Lola and Bryon found two seats towards the back and slid in next to each other. She stared out the window for a moment examining the view.
This was her hometown, the place she had grown up, met the love of her life, and planned her whole future. It used to be so important, but the colors were all wrong now like a dark haze had crept in and covered the town.
“There’s that frown again,” Bryon said cheerfully, as the trolley kicked into motion.
Lola tried to smile back at him, but she couldn’t help but feel like something was wrong. Maybe it was just the disturbing text she had received from Mark. Irritation filled her.
“What about the baby?” he asked. “Do you know what you’re having?”
It took Lola a moment to realize he had asked her a question. “It’s a girl,” she said lamely.
“What about a name? I bet you’ve thought of thousands by now!” She tried to discern if his enthusiasm felt forced, but she couldn’t tell. Then her stomach sank. She hadn’t thought about names since she first found out she was pregnant, then wondered how many times her mom must of wondered, but never asked.
“I don’t know” she answered. As she looked over to meet his gaze, she knew he wanted her to say more, but Mark’s warning repeated like a broken record in her head.
She looked away and back out the window and for a split second she thought she saw Mark’s face in the street. Curiosity filled her mind, a million questions all at once, and suddenly she couldn‘t sit still.
“Ya know, I’m starting to feel a little queasy,” she touched her fingers to her lips then puffed out her cheeks hoping it looked convincing. “I think the rocking is getting to be too much.”
“Right, right,” he said quickly. He jumped up and headed towards the driver. A few seconds later the trolley came to a stop, and Lola stood quickly, walked to the front and down the stairs. She took a few deep cleansing breaths once she reached the bottom to make it seem like it was helping, but really she was just out of breath.
“Is that better?” he asked rubbing her back. “Do you need any water?”
“Oh no, I think I’ll be alright now,” she said, then thinking quickly added, “Ya know, my mom said she was going to be shopping in some of these stores, so I’ll just give her a quick text to make sure, that way you don’t have to drive me home.” She reached for her phone.
“It’s no trouble really,” he insisted placing his hand on hers covering the cell. Lola took a step back, her heart starting to pump in her chest.
“Lola?” a familiar voice sounded behind her. She turned to see Mark coming at a quick jog.
“Wow! It’s so good to see you!” he said enthusiastically scooping her into a hug.
Relief rushed over her, immediately followed by anger, and she resisted the urge to shove him off. He felt her tense up, so he dropped his arms, but kept his left hand on her back.
“Who’s this?” he asked and reached out to shake Bryon’s hand.
Lola shot him a pointed look, then recovered quickly feigning back pain and looked down. Obviously, she was missing something, but it wasn’t the time to ask. Mark rubbed her back lightly playing along.
“This is Bryon, he worked with Kyle” her heart stopped for a brief second, she didn’t like saying his name out loud. “He was just taking me on a trolley ride, but then I started to not feel well.” she touched her stomach. “I was actually getting ready to get a hold of my mom to take me home, I’m sure she’s around here somewhere.” She motioned to the tiny shops lining the street behind them.
“Well, that’s perfect timing. I just ran into her, that’s how I knew to look for you here. I can go ahead and take you home.” Mark offered. “That is, if you’re all done here.” he smiled amicably towards Bryon. Thunder sounded in the distance. “And it looks like rain.”
Bryon looked back and forth between the two of them trying to discern if he was missing something.
“ It's fine,” Lola said to Byron. “Thanks again for this morning, I’m sorry I had to leave early.”
“Oh, um, it’s okay.” he said looking only at Mark. Mark stared back unblinking, a calm smile played on his lips. When Byron finally broke eye contact, his face softened as he looked down at Lola. “If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to call.” He reached out and gave her arm a squeeze, then turned and walked back to the trolley.
Once he was out of sight, Mark, his hand still on the small of Lola’s back, ushered them across the street to a small alleyway hidden between shops.
“Wow,” he said. “I’m glad I saw you when I did.”
Lola glared at him.
“What?” he asked confused. “When I saw him block your phone, I had to jump in. Why are you staring at me like that?”
“Where have you been?” Lola demanded shoving him in the chest.
“I’ve been here.” he said unruffled, motioning to their surroundings.
“I needed you. I called a hundred times, but you never answered.” tears burned her eyes. She sniffed, trying to reject them. She didn’t want him to see her cry. “Where were you?” she demanded again. “I don’t want to hear that you’ve been here this whole time because you weren’t. At least not for me. I had to bury him alone. You were his best friend, and I had to bury him alone!” she broke down then, and crumbled to her knees. Her chest beat fast against her ribs, and she couldn’t catch her breath anymore, but she didn’t care. He had abandoned her just like Kyle had done. She was alone and pregnant, and now he stood there like he was her knight in shining arm. Why? Because some creep tried to stop a text message?
Mark knelt beside her and laid his arm gently across her back. She shook it off.
“Listen,” he said gently. “I didn’t mean to…I didn’t mean to leave you like that, you have to understand, I didn’t have a choice. But I have been here. I’ve been watching and waiting. Who do you think called your parents when you stopped eating two months ago?”
She turned her head to look at him, and straightened up.
“What?” she said accusingly. “How…?”
“I can’t say anymore here…not now. But you have to listen to me, Lola. Byron is not who you think he is.”
