Beautiful Illusions by Jocoby Annie

Author:Jocoby, Annie [Jocoby, Annie]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2013-06-22T21:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-TwoRyan was happy to see me. Extremely happy to see me.

It was such a relief.

“You came. You came. You came.” Ryan just repeated this phrase over and over again. He had tears in his eyes.

I found myself crying as well.

“Of course. I had to, after talking to Alexis.”

“I was so afraid that you couldn’t come. I mean, Alexis said that she gave you the tickets and the accommodations and everything, but she wasn’t sure if you could make it. She thought that you might be too busy with work.”

“Well, that was the story last week. I cleared my schedule this week.”

“Uh, would you like to take a walk outside?”

“I thought you would never ask.” I was in a hurry to get out of this rather depressing atmosphere.

“I see you have a blanket in your hand.”

“I do.”

“And a picnic basket. Let me take that for you.”

“Thanks, it was getting a little heavy.” I had packed imported cheese and sparkling grape juice (I figured correctly that alcohol would not be permitted on the grounds), some dry roasted almonds, some whole-grain crackers, and some fruit. It would be a light supper, as I wasn’t starving. I hoped that he wasn’t, either, but I had packed some cheese and hard salami sandwiches as well, just in case he wanted something more substantive.

“You think of everything.”

“I try.”

We walked, in the dark, although the grounds were brightly lit, until we got to an area just on the banks of the babbling brook. The area was surrounded by trees and flowers, and it was very peaceful. There was a little bridge going across the brook. I would imagine that this would be an excellent place to meditate. We laid our blanket down, and lay down while I unpacked our goodies.

“You always know the perfect thing to pack in these lunches.” Ryan was smiling, the color coming back into his cheeks. He looked quite a bit less tired than when he first came in the room.

I fed him a grape, and poured out the juice in the little plastic champagne cups that came with the basket. As we ate our small dinner, Ryan was talking.

“I missed you. God, I missed you,” Ryan said.

“I missed you too.”

“I’m so sorry for throwing your clothes at you.”

“Actually, that’s ok. It wasn’t the first time.” I wasn’t joking about that, either.

“Well, it’ll be the last.”

I nodded.

We sat in silence for a few minutes. I found myself wishing that the sparkling grape juice was wine.

He looked at me. The overhead light had illuminated his eyes, making the little hazel parts around his pupil stand out. I could also make out specks of bright blue, which danced around in the bright green of the rest of his iris.

Those eyes, so beautiful, now seemed haunted to me.

It broke my heart.

“Uh, Alexis told me that you guys had a talk.”

“Yes.”

“I asked her to call you. There was so much that I needed to say to you, but I just don’t have the words.”

“I understand. Thank you for sending her to me.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.