Paige
CUE: A control on a DJ system that plays a song from a pre-selected point in the track
“Tiens, chérie!”DeeDee passes me a water bottle and leans against the kitchen counter beside me. I can still hear the crowd going crazy out in the bar as the staff announce last call.
My set ended a couple minutes ago, and I’m so drenched in sweat I’m tempted to pour the whole bottle over my head. I twist the top off and start gulping it down as DeeDee beams at me in the empty kitchen.
“Câlice! That wasincroyable! You are a DJ goddess, Paige.”
I set the half-empty bottle down and take a few panting breaths, returning her grin in spite of myself.
I’m electrified, high off the crowd and the music and the thrill of creation. My heart pounds against my ribs, pumping invincibility through my whole body.
It’s like I’ve died and like I could never die all at once. It’s a feeling I’ll crave for as long as I live.
“I have to go back out there, but some of us are getting noodles after we do the close. You must come!” DeeDee urges.
I nod, her words not really registering as the buzz keeps working its way through my system. I’m still sky high and gulping down water when she heads back out to the bar. I unzip my hoodie and pull on my damp t-shirt to air it out.
The big industrial sink looks too inviting to resist. I only hesitate for a second before heading over and using the spray nozzle to rinse my face. The cool water feels like heaven as a few drops trail down my neck, and I can’t stop smiling, even when my cheeks start to ache.
“This is it,” I murmur as I lift my head out of the sink and lean against the basin. “This is what I’m made for.”
I grab a glass off a nearby shelf and fill it with water. I’ll go collect my gear after they kick everybody out, but in the meantime, I take a moment to stand there with my eyes closed, glass in hand, reliving what it was like to hear them shout my name.
“Paige.”
My spine stiffens at the sound of a man’s voice, and my eyes fly open, landing on the guy at the end of the hall.
I blink.
Then I blink again.
My body recognizes him before my brain does. I’m still blinking and trying to make the sight of him make sense as the glass slips out of my hand and shatters on the floor.
Neither of us flinches at the racket as the shards scatter along the tiles. Neither of us moves at all. His eyes don’t leave mine, and my breaths, which were rapid and fueled with exhilaration just seconds ago, have slowed to a complete stop.
He said my name.
He said my name, and now, out of all the millions of things I could and should be thinking, all I can focus on is how much I want to hear him say it again. It’s instant and visceral: a physical ache drilling into my bones.
I need to hear him say it again.
He takes a step forward. “Paige.”
The shake starts in my feet and travels up my whole body. I fuckingtrembleas I watch his mouth shape itself to form the sound.
This can’t be happening.
He can’t be here. He can’t be standing there, looking at me like that, making me feel like this.
He can’t be.
So I close my eyes again, just for a second, just long enough to curl my hands around the edge of the sink and grip so tight it hurts. I imagine a wall shooting up out of the floor between us, a wall so thick he’ll never break through.
When I open my eyes, my jaw is tight, and all my muscles have tensed. My voice comes out low and even. “What are you doing here?”
His face twitches, flinches almost, and he stops himself from taking another step.
