“Friend date,” Amie said through gritted teeth, taking care not to look down as she stepped over the gap.
“And the whole time my brain was just … quiet.”
Following her strategy from last time, Amie brought over her left hand and foot before she had the chance to freeze. She clutched the railing, breathing heavily.
“You did it!” Ziya cheered. “Now we just have to get you down …”
Who’s to say why the bird chose that moment to dive-bomb Amie? It’s possible it spotted one of the many mosquitoes David had been complaining about, hovering right by her head. Or perhaps it mistook her for a baby bird, reluctant to take her first leap out of the nest and in need of a push. Or maybe it had watched the entirety of Amie’s precarious journey across the balconies and was disappointed that the most dramatic moment was when her ex-girlfriend not-so-subtly implied that Amie brought a calmness to her life that she had yet to find an equal replacement for.
Be it a natural predatory instinct or an incapacity to comprehend the nuances of human emotions (specifically those of the sapphic variety), a bird chose that moment to dive-bomb Amie.
Ultimately, it was Amie’s anxiety-induced grip on the railing that saved her from plummeting to the ground. Even the sudden appearance of an animal zipping past her head wasn’t enough to startle her out of letting go of the rail.
Her feet were another story. Instinct taking over, Amie stumbled back onto nothing but empty air, and gravity rudely refused to make an exception. (It didn’t seem like a big ask, considering howtimehad been able to do it, but alas.)
Amie’s body, now anchored only by her hands on the railing, crashed into the balcony. The cement floor slammed into her stomach, knocking the wind out of her. Through the loud ringing in her ears, she could hear Ziya and David making various noises of alarm from below. A hand grabbed her ankle.
“You have to slide down,” came Ziya’s frantic voice. “You need to get lower so David can grab you.”
Amie could only manage a hybrid groan/whine in response. The railing gave its own groan/whine in turn as it struggled againstthe weight of something heavier than its usual burden of damp laundry.
“Now, Amie. Come on.”
Hearing in Ziya’s voice that she was about five seconds away from attempting to climb up and bring Amie down herself, Amie managed to gasp out, “Okay!”
With great difficulty (and while keeping an eye out for any more avian interference), Amie shifted her hands from the horizontal rail onto two of the vertical rails. She painstakingly began lessening and reapplying pressure to her grip, allowing her body to steadily lose altitude.
Just as the painful burn on her hands was becoming too much to bear, she felt arms wrap around her legs. She hadn’t even realized her eyes were shut until she heard Ziya’s voice say, “Let go. He’s got you, let go.”
Keeping her eyes closed, Amie obeyed the command. She felt herself get pulled down and deposited into a smaller pair of arms.
“Holy shit,” Ziya said into her ear. “Oh, we’re going down, okay, careful.”
Despite having done very little work in the past minute, Amie’s legs had decided to clock out early for the day. As her knees buckled, Amie felt herself being eased into a sitting position on the floor of David’s balcony. She slumped into the arms wrapped tightly around her, cheek pressing against a warm collarbone.
“Look at you, daredevil,” Ziya murmured. Amie could hear her heart sprinting. “Who are you, and what did you do with my Amie?”
A weak “ahh” was all the commentary Amie could muster.
“Are you okay? Give me one ahh for ‘yes,’ two ahhs for ‘no.’ ”
“I’m okay,” Amie said. After a few seconds, she added, “Was that the kind of action you were hoping for?”
“Honestly, I was just looking for something quiet.” Ziya’s voice vibrated against Amie’s cheek and through the rest of her body,soothing Amie’s jittering nerves. Both their heartbeats were slowing, matching each other’s pace. “This is pretty nice.”
“It is.”
Gentle fingers skimmed across Amie’s forearm in a comforting caress, sending sparks through Amie’s body. The hand suddenly dropped as the door to the balcony slid open, then shut again. A glass of water appeared next to Amie’s face.
“What’s that?” She reluctantly pulled out of Ziya’s embrace to look up at David. She hadn’t even noticed him leaving the balcony.
“It’swater. Did you hit your head?”
“I’m not thirsty.”
“She’s not thirsty.” Exasperated, David straightened. “Well, that went terribly.”
Amie reached for the glass. “Okay, I’ll drink it.”
