Page 48 of Obsession

“A little,” was all she said, but her eyes told me she had more on her mind.

A loud rumble of thunder caught my attention. I was close to the exit and could see out through the glass doors. A storm was brewing, and it wouldn’t be long before it started. Everything seemed strange, from the stranger dressed in black to the woman who seemed to know my parents better than I did, and I wanted to leave.

“It’s been a pleasure meeting you, but I’m afraid I have to leave now before the storm breaks.”

She smiled again.

“Of course. Oh, allow me to give you a welcome gift.”

I was about to decline when she handed me a jar of honey, but she just pressed it into my hand.

“It’s the best, you’ll see. I’ve been doing this for forty years; I’m allowed to be proud.”

I giggled, mesmerized by her personality. She didn’t let me pay for it.

“Thank you so much.”

She squeezed my hand again and smiled. I wanted to stay and ask more questions, curious about what my father was like before he met my mother, but I didn’t feel ready to find out all those things. All I knew about his family was that they had never accepted his wife.

“I’ll see you at the fair.”

As my eyebrow raised questioningly, she pointed upwards. Above us hung a large poster announcing the same fair everyone was talking about. I didn’t think I would attend festivals in this town, but I smiled and nodded.

As I was about to leave, Iolanda held my hand tightly and did not let go.

“Katherine, I know it’s painful right now, but believe me, your father made the right decision to bring you here. It’s better for you, and for him. He’s with the people he should have always been with.”

She puzzled me again, but I didn’t linger for details. I nodded and left. My father should have been with my mother, anywhere, but with her.

The memories came rushing at me faster than I could hold them back, and I felt my eyes begin to burn. I pressed my lips tightly together and forced myself to suppress it. I was so tired of crying for a family that no longer existed.

Outside, I breathed in the cold air as if I was ravenous for it. At moments like this, the tough façade I had built up completely crumbled away, leaving nothing but this lost, abandoned child. Sadness crept into my soul and all the pain my mother had caused me came flooding back.

The realization that my father had really moved on, that he had returned to his former life, that he had managed to forget my mother…

I was happy for him, but at the same time horrified because I couldn’t move on. I had nothing to go back to, everything I had ever had… was destroyed.

I could not accept that she had left me for money. That all her love was a lie. That she regretted giving birth to me because I had locked her into a poor marriage. She should have left much earlier and not lied to me for so long, playing the role of the loving mother.

I was still under the tarp when the first raindrops fell, and a few seconds later it was pouring.

I shoved the honey jar into one of the pockets to have one hand free to fish for my phone.

The guy in black came out of the store and walked past a few feet away from me, stepping straight into the rain without seeming bothered by it. The shout stopped on my lips because I wanted to ask him to stop so I could see his face once and for all and find out if I was just being paranoid or not. I could imagine Joshua doing something like that, but his size didn’t match.

Part of me felt crazy, so I didn’t say anything when I saw him get into a Range Rover. The wind ruffled his hair as he turned around, but his face was unrecognizable in the distance.

He started the car and sped off while I stepped off the sidewalk to look at the license plate. It wasn’t a car from the garage, and he surprised me when he steered the car towards the front of the store, passing by a few inches away from me.

I flinched and jumped back.

I’d had enough of his stupid games.

The windows were tinted, and I couldn’t see anything, so I stood there muttering to myself. I realized I was standing in the rain when I felt my clothes getting soaked down to my underwear.

“Fucking hell,” I thought and jumped back under the store’s awning, my phone wet in my hand.

I called for a cab, but my amazing day continued as the volume of orders was too high due to the storm and I had to wait at least ten minutes before they could find an available ride for me.

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