Kissing Scars by Jim Shomos

Author:Jim Shomos [Shomos, Jim]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Jim Shomos

12

Princess Tower

Leo untied the hood on his Adidas spray jacket and flipped it back without slowing his stride up the Westerfolds Park hill. Cool morning air hit his neck and ears below the Arsenal cap, but the showers had finally stopped. Light rain had ruled out a bike ride and he needed to release energy, plus he enjoyed walking in the rain. Especially when he wasn’t enjoying the factious storylines filling his head.

A heart pumping from exercise is healthier than a heart racing in anxiety or drowning in sorrow.

Sanaya’s anxiety the previous night wasn’t a shock, the language and finality was. He’d come across the same anxiety before in some of his relationships and his friends’ sad stories. Sometimes it was driven by women who had lingering abandonment issues. Other times they were irrational moments of insecurity as they projected forward. Occasionally the lashing out was conscious and calculated, but usually impulsive. Whatever the reasons, Sanaya feared being dumped, so she pushed him away first. The key question haunted him: was it a preliminary booking for her fight-or-flight departure or was she already flying.

At the top of the hill, he pulled his phone out to check the timing, the walk from his place usually took twenty-five minutes to reach the summit. He didn’t even register the clock, the SMS alert from Sanaya took all his focus.

Can you meet today at Albert Park Lake, 3pm?

No explanation, no apology, no emotion.

But three good omens; any communication is better than none, in person is a million times more effective and compassionate than any other modern tech-messy option, and she’d chosen Albert Park Lake, one of his favorite spots in the world – from his dad driving them there every Sunday morning for six months when he’d started playing soccer as a ten-year-old, to hundreds of runs and walks as an adult, the lake had become a spiritual zone - although he’d never told Sanaya.

He replied ‘Yes’, turned the ring volume on and squeezed the phone back into his jeans pocket, then admired the view to the west, including the peaks of the highest down-town buildings. Trees glistened in the foreground; no sun yet, but the clouds had shifted higher, lighter. He did his three basic stretches, hamstrings, quads and calves which at his age also stretched the hips. Raised his arms in a slow circle as he breathed in and out; halfway through the second circle his phone pinged. He breathed out and checked the text.

Sanaya, confirmed the exact location.

Another good omen. He shoved the phone back and headed down the hill.

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