Escaping Parker - F.T. Zele Page 0,65

mouth, where there is a collection of sauce.

“So, have you decided if you want to go shopping later?” he asks.

He must be either really bored or needs to get something, because men aren’t really keen on shopping. It’s not like I have to escort him to the places he goes; it’s kinda always been the other way around.

“We can go. I’ll pick something up for the house. Let’s finish up and we can head out once the stores open.” I let him know.

Doing simple things around the house, on such a perfect holiday, feels so life changing. My life is not conventional, to say the least, but right now it’s pretty damn perfect. I love the place we are at.

About two hours later we head out to some local stores. Rig has a determined look on his face, piquing my curiosity even more.

“I need to run into this store. I want to pick up something for my mom so I can send it back to her for the holidays.”

We walk into a small jewelry store, looking in all the display cases. Nothing in here really excites me, so I let Rig have his time while I find a seat off to the side.

Next, we go into a big chain store that has everything from food to clothes. I find a couple things that I could use around the house, nothing like everybody is getting: no TVs or electronics, just some rugs and kitchen items. Seems so simple, but if I had to fight through the crowd just to get something I could get any other day, I would be hauled out of here in handcuffs.

For such a smaller town, I’m surprised by the crowds. Rig follows me around with the shopping cart, while I toss in things. For some unknown reason, I can tell he doesn’t want to be sitting at home right now. He has pushed for this day out, and I’m not going to do anything to ruin it.

He’s tried so hard to make me feel normal again. Even if we are just doing some shopping, it’s something that I haven’t really done. I’m always worried about being spotted, not knowing if people are still looking for me, never knowing if the person next to me recognizes me from the news. But when I’m out with Rig I feel safe, and I almost feel untouchable.

“Do you have everything you need?” he asks as we make our way back to the front of the store.

“I really didn’t need any of this. I just wanted to get out of the house. I’m finished, though, we can head home whenever you want.” I let him know.

“Ok, let’s go pay for all this and head home. We can hang out and watch a movie and get some rest. It’s already almost 1am,” he says and I look at my watch, not knowing how it got so late already.

We finally get home, unload the car, and put all the new stuff away. I don’t bother putting the TV on because I’m drained from cooking all day and then shopping, so I just relax for a bit.

“Did you have fun today?” he asks as I lean against him.

“I did, I got some good stuff. The dinner we made was amazing. I’m just ready for bed.”

“Yeah, me too, but I want to hang out here with you for a bit before we go to bed.

I don’t know why, but I get this feeling he is getting ready to leave. He hasn’t left my side at all. Even though I knew this day was going to come whether I wanted it to or not, I am not ready to be alone. It sort of feels like he is trying to say good-bye, trying to make me happy so the blow won’t hurt as bad, but it won’t make it hurt any less.

I’ve tried to come to terms with it a lot in my head, and make myself realize that he needs to go and help other people. I’m fine with that part, but then the jealous part comes out, knowing he’ll be with another woman. Who knows if she will be like me, or if this person will have kids? Will spending the time with someone else make him forget me and focus on her? It kills me to even think about it, but it’s reality.

I make sure to not let him know about how I feel. Rig doesn’t need to know how scared I am