Page 18 of Rainstorm

Rose

San Diego, CA - Present day

I’m just two blocks away.

Just two blocks away!

Shit! At least I thought I was just two blocks away.

Fucking streets, they seem to replicate themselves. I can’t wait to get home. As ever, I’m out of breath, my tongue hanging out, panting like a dog.

I raise my head while I rest against the first tree that crosses my path, and finally I see our street sign on the corner post. I do this almost every day, well I have for the last week anyway. I put on my sneakers and run a distance from the house I share with my husband.

While I wait for the light to change when I reach the corner, I survey the surroundings. The route is nice, the street is full of trendy restaurants and buildings very similar to our townhome. We live in a small private community, perfect for those who want to enjoy the advantages of living downtown while still enjoying the facilities of a resort.

The first time our families came for a visit, I couldn’t ignore their raised eyebrows as they calculated the price of our newly married nest. My dad even dared to suggest that with the same money, we could have bought something bigger in a better area, somewhere further out—a proper family home, he said. But we weren’t thinking about a family back then, we wanted it to be just us for a while.

Today is one of those days I wouldn’t know how to describe. I feel more exhausted than usual, as if someone has stolen all my energy, but my mind is running like a hamster on its wheel. I’m supposed to do this run in just forty-five minutes. Well, that’s what my husband told me with a laugh. However, I’m lucky if I make it back in an hour.

I finally see my home in the distance. I feel like a castaway when land finally comes into sight. I can’t wait to get there and have a cold drink.

I enter through the gate that connects the properties in our communal garden, and when I take out my AirPods, I hear Ariel singing—she takes care of all the cleaning and maintenance around here. From the looks of it, pink is her hair color of choice this week. No doubt next week it’ll be something different.

With her you never know.

“A new look?” I comment, when I finally manage to regain my breath.

“Yeah, green was too difficult to maintain,” she informs me, shrugging. “It looked better in the pictures I got my inspiration from, but I guess nothing in real life can live up to Pinterest’s expectations.”

Nailed it or failed it?

I should know.

I have more than five nifty DIY projects that are still unfinished around my home. The worst part is that I don’t know if I will ever finish them.

Nevertheless, I’m determined to decorate our home in the most unique way possible. I’ve started many projects that sometimes overwhelm me and I don’t think that I’ll ever complete all of them.

“Do you wanna try the cherry pie I baked last night? It’s crumb topped,” Ariel asks, cutting the thread of my vague thoughts.

As tempting as her creation sounds, I have to refuse. The reason I was running early this morning is because I want to lose some weight. If I dare to go to her apartment, I swear I would eat the whole damn thing.

“I don’t have the energy after my run to even climb the stairs, so I think I’ll head straight home.” There, a good excuse.

I’m still breathing raggedly, or rather panting.

“Your loss.” Ariel looks disappointed, but doesn’t insist, giving me a quick farewell. “See you later, alligator.” I’m sure folks two streets away could hear her shouting to me as she carries on sweeping the cobblestone of the paths. I reply back with a lazy wave as I head to my townhome. When I get there, I’m welcomed by a silent echo and the scent of Chase’s cologne.

God, I love his scent.

After so many years I still insist he uses the same fragrance, and he humors me. It’s not the fragrance, it’s him. The scent and the skin of the man I love, a lethal combination.

Jeez, I miss him.

Crave him.

These three days feel almost interminable.

In the kitchen, I find the empty Keurig and the cup Chase uses to drink his large black coffee. It’s clean and waiting for him to come back from Sacramento.

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