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With that, I walked over to Stan’s, my favorite diner in the city. Stan, the owner, was so excited to see me, I couldn’t help but laugh. He loaded a bag up with all my favorite pastries and I grabbed my ice coffee and headed to the park. I took off my shoes and jacket and lay in the grass with my arms and legs spread wide. It felt good to soak in the sun; it was giving me life. Finally, I felt like I could breathe again. The weight of the world wasn’t keeping me down. It was just me, the sun and birds, and my bag of pastries that I planned to devour. I hit play on the meditation app and was about ten minutes in when it shut down and stopped working.
OK, well, there went my Zen.
I wasn’t ready to go back to Valik or deal with any other adult responsibilities, like keeping myself out of prison, so I grabbed my bag of pastries and lay on my stomach facing the row of empty benches. Well, not so empty anymore. A woman was sitting by herself, her face in her hands. Her shoulders shook, and I realized she was crying.
She pulled out a tissue and dabbed the side of her eyes, then froze when she saw me watching her. Well, this was ridiculously awkward. I knew if I was upset and crying in a park and looked up to see some random stranger with cherry filling on her chin watching me, I would be really uncomfortable too. So I did what any normal person would. I grabbed my bag of pastries and walked the thirty feet over to the bench.
“Hi.” I sat down next to her and pulled out a napkin and pastry, holding it up to her. “This is the best pastry you can get in this city and is known to solve all your problems with just one bite.” She sniffled and hesitated. I wiggled it in front of her. “Your parents probably warned you against taking food from strangers, but I promise, it’s safe.”
A smile spread across her face, and she grabbed the pastry. We ate in silence for a moment, the awkwardness slowly slipping away as she moaned in appreciation.
“Told you.” I chuckled and took a sip of my iced coffee. “Bad day?”
She inhaled sharply and I regretted the question almost immediately. There was something about her that was familiar, but I couldn’t place it. She was quite beautiful, with long flowing black hair. The way she was dressed, like she had just stepped off the catwalk at a model show, indicated she was probably not from around here. Diamond earrings dangled from her ears, and she had a ring on her finger that was bigger than the engagement ring Ryzen had given me.
“I just get so sick of men trying to control every move I make,” she whispered and took a big bite out of her pastry.
“Amen to that,” I scoffed and held out my hand. “I’m Nova.”
She didn’t offer her name, just shook my hand and went back to chewing.
“Sometimes it helps to vent to a stranger,” I said. She glanced at me from the corner of her eye, and I shrugged. “I’m all ears.”
“Have you ever loved someone so much, it hurts to breathe?” She looked off in the distance. “So much that being without them feels like you’re dying inside?”
I froze, an uneasy feeling nestling deep in my stomach.
“Yesterday I was in Rome with the love of my life. And today, I am in America because my father deemed the man I loved not good enough for me.” She turned to face me all the way, and I noticed she had one blue eye and one gray eye. “And I’m completely lost now.” She looked at me expectantly and I stopped mid-chew.
Crap. I had not been expecting such a deep answer.
“I’m sorry to hear that.” And I was. You could hear the pain in her voice, a pain that I was all too familiar with. “There’s no way to get back to Rome?”
She shook her head, a tear spilling down her cheek. “No, I’m trapped here.”
“Do you want me to call someone for you?” I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket.
“It’s too late now. I tried to explain to my father,al cuore non si comanda,but he wouldn’t accept it.” She placed her hand over her heart. “The heart wants what it wants.”
“I know what it’s like to love someone and then lose them. I’m sorry. I hope that you find your way back to him.” I placed my hand on her arm and squeezed.
“You don’t understand,” she whispered. “He’s dead.” A dinging noise sounded from her purse and her hands trembled as she pulled out her phone.
Well, obviously I’d picked the wrong bench to sit on.
“Are you in danger?” I looked over my shoulder and around the mostly empty park. “I have a car close by. I can take you wherever you need to go.”
She stood and dropped her pastry on the ground. “No, I shouldn’t have said anything. I have to go.” She took a step in the opposite direction, then turned back to face me. “Thank you, Nova. I won’t forget your kindness on this otherwise dark day.” She hauled ass down the path, and I lost sight of her once she got around the bend.
Well, that was downright strange. Did crazy tend to attract crazy? Because that was exactly what it felt like. The hair on the back of my neck stood up and I looked around, searching for anyone who might be watching me. I reached down and touched the knife I had stuffed in the side of my sock. It was still there. And I was ready to use it if I had to.
The park suddenly didn’t feel so peaceful and calming, and I grabbed my pastries and coffee and went in the opposite direction she had run in. By the time I got back to Valik, I was out of breath, and he jumped out of the car right away.
“What’s wrong? Are you OK, Miss La Roux?” He gripped my shoulders.
“I’m fine.” I sucked in all the air I could, my lungs begging me to slow down and breathe. “I just wanted to make sure you weren’t eating all the marshmallows.”
He raised his eyebrow and let go of my shoulders. “You’re a little strange sometimes, Miss La Roux.”
