of cologne, cedar, and… Duncan. He had a smell to himself that she couldn’t quite place. Finally, he was a mere speck in a speedy mass of business men in tuxedo’s who were attempting to get to work on time despite the huge crowds. As a lone tear spilled over onto her cheek, Courtney swiftly wiped it away and strode into the warm apartment lobby before her tears froze to her skin in the chilly weather.
If he loves me so much, she thinks ruefully, why did he leave me like this?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Her parents were utterly, completely overjoyed to see her alive. Her mother hugged her and would barely let her go, much less out of her sight. Her father grabbed Courtney’s shoulders and kissed her on the forehead with passionate force.
Then they sat her down on the đi văng and quizzed her on her whereabouts, who she was with, and how she felt. As much as how Courtney wanted to blurt out everything that happened with Duncan to her parents, she didn’t. Even though Duncan saved her life thêm than once, her parents probably wouldn’t be happy to hear about her life living with gangsters… And the fact that Courtney really, really liked it.
Her story was that she had been knocked out bởi some poor bum who had robbed her of the apples she bought from Frank Gardetta. She was allegedly passed out for days, and when she finally woke up, she was in the warm house of a lonely, elderly was so grateful towards the lady that Courtney stayed there for a week to aide the crippled old lady with groceries, laundry, and other deeds. However, when Courtney finally left the lady’s house, she got Mất tích and couldn’t remember where the lady’s house was. Fortunately, she wandered back into town and back home.
Courtney’s parents believed the story, of course.
The tiếp theo day, her story was published in the newspaper to hủy bỏ Courtney’s obituary. People sent thực phẩm and gift baskets to the Pembrooke apartment out of praising the fact Courtney returned home. Courtney, meanwhile, stayed in her room all ngày while her parents went back to work and steadily fell back into their old way of life.
Courtney worked on homework, that she still had to catch up on, late into the night. As she felt she could no longer stay awake any more, she placed her textbooks and papers on the bàn tiếp theo to her bed. She grabbed Duncan’s carving of a skull and slowly rotated it in her hand, laying back on her plush pillow. There, on the base of the skull, were three symbols. She squinted her eyes to read it in the dim light of the moon shining through her window.
C + D
Courtney eyes relaxed as a lazy smile stretched across her cheeks. Within a few minutes, she was asleep in her bed. Duncan’s carved skull was still clutched in her right hand. Her left hand was resting on her cheek, the memory of Duncan’s Kiss tingling her fingertips.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Heartbreak!
Heart, heart, heartbreak!
Girl, don’t say bạn tình yêu me when you’re out the door,
Woahh, yeah!
Cause I know things are different than they were before,
Whoahh, yeah!
Kill me with your kiss,
It’s so hard to resist you,
When bạn look me in the eyes tonight,
And say we’re headed for a heart, heart, heartbreak,
And I don’t ever ever wanna hear bạn say,
Don’t say bạn tình yêu me, don’t even,
Don’t say bạn tình yêu me, you’re leaving.
Ready for a heart, heart, heartbreak?
I’m gonna gonna turn around and walk away,
Don’t say bạn tình yêu me, don’t even,
Don’t say bạn tình yêu me, you’re leaving.
bạn say we’d stick it out through the thick and thin,
Woahh, yeah!
And when the walls came down,
bạn wouldn’t let me in,
Woahh, yeah!
We’ve been through it all,
My back’s against the wall,
It’s crashing down on me tonight,
Yeah, and we’re headed for a heart, heart, heartbreak,
And I don’t ever ever wanna hear bạn say,
Don’t say bạn tình yêu me, don’t even,
Don’t say bạn tình yêu me, you’re leaving.
Ready for a heart, heart, heartbreak?
I’m gonna gonna turn around and walk away,
Don’t say bạn tình yêu me, don’t even,
Don’t say bạn tình yêu me, you’re leaving.
I’m sick and tired of this whole situation,
Here comes another fight,
Beating me down with the same conversation,
Don’t say bạn tình yêu me tonight.
Heartbreak,
And I’m ready for a heart, heart, heartbreak,
And I don’t ever ever wanna hear bạn say,
Don’t say bạn tình yêu me, don’t even,
Don’t say bạn tình yêu me, you’re leaving.
Ready for a heart, heart, heartbreak?
I’m gonna gonna turn around and walk away,
Don’t say bạn tình yêu me, don’t even,
Don’t say bạn tình yêu me, you’re leaving.
Ready for a heart, heart, heartbreak?
And I don’t ever ever wanna hear bạn say,
Don’t say bạn tình yêu me, don’t even,
Don’t say bạn tình yêu me, you’re leaving.
