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I throw the file on the table and rub my forehead. I won’t be able to rest until I know that this man is dead. I look at Hope as she looks at the clock for the fourth time. Whoever she wants to meet, the time is coming. It would be better if she’d tell me who and where so that I can take her.
"Hope and I are going to Central Park, and we were about to leave," I say. Her body relaxes, and she goes to look up at me, but quickly stops herself. So that means someone is at the park. "Would you like to get ready?" She gives me a little nod before she leaves.
Jackson whispers, “About to find out who this someone is then?” I give him a nod. “Leo can I ask—”
“The answer is yes,” I say cutting him off. I know that once she opens up to me, I don’t think I can stay away from her. The only reason I haven’t touched her yet is because I know that it will scare her. The moment I stand a few inches away from her she tenses up, the fear radiating from her.
Jackson doesn't say anything to me, but we both know what it's like for us. We both know how we feel about getting close to others. We both have scars that we don't want to talk about. When Jackson is with girls, he tells them some fucked up story about how he got them while fighting, whereas I tell them right away if they mention my scars they can fuck off.
“If this is what you want then I have your back.” Jackson pats my back as he leaves the house.
Walking up the stairs to Hope's room I see her sitting on the floor, playing with some money. I enter the room, and she freezes. I kneel and gather the money together and place it on top of the box.
“Whatever you need to buy, I’ll buy it. I know that you meet someone today and that’s where I’m taking you.”
With shaking hands, she picks up her money and box and puts them under the bed.
Putting her coat on, she turns to face me.
I smile. “You know that I’ve only seen your eyes once, but I want to tell you that they’re beautiful and I hope that one day you walk around showing people just how beautiful you are.”
The moment I finish the sentence, she leaves the room, and again I feel like I've just lost yet another conversation with her.
Walking towards Central Park, I see Hope looking at my wrist. "Would you like to know the time?" I put out my wrist for her to see, she stops in her tracks, and I stop with her. Stepping around me, she goes into the coffee shop.
"Hey, Hope. The usual?" the man behind the counter says. As he is getting everything ready, Hope stands like she always does with her head down. "You know Hope, one day you're going to walk in here, and I'm going to look you right in the face, and I won't know it's you," he says and starts laughing.
Giving the man the money, Hope takes the bag off the counter. "Thanks, Adam," she says leaving the coffee shop.
I look at the man. “How long has she been coming here?”
“About a year.”
Giving the man a nod, I meet Hope outside and see where she wants to go next. "Where are we going?" I put my hands into my pockets as it's starting to get cold outside now. Hope hands me the bag, as her hands start shaking. She holds her hands together, and I move in closer to her which makes her walk away from me.
I follow her to the park, and she goes under one of the bridges. She looks around, and I do the same at all the people living here.
"Hope." I look at the woman walking over to her. She hugs her. "Look at you, when was the last time you had food?"
"Cathy, I…I got you this." Hope looks over at me, and I hand her the bag. She pulls out a sandwich and coffee for her.
I watch Cathy walk over to the side of the tunnel and sit on the floor. Hope follows her, and I stay back, but not too far where I can't see or hear her.
Cathy looks at me and then back to Hope. "Have they found you? But if they didn't, you wouldn't be here, Hope." Cathy moves closer to her and whispers something in her ear, all the while looking over at me.
“I don’t know,” I hear Hope say. She starts taking her jacket off and wraps it around Cathy. “It’s getting cold now; I want you to stay warm.” I fight with myself not to take the jacket off Cathy and give it back to Hope, but Cathy is the only one she will talk to.
Walking over to Hope, I take my jacket off and wrap it around her. She doesn't fight with me but puts her arms in and wraps it around her body. Cathy looks at me, and I give her a smile, and to my surprise, she returns one. Maybe I might have someone else that is willing to help me.
I sit on the ground just to the side of the two of them as they talk. They don’t really talk about anything that I don’t already know about Hope. I was hoping to learn something new.
I stand up the moment Hope does. I go to follow her, but Cathy grabs my leg to stop me, and so I watch Hope to make sure that I can still see her.
“Give her this time; it’s the only time she can do it.”
I look down at Cathy, then back to Hope as I want to know what she wants to do that someone has stopped her from doing.
I put my hands in my pockets, not able to take my eyes off Hope, but she has her back to me. Then I see it, the first time I've seen her do this. She's not looking at the floor, she's looking high up at the sky, and I smile.
