Jump

What would someone say if you were about to jump? What reasons would they give you to live?
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“If you jump, I’ll follow!”

I stopped, poised like a cat about to pounce on her prey. My prey, the freezing water below the Brooklyn Bridge however, would win this fight.

“Please! Kale, I’m begging you!”

A shiver runs through my body. If the shakiness and pain in his voice shook me to my very core, what would seeing him feel like? Reluctantly, I turned my head to see him, watching that I did not through my balance and fall off the bridge before I chose to jump.
He was soaked from head to toe from the rain that now pelted us relentlessly. His normally put together appearance was ruined by creases in his charcoal grey suit, his dress shirt partially hung out of his pants. He had obviously not slept for the last couple of days, as his normally brilliant blue eyes were bloodshot and framed by dark bags. He desperately tried to control his breathing, from running when he saw me ready to jump.

I inhaled the cold, wet air around me. I already felt weighted down, numb, but breathing it in was like adding two more bricks to my chest. I loved him. I barely knew him, and I had fallen hard. Was he aware? Being the legendary ladies’ man he was? Or was I so below his standards that he was completely ignorant to my feelings for him?

“I need you!”

These words stab through me, sending an odd mixture of pain and pleasure reverberating through my body.

“Kale..” I look at him again, he has inched closer. If I let him take another few steps, he most likely rip me from my perch to safety.

I exhale. The honking of horns and the hustle and bustle of Brooklyn fills the morning air. If I jump now, he will follow me. I know this with everything I am, even if he has only known me for a few weeks.

I turn to face him, tears streaming down my face. My knees buckle, and when I fall he lunges and to catch me. I can hear the fast beat of his heart through his chest, his arms wrapped around me so tight, that it will most likely leave a bruise for later.

We do not speak as it is not needed. I no longer care if he knows my feelings or not. For a moment, the world only revolves around us. For a moment I feel safe and loved, knowing that James Bond would follow me, no matter where I went.