“It’s too dangerous to keep bạn living with me at Log Cabin. bạn could have gotten killed, and I’m not going to risk your life any more,” Duncan explains. He refused to make eye contact with her, even though they were parked in the alley tiếp theo to the hideout. Duncan twists the key and the faint motor shuts off.
Duncan crosses his arms over the steering wheel and sets his forehead on his wrists with a huge sigh. “But I wasn’t hardly an toàn, két an toàn without you, either, when I was walking trang chủ with those apples that ngày I was almost ran over,” Courtney points out.
Duncan sits up against the driver’s ghế, chỗ ngồi and looks at the ceiling of the Rolls Royce. He faintly shakes his head. “Courtney, let’s face it, I cause bạn thêm danger than what bạn would face alone,” he replies.
“But what about bạn promising me I could be your secretary? I could do that and stay out of danger just fine!” she pleads. Her onyx eyes her huge; she refused to leave him for any reason he could come up with.
“You hardly know half of the things that even go on in Log Cabin!” Duncan protests, “And it would be just as dangerous. bạn don’t even know how much.”
“Duncan--,” Courtney started. She leaned towards him, hands on her knees, as if she was ready to start a debate. Duncan just shook his head, still keeping eye contact, and his hand blindly grasped for the door handle.
“Courtney… I couldn’t live with myself if anything happened to you. I’m sorry, but… I’m taking bạn trang chủ tomorrow morning,” Duncan tells her. He opens the door, steps out, and slams the door in her face. He practically jogs to the front door, wind ruffling his black locks, and not looking back once.
Courtney slumps in her seat, her forehead Nữ hoàng băng giá in wrinkles of shock and confusion. Finally, as if in a daze, she walks out of the car and into the apartment.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The tiếp theo morning, Courtney puts on her sky blue dress she wore the ngày she first met Duncan. She slides on her matching high heels and walks down the staircase. Duncan was waiting bởi the front door in his usual white cotton áo sơ mi rolled up to his elbows and loose black tie. He opened the door for her, and she steps out into the cold. The freezing air nearly blew her shivering frame back into the apartment, but Duncan put a hand on her shoulder to steady her.
He shuts the door behind them and they walk to the Rolls Royce. They climb into the car and shut the doors, confining them to an awkward silence that seemed to stretch for miles. Courtney wanted to completely spill everything and actually talk, because these would be the last moments she ever spent with him. But, of course, she kept her mouth shut.
Duncan drives for ten phút until he gets to the busiest section of Chicago. All the traffic was normal for Courtney, who had lived in it all her life. But Duncan? He was used to the barren streets of downtown Chicago, where only a select few of people owned cars.
He leaned on the horn, startling several business men walking crossing through the middle of the street. Duncan cranked the window down and stretched his head out into the cold air. “Get out of the road!” he shouts at them. With his piercings and fierce expression, the men scrambled for their lives for the sidewalk.
Duncan drove until they got to an expensive apartment building in the middle of town. He bent down in his ghế, chỗ ngồi to look up at the very hàng đầu, đầu trang of the skyscrapers. He let out a low whistle and expertly parallel-parked between two Ford Model-T’s, the closest parking không gian available to Courtney’s house. He and Courtney climb out of the car and walk down the đường phố, street with a large mob of business men walking to work.
They vượt qua, cross the đường phố, street when the light turns red, hoặc just whenever there was a shortage of moving cars. Courtney walks up a short flight of stairs, in front of a huge apartment building. She turns to Duncan, who had followed her. “I probably shouldn’t go in there,” he tells her, motioning to the revolving doors of her apartment, “I’d look out-of-place.”
Courtney just nods, silently begging him to Kiss her, take her back to Log Cabin… anything. But instead, Duncan reaches into his pocket and withdraws a crude carving of a wooden skull. It smelled like cedar, and the sharp scent wafted up to Courtney’s nostrils in the cold wind.
“I’m sorry,” he murmurs, placing the small skull in her hand. Courtney seemed devoid of any sign of life, besides her eyes following Duncan’s every movement, so he gently curls her fingers around the skull. He holds her hand for a moment longer than needed before finally letting go.
Courtney blinks and looks down at her hand, curled into a fist around the skull, and doesn’t notice when Duncan begins to lean down towards her. She finally notices him once his warm lips softly press down on her pink, ruddy cheeks. He pulls away and whispers in her ear, “I tình yêu you.”
