The Rest of Forever by Kate

Author:Kate [Kate Aaron]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2012-05-19T16:37:24+00:00

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I crawl out of bed on Sunday with even more reluctance than usual. I’ve never liked getting up in the dark. I shower and pull on my jogging gear, dressing as slowly as a man awaiting sentence. My peers have already judged me and found me wanting.

The park’s empty when I arrive, the grass crisp and white with a late frost, my breath billowing in clouds around me as I stamp my feet and rub my numbed hands together at the gate, waiting. I know already that this is futile, that he’s not coming, that this time I never will see him again. I can’t say I blame him.

The palest duck egg blue tints the sky like a wash as I accept the inevitable and begin my lonely circuit of the park. I used to enjoy running: the sense of freedom, the pleasurable pull of healthy muscles as they warm and work, endorphins kicking in as my body relaxes and leaves my mind free to wander. These days I try to keep my mind occupied at all times.

I fall into a rhythm, lulled by my even breaths and the regular slap slap of my trainers on the asphalt path. I nod at an elderly dog walker, skirting a wide arc around his yappy little Jack Russell. He nods back, sensing a kindred spirit. If only he knew.

I put my head down and carry on, wishing I’d brought my ipod – something to distract me. I try singing in my head but I forget the words to every song I start, my mind returning, as it has for the last twenty waking hours and several of the eight sleeping ones, to Paul: his face, his eyes, his lips. Especially his lips.

A rhythmic slap behind me heralds another jogger and I shift slightly on the path to give him room to get by unobstructed. He approaches quickly and draws level, but it takes me a minute to realise that he’s not overtaking. I look up and glance across, almost stumbling when I see my best friend flash me a dazzling grin and speed up. I accept the challenge in a heartbeat, increasing my pace to keep level with him, laughing as he speeds up again. In seconds we’re in a race, both running flat out around the long circuit which leads back to the main gates.

My muscles begin to protest at the furious pace we’re setting but somehow I know it’s important that I win this, and Paul’s not cutting me any slack. The icy air stings my face, rasping uncomfortably in my throat as I gasp for breath. I feel the burn of lactic acid building in my calves as I put my head down, racing flat out, but I ride the burn and refuse to stop. We’re neck and neck coming round the last corner and I put on a last desperate burst of speed, using my extra couple of inches in height to overtake him. He puts his head

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