Rain began to fall on them as Lola gaped, staring at Mark
“You’ve been spying on me? Lurking behind my bushes? You watched me deteriorate to the point I almost lost my baby, and now you’re trying to protect me?” she spat at him.
Mark shook his head. “You don’t understand, you don’t have the full picture, but how could you?” he mumbled more to himself than to her.
She wanted to leave and never see him again, but something held her back. She searched his face for the answer.
Mark began to pace back and forth, running his hands through his auburn hair mumbling more to himself. Then suddenly, as if he had come to a conclusion stopped with his eyebrows lifted and smiled.
“He left something for you, didn’t he?” he asked excitement in his voice.
“Kyle? No. Why would he leave me anything? How would he know to?” Lola asked baffled by his question.
Mark stopped pacing and grabbed Lola above both of her elbows.
“In the last couple months, have you received an envelope…plain, maybe with your name on it?”
Recognition beamed inside her mind. She had never thought it would have been from Kyle, because of him, sure, but not from him.
“I did…Bryon brought me something like that this morning. My name was on the outside, but I didn’t recognize the handwriting. Do you think it was from Kyle?” she asked panic raising in her voice.
“I do.”
She wondered how Mark would even had thought to ask. Why would Kyle leave something for her, and not say anything? Her brain staggered as more questions filled her mind.
“But…how - how would you know?” she asked.
“Because he sent me one too. I found it the day before…the day before the accident. I had been alone at my office late one night, writing another article, everything was normal. Then Barb, came in, I don’t think you ever met her, it doesn’t matter,” he said shaking his head. “But she brought it in, and of course I opened it up, and it was from Kyle. It was a strange sort of letter that didn’t make any sense, and at the end it said just in case, keep an eye on her.
“Well, then you know what happened next, and I knew then that the ’her’ in his letter had to be you. I kept a close eye on you because he asked me too.”
Lola crossed her arms over her chest, and looked around the alley. Finally she turned back to him.
“You think Kyle sent me a cryptic letter?” she asked irritated. She wasn’t sure what was making her so infuriated. Maybe it was because he stood there pretentiously expecting some great revelation to come, or because he had gotten to hide out playing good cop, while her whole world had fallen apart.
“Lola, I get it, you’re mad at me. I’m okay with that.” he said lowering his gaze to meet hers. “But this is our situation right now. I have something in my possession that Kyle trusted me with, and he may have left you something as well, don’t you want to know?”
She huffed then nodded, her irritation passing as the passion in his voice consumed her.
She couldn’t deny the curiosity that filled her bones, the ache in her chest she felt whenever she heard his name. If there was a chance that she could see a bit of him again, even if it was just in his writing, she would do it.
The gentle raindrops began to grow more steadily, as Lola considered what to do next. A large peel of thunder cracked above them, and the clouds opened up to unleash a fury.
“My car is right around the corner!” Mark yelled over the storm. Lola nodded obediently, and took the hand he held out for her. It was warm, a familiarity in his grasp. They jogged down the street, eyes squinted in the rain, and quickly got into his black coupe.
Mark reached behind Lola, and pulled an old t-shirt from the backseat then handed it to her so she could dry off. Lola reluctantly took it, and pressed it against her face. It smelled of a faint cologne, she had almost forgotten.
“Thank you,” she said handing it back to him. He took it, and swiped his own face then tossed it onto the backseat again.
They rode in awkward silence for a moment, watching the rain pelt down while the windshield wipers kept their steady beat.
“I’m sorry.” he said taking a deep breath. “I didn’t think you needed me to…” he stumbled looking for the right words. “I had no idea you needed me.”
“But I called.” she said.
“You called me once, Lola. Not a hundred times. You called once, but you didn’t even leave a message. I realize now I should have called you back, and I’m sorry.” he glanced over to her, regret filling his eyes.
She considered this for a moment, then her composure softened.
“I’m sorry too,” she said.
“For what?”
“For…not leaving a message.”
They pulled into her parent’s driveway, and braced themselves for the onslaught of rain, and ran to the front door bursting inside. They slipped off their sodden shoes, and walked back to Lola’s bedroom. She closed the door gently behind her, and reached for the manila envelope that still lay on her dresser untouched.
She took a deep breath, and broke the seal. Inside laid a single white sheet of paper with a small paragraph in a script she certainly would die before she ever forgot.
My dearest Lola,
Remember that time, when we sipped pink candy under the sunset. Before the tides had changed, and the music had set. We walked hand in hand to a land faraway, where treasures were found and where a hobbit might stay.
Lola read the poem three times, before she shook her head in frustration.
“It doesn’t make any sense,” she said.
“May I?” Mark asked reaching for the paper. He studied it for a moment then agreed.
“It’s just like mine. A poorly written poem that's incoherent."
Lola sat on down on her bed and rubbed her forehead. It was true, she thought. She knew Kyle was trying to tell her something, and she was going to find out what it was.
Thank you so much for sharing this with me! Hope you enjoyed! For more info about freewrites, visit @mariannewest!
f you would like to check out the story from the beginning you can find the previous chapters here!
1 |2|3|4|5|6| 7
To the amazing people that read this story! Thank you!
@cecicastor, @scribblingramma, @enginewitty, @janaveda, and @sirmartinet
Much love,
Stacie D