This makes her head snap up, but he was already walking at a brisk pace halfway down the sidewalk. Her eyes well up as she looks back down at the skull. She looks up again, burning every detail of Duncan’s retreating form into her brain. She’d never forget him. Not his silky, black hair that ruffled in the wind hoặc his teasing smirk. Not his strong, tan hands that have been in countless fist-fights hoặc his velvety warm, self-assured voice. Not his ice-cold piercings that tickled Courtney’s face when he hugged her hoặc his crisp, white cotton shirts that smelled like a combined mix of cologne, cedar, and… Duncan. He had a smell to himself that she couldn’t quite place. Finally, he was a mere speck in a speedy mass of business men in tuxedo’s who were attempting to get to work on time despite the huge crowds. As a lone tear spilled over onto her cheek, Courtney swiftly wiped it away and strode into the warm apartment lobby before her tears froze to her skin in the chilly weather.
If he loves me so much, she thinks ruefully, why did he leave me like this?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Her parents were utterly, completely overjoyed to see her alive. Her mother hugged her and would barely let her go, much less out of her sight. Her father grabbed Courtney’s shoulders and kissed her on the forehead with passionate force.
Then they sat her down on the đi văng and quizzed her on her whereabouts, who she was with, and how she felt. As much as how Courtney wanted to blurt out everything that happened with Duncan to her parents, she didn’t. Even though Duncan saved her life thêm than once, her parents probably wouldn’t be happy to hear about her life living with gangsters… And the fact that Courtney really, really liked it.
Her story was that she had been knocked out bởi some poor bum who had robbed her of the apples she bought from Frank Gardetta. She was allegedly passed out for days, and when she finally woke up, she was in the warm house of a lonely, elderly was so grateful towards the lady that Courtney stayed there for a week to aide the crippled old lady with groceries, laundry, and other deeds. However, when Courtney finally left the lady’s house, she got Mất tích and couldn’t remember where the lady’s house was. Fortunately, she wandered back into town and back home.
Courtney’s parents believed the story, of course.
The tiếp theo day, her story was published in the newspaper to hủy bỏ Courtney’s obituary. People sent thực phẩm and gift baskets to the Pembrooke apartment out of praising the fact Courtney returned home. Courtney, meanwhile, stayed in her room all ngày while her parents went back to work and steadily fell back into their old way of life.
Courtney worked on homework, that she still had to catch up on, late into the night. As she felt she could no longer stay awake any more, she placed her textbooks and papers on the bàn tiếp theo to her bed. She grabbed Duncan’s carving of a skull and slowly rotated it in her hand, laying back on her plush pillow. There, on the base of the skull, were three symbols. She squinted her eyes to read it in the dim light of the moon shining through her window.
C + D
Courtney eyes relaxed as a lazy smile stretched across her cheeks. Within a few minutes, she was asleep in her bed. Duncan’s carved skull was still clutched in her right hand. Her left hand was resting on her cheek, the memory of Duncan’s Kiss tingling her fingertips.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Heartbreak!
Heart, heart, heartbreak!
Girl, don’t say bạn tình yêu me when you’re out the door,
Woahh, yeah!
Cause I know things are different than they were before,
Whoahh, yeah!
Kill me with your kiss,
It’s so hard to resist you,
When bạn look me in the eyes tonight,
And say we’re headed for a heart, heart, heartbreak,
And I don’t ever ever wanna hear bạn say,
Don’t say bạn tình yêu me, don’t even,
Don’t say bạn tình yêu me, you’re leaving.
Ready for a heart, heart, heartbreak?
I’m gonna gonna turn around and walk away,
Don’t say bạn tình yêu me, don’t even,
Don’t say bạn tình yêu me, you’re leaving.
bạn say we’d stick it out through the thick and thin,
Woahh, yeah!
And when the walls came down,
bạn wouldn’t let me in,
Woahh, yeah!
We’ve been through it all,
My back’s against the wall,
It’s crashing down on me tonight,
Yeah, and we’re headed for a heart, heart, heartbreak,
And I don’t ever ever wanna hear bạn say,
Don’t say bạn tình yêu me, don’t even,
Don’t say bạn tình yêu me, you’re leaving.
Ready for a heart, heart, heartbreak?
I’m gonna gonna turn around and walk away,
Don’t say bạn tình yêu me, don’t even,
Don’t say bạn tình yêu me, you’re leaving.
I’m sick and tired of this whole situation,
Here comes another fight,
Beating me down with the same conversation,
Don’t say bạn tình yêu me tonight.
Heartbreak,
And I’m ready for a heart, heart, heartbreak,
And I don’t ever ever wanna hear bạn say,
Don’t say bạn tình yêu me, don’t even,
Don’t say bạn tình yêu me, you’re leaving.
Ready for a heart, heart, heartbreak?
I’m gonna gonna turn around and walk away,
Don’t say bạn tình yêu me, don’t even,
Don’t say bạn tình yêu me, you’re leaving.
Ready for a heart, heart, heartbreak?
And I don’t ever ever wanna hear bạn say,
Don’t say bạn tình yêu me, don’t even,
Don’t say bạn tình yêu me, you’re leaving.
