Disclaimer: I don't own "The Pretender"
Miss Parker was free from the turmoils of "The Centre". Their game of "you run, I chase" had finally ended. But, it was not what each had anticipated. Running for several years, the "pretender" longed for a normal life away from the "hell-hole" which kept him as a prisoner. The "ice queen" wanted him back in captivity, in order to eventually live her freedom away from "The Centre".
The clicking sound of her heels echoed as the leggy woman walked hurriedly down the hallway and into his room, the same room he had been held captive so many years ago. Hesitating at first, she stood and watched at the doorway. She felt her heart breaking. She never envisioned Jarod's life as just a lifeless body regretting her horrible mistake. They, her "goons" had done a horrendous job of torturing him. So still was his breathing. He had always been the annoying, taunting "pretender" who called her in the wee early morning playing his ridiculous game of "catch me if you can." Teardrops escaped her eyes.
Taking hold of his hand, Miss Parker sat beside him. She was afraid of being left alone. First, it was her mother who left her, then, Thomas. Now, it was Jarod's turn.
"Jarod? It's me. Parker. It's Parker." She bent down giving him a kiss on his cheek. There were so many things she failed to tell him. She loved him in silence. Barely speaking above a whisper, she spoke those three words she promised she'd never reveal. But, sometimes promises were meant to be broken.
"I love you," she told him. "Did you hear me? I love you."
Instead of those words she longed from him, silence deafened the room. Her fingers traced the outline of his lips. She smiled to herself, imagining how his lips would taste feeding from the sweetness of his mouth to hers. Yes, they've kissed before as children, but, waited for a lifetime for that special grownup kiss of how a man loved a woman would somehow happen. Now, it would never be.
"Do you want to die? Is that it? You're going to give up? You're just going to leave me here alone in this god-foresaken place? Is that what you're planning to do? What's to become of me?" Her tearful outburst somehow caused him to stir a bit. A heart was meant to love. Hers was meant for Jarod. Flashes of memories of their years together of chasing and running entered her mind. And she cried.
Loving him should have brought an incredible feeing of content and happiness, but instead, it only brought her pain. He was her destiny. But, sometimes with just a snap of a finger, your life changes suddenly without being forewarned.
The one thing Jarod hadn't realized upon escaping from "The Centre", was the one person he couldn't stop running away from, was the one he needed and wanted the most. Never giving a clue on their feelings towards each other, although, alone and lonely, she kept chasing and he kept running. But, no more. He returned back to "The Centre" unwilling at gunpoint by his "ice queen" and her entourage.
"You do understand, don't you? I had to take you back. Why...why did you let them do this to you? You could have escaped like before, couldn't you?" She screamed at him. "I'd get my freedom and you'd escape the same way you had done the first time! Why didn't you?"
"Why didn't you?" She wept. "I never meant for them to have done this to you, to have hurt you this way. I never knew their plans. You're a genius, one who can do anything. Get up. Please get up! And do something!"
Miss Parker watched him for hours helplessly weeping. "You never gave us a chance." As he neared his last breath, she whispered in his ear. "Jarod?"
She made the initial advance, with him not moving away. How could he? Her arms had gone around him, pulling him closely. Her lips touched his for the very first time in their adult life.
"One kiss before you go. I love you."
The End