“He’s working,” I say automatically.
Marcus tilts his head slightly.
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Huh.”
“What?”
“Well…” he says casually, “I thought Sophie was the only one working today.”
I tense slightly.
“What do you mean?”
“Yeah,” Marcus says. “Me, Emily, and Dom were supposed to all be off today.” He shrugs. “Maybe he got called in. It’s rare for us to all have the same day off anyway.”
A small knot forms in my chest. Working. That’s what Dominic said. I push the thought aside.
“Hey,” I say quickly. “I’m sorry about last night, by the way.” Marcus raises an eyebrow. “The dinner…I had a little too much wine,” I explain. “And it wasn’t really my place to ask Sophie about her husband.”
Marcus nods understandingly. “I get it,” he says. Then he looks at me a little more closely. “And if you ever need someone to talk to… or just a friend…” He shrugs. “I’m around.” Something about the way he says it feels slightly intentional, like he knows something I don’t. He pulls out his phone. “Actually, here,” he says. “Let me give you my number.”
We exchange phones quickly. When his number pops up on my screen, I notice the last seven digits.
654-3210I blink.
“That’s almost too perfect. I don’t trust it”
Marcus laughs. “Right? It basically memorizes itself.”
“I feel like even if I tried to forget it, I couldn’t.”
“Exactly,” he says with a grin. “That’s the plan.”
He hands my phone back.
“Well,” he says, putting his headphones back on, “see you around, Era.”
“You too, Marcus.”
He gives a small wave and starts jogging again down the path. I watch him disappear around the curve. And the knot in my stomach tightens just a little more. Why did Dominic lie about going to work today? The question keeps circling in my mind as I walk along the path. Or maybe he didn’t lie. Maybe he just wanted to go in. To see her, to talk, to finish something that hadn’t been finished yet. The thought makes my stomach twist.
Before I even realize what I’m doing, my feet start moving faster. Then faster. And suddenly I’m running. The wind rushes past my face as I push myself harder along the jogging path. My lungs burn but I don’t slow down. I run like I’m trying to outrun the thoughts in my head.
Dominic, Sophie, Lucien.
Everything.
My legs keep moving faster and faster until—
Pain shoots through my chest. Sharp and tight. I stumble and slow down, gripping the side of my ribs as my breathing turns uneven and then the tears come again. I drop down beneath a nearby tree, pulling myknees close to my chest as I sit in the grass. My arms wrap around my legs. Back and forth. I rock slightly as I cry.
The world around me keeps moving like nothing has changed. After a few minutes I notice a family walking along the path, a couple with a small child between them. The little boy runs ahead, laughing, and his father scoops him up playfully while the mother laughs beside them.
They look so happy. So normal. The kind of happiness that feels simple and certain, the kind of life I thought I had, the life I might never have now. I struggle to take a full breath and then, without warning, another thought slips into my mind.