AllFreeNovel
Share Us
With my legs bent and my arms wrapped around my shins, I buried my face in my knees and cried. I did that for a long time before I lifted my head, swiped at the tears on my cheeks, and took a few settling breaths.
“If I could switch places with any of you, I’d do it in a heartbeat,” I told her. “Life isn’t kind to the person responsible for killing her best friends, even if I never wanted this to happen.”
I paused a moment and took in a deep breath.
“You should be here,” I continued. “You, Janelle, and Cristina should all be here telling me how horrible my ideas are. You should be living your lives, maybe married with children, and abundantly happy. You don’t have that. None of you do. And it’s my fault you never got the chance.”
At that, I found myself caught up in a bout of silence again. I wasn’t quite sure what else there was to say. Nothing would change what happened. Nothing could bring them back.
If they’d been alive, I’d want to tell them about my current situation. I’d share what happened at Sweet Temptations, and I’d seek their advice.
I could have told Faye now, but it didn’t matter. She wouldn’t be responding, and I didn’t think I had a right to complain about what was happening in my life, especially not when I still had one and my friends didn’t.
So, I simply sat there, wiping away the tears as they streamed down my face.
The next thing I knew, I was startled when a familiar voice broke through the silence. “I thought I might find you here.”
My body tensed.
I heard his voice and immediately knew it was Jesse. Logic told me that if I turned around, he was going to be standing there. But I wondered how that would be possible. Because not only had I not even heard him approach, but he’d also made it abundantly clear just two days ago that he wanted nothing to do with me.
Recognizing that fact, I concluded that it must be me.
Maybe I was making this up in my head.
Maybe the emotional turmoil I felt over losing Faye, Janelle, and Cristina was causing me to hallucinate.
Surely, that had to be it.
Right. Time to confirm that things weren’t already bad enough in my life and that I had officially gone crazy.
I turned around, certain I’d see nothing, and got the shock of my life. Jesse was standing there, and the expression on his face wasn’t anything like it had been in the parking lot of Harper Security Ops two days ago.
That day, he’d been agitated and angry.
Now, he wasn’t anywhere close to that.
But then I realized that the look on his face had nothing to do with me. The truth was, we were in a cemetery where his cousin was buried, and he was likely just trying to be respectful of the space.
So, I quickly stood up, looked at him, and apologized. “I’m sorry. I was just leaving.”
“Don’t,” he returned before I’d even taken a full step in the opposite direction.
I brought my eyes to his again. “Pardon?”
“Don’t leave.”
Maybe I wasn’t crazy. Perhaps Jesse was the crazy one. Did he happen to forget about our last encounter with one another?
“I need to go,” I said, fully aware of the fact that I couldn’t do this with him again. This man had the power to destroy me.
His eyes searched my face. “I’d like you to stay. I’d like you to stay and talk to me.”
This had to be some cruel, twisted joke. I was convinced that at any minute someone was going to jump out with a camera and prove it.
Unwilling to set myself up for humiliation, I reminded him, “I tried talking to you a couple of days ago. You weren’t interested in listening then.”
With that, I turned and started to move in the opposite direction, toward my car. I had intended to visit both Janelle’s and Cristina’s gravesites, but right now, I needed to get out of here. Maybe I could drive around and kill some time for a bit before coming back to do that. Maybe he’d be gone by then, and I could do what I needed to do before I’d be on my way and out of town.
