Dark Redemption - Charlotte Byrd Page 0,9
children and people exercising, running, playing Frisbee, or just hanging out on the green grass, enjoying themselves after many months of being cooped up in the New York winter.
When I enter through the gates, I pick up my pace. It’s a light jog, nothing too strenuous, but I still get a stitch in my side. Drenched in sweat, I take a five minute break, turning off my podcast. As I walk, I see a group of crows crowd around bread crumbs taking turns on the feast.
The break seems to have the opposite effect. When I try to run again, I'm more tired and exhausted.
Keep going, I say to myself. You can do it.
A young woman, barely out of her teens, struggles to get her new puppy to walk on a leash in front of her. I smile and wave to the puppy who bounces up and down with newfound exuberance.
Picking up my feet and taking faster steps, I try to breathe through my nose and exhale through my mouth just like I've been taught in order to not get those cramps in my side.
I follow the path into a narrow but short tunnel. There’s a boulder right outside as I turn up the trail, blocking my view and I run straight into someone.
"Oh my God, I'm so sorry," I say, jumping back, realizing that I had knocked her down to the ground.
"Are you okay?" A familiar voice extends his hand to her and helps her back onto her feet. It belongs to Dante.
His eyes have not met mine yet. He's still helping up the statuesque woman in a beautiful summer dress. When she moves slightly to face me, I see that she's pregnant.
My mouth drops open and I want to disappear into the ground.
6
Jacqueline
When Dante's eyes meet mine, he recognizes me immediately. My world feels like it's going to collapse.
"I'm really sorry," I mumble. "I'm so sorry.”
She stands next to him looking at me.
She has big wide eyes and she cradles her stomach in a way to protect it from me. I look at her and I look at him and all of the time a century seems to pass.
"I have to go," I say, turning on my heels and rubbing sweat off my brow.
Touching a cheek, I feel the heat coming off it and I know that it’s bright red.
Of course, Dante found someone else, I say to myself over and over again. How could I be so stupid?
I begin to run. Somewhere in the distance, I hear him yell after me, but I don't stop and he doesn't catch up.
I'm afraid to go back to the tunnel, so I go around the long way, not running so much after a while, but walking, crying behind my sunglasses and wiping my tears.
When I finally get back to Allison's apartment and call up for her to open the downstairs door, she sees me on the intercom, immediately concerned.
“Let me in!” I cry.
A few minutes later, I'm sitting on her sixties-style sofa with no padding with her arms around me as I sob into her shoulder.
"That was him," I say, when I come up for air.
"How do you know that she was with him?” she asks.
"Because they were together.” I shrug. "I don't know how else to put it. She was pregnant, like visibly pregnant. And I knocked her over and I watched him pull her up and the way she just stood next to him, I just ... Of course, it's his girlfriend or new wife or whatever."
"What if they were already married before he met you?"
I swallow hard. The thought had not crossed my mind.
"I don't know," I say. "It's very possible, but then I'm even more of a fool, an idiot."
"You're not an idiot for putting yourself out there."
"Don't you see?" I say, pulling away from her and wiping the tears from my eyes.
"Don't pull on your skin like that, you're going to get wrinkles," Allison instructs, "just pat."
I don't listen and instead wipe the rest of my eyes with the back of my hand, purposely being as rough as possible.
"This whole thing was just some sort of a game."
"What do you mean? What are you talking about?" Allison asks.
"Maybe he was with that woman all along. Maybe she's part of it. Maybe they were just having some fun."
"No, that can't be true. I mean, he paid for your mom's surgery."
"I know, but then I called him on it and he never called me again."
"What if he just