Broken Dolls: Deliverance by Watson Mique

Author:Watson, Mique
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-10-02T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 16 : SUMMER OF 2019

I tore down Second Avenue, hoping my shoes would stay intact; these New York streets were not made for clean shoes (or running). The thick August air sank its humidity into my clothes. My armpits were drenched in sweat. I inwardly thanked myself for wearing black.

I finally reached the venue—a chic bookstore that looked like some sort of place where high-end art exhibits were held. It was a studio of unpainted cement and massive glass doors, completely desaturated and limited to various hues of white and gray. Very hipster.

Anticipation shortened my breath as I forced thoughts of the possibility of failure out of my mind. I didn’t care if I had to tear this entire building down myself; I was going to see him, and he would remember me.

He had to.

I took stock of myself and patted my hair, hastily flattening all the stray strands that had been ravaged by the windy streets. I straightened up my button-down shirt and wiped debris from my jeans. I hadn’t thought about what to wear, so I opted for a black button-down shirt to conceal as much of me as possible and I dabbed concealer on my chin to hide the scars from old cold sores.

This’ll have to do.

The cold air instantly chilled me as I walked through the front door. The lobby was dimly lit from up above, and the air conditioners were on full blast. Outlast it and just defrost outside later, I told myself.

Approaching the ticket guy, I scanned the room to see if I could catch a glimpse of Joe somewhere. To my relief, everyone else seemed to be clad in a similar semi-casual motif.

“Twenty-five bucks,” the attendant said, looking at me like I was someone’s lost kid.

I fumbled in my pocket for my wallet as nausea roiled through my gut at the thought of already looking like an idiot. The damned wallet was stuck in my abnormally compressed jeans. I took a deep breath, steadying myself, and slowly inserted two fingers to pry out the worn leather. My panic subsided as I handed him the money.

“Enjoy the book signing,” he said with no smile as he attended to the next person.

Further into the venue, I found an empty seat somewhere near the back. The paranoia lingered in the recesses of my mind like toxins aching to spread loose from the confines of a viper’s bite. Here I was, about to see my childhood best friend that I had not seen in just under two decades, someone whose house I had practically lived in. Someone who I’d been chasing ever since. Someone who I had spent almost every moment of free time with, who promised me we would be friends forever. Someone who happened to be my first kiss. Waves of anticipation expanded, gurgling in my bowels. And now I wanted to turn back and sprint all the way back to my apartment.

The room closed in on me as talons of disquietude flanked the edge of my consciousness.

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