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It was nice, it was quiet, though. I wanted to ask her questions, do the things you usually did when you were getting to know someone but didn’t know how to approach things with her so we were quiet, though comfortably so, and while she was taking in the sights around us, I was taking in her. I couldn’t help but wonder what it’d take to see who she was, who she really was.
Afterwards, we were walking through a nearby park and about to feed the ducks. After that I thought we’d walk down to the museum, which was just a few blocks from the duck pond.
“I could see that pond from the balcony, see the ducks. I was thinking it’d be fun to feed them,” she told me so I’d ordered an extra order of pancakes to go and we took them with us.
But as we approached the pond and passed a few benches I got my world rocked and not in a good way. I saw the last person I’d wanna see. Debbie. It was lunch time and this park was in the business district, walking distance from the condo. Deb worked as a receptionist in a local law office according to what Casey said the other night, said Deb had been working there just a few months. I told Casey I couldn’t care less but suspected I’d eventually cross paths with Deb since this neighborhood was where I worked and lived.
And there she was, sitting on a bench with another girl eating sandwiches off their laps and laughing and when we spotted one another her smile died on her face. She had her raven hair pulled back in a low ponytail, big silver hoops in her ears, black nails, black trench coat with high heels. Red billowy scarf the same shade as her lips. I was holding Angel’s hand and froze in my tracks.
Angel almost tripped when I’d halted as she was still walking but I caught her by her waist and pulled her back against my side protectively. Deb gave her the once over and then her eyes were back on me. I turned on my heel and steered Angel the other way.
Angel said nothing. It was pretty obvious that Deb and I knew one another and that I did not want to see her.
I walked, with purpose, back to the car, and opened Angel’s door.
“Dario!” I heard Deb, who was following.
I shut the door after Angel was inside and ignored the voice, that fucking voice. I got into the driver’s seat. As I was pulling out of the spot she was only twenty feet from my car, eyes on me. Fuck that. I glared at her and then pulled out of the spot and squealed, fish tailing it outta there.
“Are you okay, Dare?” Angel’s voice brought me out of a daze after a minute. An angry daze filled with images of the past.
“Sorry, baby. I’ll find us another spot.”
“Kay,” she said softly.
“Ex-fiancé.” I muttered.
“Oh.”
She didn’t push.
After a few minutes of quiet I said, “Guess you don’t have any of those, at least.”
“Ex-fiances?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, no.” She said that with hesitation.
“No?” I glanced at her.
She looked like she was measuring her words. Her face paled, “I was asked. I, um, I declined.”
“Broke the guy’s heart.” It was a statement, not a question, because I knew any guy who asked her and got told no would have a shattered heart.
“Not exactly.”
I pulled in to the parking lot for the park I’d been at with Lisa the other day.
“Care to explain?”
“Turning down the proposal probably started the chain of events that led to me being here with you right now. My saying No wasn’t…wasn’t taken too well.”
It was the start of her revealing things to me. I didn’t want to push and make her clam up but didn’t want to seem closed-off either. I took her hand across the center console and rubbed it.
“Want to tell me more?”
She chewed her cheek a second and her eyes got a faraway look. Her body went tense. She started to tremble.
