Anne bid a shaky
farewell to Austox and stepped inside her old apartment with a gasp. This was where she had opened Jason's letter .. this was where she had
sobbed without respite .. this was where she had flopped down on the couch
and said goodbye to her life.
Was she ready
to face it again? Could she pick up the pieces? Could she begin
again where they'd left off?
Horrible thoughts
suddenly and clearly entered her mind. Jason .. gone. Jason
.. forgetting her. Jason .. married. It could be true. They were just barely old enough. Anne wanted to go back now, with
all her heart. She wanted to run. She wanted to hide. She wanted to escape.
Too late now. Austox was gone.
Anne spun around
to the couch again, for refuge. She threw herself down on it and
didn't fall asleep for a long, long time.
The apartment
had been vacated for some time, but Anne ran through the motions in the
morning as though she'd been living there this whole time. Everything
was where it should be. It was like a dream.
Get off the couch,
go to the bathroom, pick up the toothbrush, put the toothpaste on, run
the water .. it was unreal. Who had been paying her water bills,
for one thing? Electric bills? Rent?
How would she
live here? This world had been foreign to her for two years, yet
she still remembered how to find her way around.
Anne suddenly
wondered if time hadn't changed at all; maybe the two years she'd spent
in the dragon world were only two days here. Then that would mean
.. she was right back where she started.
She looked down,
tears flowing out of her eyes. She still remembered every word of
that letter. Casting a glance across to the living room, she drew
in a sharp breath as she remembered what she'd find.
The letter.
Those words.
That pain.
Anne:
This is Jason ... Jason Tolins.
I just wrote to say, I guess it's not working. I guess we can't be together
... I got every letter you ever sent to Michael. He sent copies of them
straight to me, everysingle one ... and I'm filled with shock that you
could ever say that about me. I have always loved you, every day since
I met you, Anne...but I can't anymore.
"He's just worthless ... he forgets
me to go off with his little lover girls ... he's a complete idiot ...
he never really cared about me ... but I can tell you do, Mike." Anne,
this is it ... it's over ... don't write tome again ... or talk to me,
or anything, because I can't bear it. I've only one thing left to say to
you.
Never hurt anyone else like you
hurt me through your letters to Michael ... never. Never.
Her mind screamed. Everything that she had felt that day came back to her a hundred times worse. She fell down on the floor, curling up against herself, sobbing out her soul, quietly suffering for all she was worth. It wasn't true, it couldn't be, it never could ..
But it was.
Gradually, the
sobs subsided, and she could breathe -- barely.
"I tried to run
before," she whispered. "But running isn't going to work. I
love you, Jason. I love you still."
She lay back
and thought about him for awhile -- that shy smile and blush when someone
complimented him, the lovely way he used words, the sweet hugs he would
pull her into at the end of a bad day, the wonderful ..
But it was over. All over.
"Can I ever get
you back?" she wondered softly into the still air. There was no response.
By nightfall,
Anne was sure of her intentions. Jason had to hear the truth from
her, because she loved him. Because she couldn't stand for him not
to know. Because she couldn't live her life knowing that there might
be a chance, however slim.
Would he listen?
*cackle* Cliffhanger. I know it's mean, after all that about not writing and stuff .. but
life's not fair. ^_^ As much as I wish it was .. *sigh*