Gage had a great smile when he laughed, and when she shivered, he tucked her into his side so she could burrow into his warmth. They got off at the Willis Tower, formally known as the Sears Tower, one of the tallest buildings in the western hemisphere.
As they took the elevator up to the Skydeck, her ears popped, and the television screen informed them each time they passed the height of other notable structures, like the Eifel Tower and the Empire State Building. They got off at the one hundred and third floor.
At such a late hour the floor wasn’t too crowded, but other tourists gathered at the glass. “Ever since I saw Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, I’ve wanted to visit this.”
They walked to the glass. “Shall we?”
She grinned, and they both leaned forward, angling their bodies and balancing their foreheads on the glass like Ferris. “Whoa.” Her stomach jumbled. “Maybe I have an issue with heights.”
“Don’t like it?”
“I love it, but my stomach doesn’t.”
“We could go back down,” he offered.
“No, I prefer to conquer my fears.”
He turned his head and gave her a strange look. “Really?”
“Yeah.”
He took her hand. “Come with me.”
She followed him around the corner to an open area of glass. Her eyes widened when she saw where he was taking her. A section of the glass wall expanded about four feet with a glass floor that overlooked the city.
“Ready?”
Her knees locked. The lights of the city below twinkled. It was so quiet up there, but she imagined all of Chicago would hear her screaming if that little floor gave out and she plummeted to her death from one hundred and three stories.
He gave her hand a tug, but she didn’t move. “Scared?”
She looked at him, wondering why she couldn’t simply convince herself to take three steps onto the glass. It was the strangest thing. She wanted to stand there, wanted to look down, could even picture herself staring in awe past her shoes at what she might see, but something held her back.
She laughed nervously. “I just need a minute.”
“Take all the time you need.”
She drew in a shaky breath and blinked. Just take a step. Just do it. What the hell was wrong with her? “I can’t move my legs.”
“Want help?”
Glancing up at him, she asked, “What?”
“I’ll carry you. Hell, I’ll even hold you.”
Some despicably swoony part of her wanted to agree, just so he’d scoop her into his arms, but a more independent part of her rejected the idea. “That’s okay. I can do it.”
“You don’t have to—”
She took a shaky step, then another. Her toes crossed onto the glass. She looked down and her breath held. Maybe that was far enough.
Her head turned as he moved past the corner of her eye and crossed into the overhang. He leaned casually against the exterior wall and sank his hands into his pockets. “Take your time.”
“I will,” she said tartly, looking back at her feet. “Show off.”
He chuckled. “Why don’t you take my hand.”
She didn’t want to take his hand. She wanted to do it on her own, but they might have to sleep there at the pace she was moving. Reaching forward, her fingers laced with his and her knees came to life, her foot slowly extending over the threshold as she stepped onto the glass floor.
“Holy crap,” the words escaped on an exhalation.
“Look at you.”
“Don’t patronize me.”
“I would never.”
Her breathing was unsteady as she smiled at her feet. The city lights from cars scurried below. The people and cars were tinier than cookie crumbs. “It’s like staring over a world of ants.”
“It looks so peaceful from up here, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah.”
“Right now, someone down there is saying yes to forever while someone else is having their heart broken. Someone’s falling in love and another person is committing a crime. People are feasting, starving, fighting, fucking, and doing all manner of sins right under God’s eyes.”
It was a stunning view, and as he described it, she felt so peacefully removed from it all that she found the courage to let go of his hand. She crouched low, flattening her palms on the glass floor. She thought it would feel like falling, but it felt more like flying.
Glancing up at him, she smiled and his nostrils flared. He reached for her. “You better stand up.”
She nervously glanced over her shoulder and took his hand. “Why? Are we not allowed to touch the floor?”
He laughed. “No, that’s fine. But the sight of you looking up at me like that could get us into trouble.”
She rolled her eyes and laughed. “There you go, talking about your hammer again.”
They stayed on the Skydeck for some time, wandering around and staring over various parts of the city. Her only regret was that she hadn’t visited it during the day. She imagined the horizon would be spectacular to behold at such a height.