Heartbreak You - T.L. Smith Page 0,62

be outside on my own again.

My feet hit the pavement hard as I start, the wind blowing through my hair as I push myself further and further until my bones ache and my legs burn.

This feels good.

It’s what I crave.

I am good at this.

The rain starts to fall in soft droplets, then it becomes a more wind-driven downpour which is cold and pelts my skin. It changes within seconds, but I don’t stop. I can’t stop now, the high from pushing myself is working, and the stressors that I felt earlier are slowly leaving my body while my mood is changing, and my mind is becoming clearer.

My watch tells me I have been running for forty minutes, but it doesn’t feel like it has been that long. Turning around, I start the trek home when I see a familiar figure, a man wearing a hoodie who is also running this track. My feet come to a dead stop as he runs along the other path, not looking my way, but I know it’s him. I would know him anywhere.

My hand goes up to call him over, but I let it drop and turn away. Looking up, the night sky is now black, the rain now light and I find it all comical.

What an ending.

What a way to move on.

With quick steps, I start again not looking back, not caring why he is out this way.

I don’t want to know, I tell myself as I start the run home.

I don’t want to know.

When I arrive home there’s a letter sitting on the porch, propped up against my door. I pick it up with wet fingers and tear it open, inside there is a picture of baby Benji. The photograph instantly gives me joy as I smile while looking it over before I step inside. I hold it carefully trying to make sure I don’t ruin the image because I’m saturated, even my hair is dripping water from the ends.

Flipping it over, on the back there’s the letter ‘A,’ but there’s also a note stating that Atlas receives updates on baby Benji and he thought I would like this picture.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Theadora

I’m another year older, and a litter wiser, or so I would like to believe. It’s been a month of non-stop work and visiting little Benji every chance I get. He’s doing well, getting bigger, and his new family idolizes him. I love that. I adore the fact that he will not grow up in a household like mine, and I like that he won’t ever have to worry if he’s loved.

Because he is.

In so many ways, and by so many people.

Marissa grabs my hand and pulls me to the dance floor. Tina comes up behind me and spins around—she’s clearly drunk. More than likely as intoxicated as Marissa. I’m halfway there, but only hovering around tipsy right now.

I’m happy.

Actually, very happy.

Which is saying a lot because I haven’t been in a long time, or what feels like a long time anyway. It’s been over a month since I saw Atlas. He’s been true to his word, and he left me alone. I haven’t seen him apart from that one time when he was running, well, I think it was him. Only that photograph he left on my doorstep led me to believe I saw him that night, so I am fairly certain it was him. The picture I keep in pride of place on my refrigerator door, so I see baby Benji every time I open it. I adore him, he’s growing so quickly now.

I’m better all-round, not just physically but also mentally.

I’m stronger than I realized.

I like the me I am becoming.

And Lucy? Well, I still haven’t heard from her, but I hope she’s doing better. She needs to do better, but as my therapist has told me repeatedly, I cannot be responsible for her actions anymore. She is an adult and what she does is of her own volition. For some reason, I still find it hard to let go completely in my mind, but I know I have to for my own sanity.

“Just take a shot,” Marissa says, pushing the glass full of tequila into my face.

“Yes, take the shot,” Tina yells.

She spent all day with me today, including taking me to a spa for a day of full-on pampering including facials, manicures, pedicures, and then the most luscious of full-body massages. Then she came back, and we got ready together. My hair and makeup were done by