She seemed to enjoy the romance of suffering. Miss Parker stared at the broken wine glass at her feet. All Jarod wanted was to toast the holiday season with her. With two glasses in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other he leaned against the door of his truck contemplating his decision on his whereabouts.
Miss Parker was again stood up by her father. As she gently laid the phone back onto the base, she looked out of her window to see the pretender parked in front of her house. She stormed out to get rid of him.
Flashback
"Fine, Miss Parker. I'll leave you alone. Hope one day your cruelty does not come back to haunt you. All I've ever wanted was your friendship.
"Goodbye, Parker."
End Of Flashback
Before leaving, he handed her the wine bottle. She pulled it from him roughly. Her hands on her hips, her nose in the air, with the look of "I don't give a damn".
She never imagined this would happen. Miss Parker pushed and shoved him for all of her life. Always, being the gentleman he was, he would simply disappear. When he thought it was safe to appear again, he'd contact her. Not this time.
She bent down to pick up the shattered pieces of glass that laid in front of her. The glass which he threw down before he abruptly left. Anyone would have assumed it was Miss Parker not Jarod to have done such a thing.
The new year was thirteen days old and Miss Parker had not as of yet heard anything from Jarod. He did not even contact Sydney to wish him a Happy New Year. Everything was ceased. She knew he could have disappeared completely for the last five years, but, instead he played his "catch me if you can" game. This time, there were no games, no late night calls.
Sydney had begun to worry. It was unlike Jarod not to wish him "Happy Holidays."
Miss Parker had decided to go out of town, away, from everything that reminded her of Jarod. If he did try to contact her, she had her cell phone, she told herself, wishful thinking. She walked around the tiny town in Vermount. Knowing she knew no one there, she could be herself, a pure excuse of a woman, with no remorse whatsoever regarding other people's feelings.
She pulled her coat around her and buttoned up. As she looked up, at a distance she caught a glimpse of a couple as they exited out of a shop, the red-headed woman had her arms around her male companion's waist and his arm around her shoulder. They looked like they were really comfortable together. They looked like they belonged together. They looked like...
"Jarod," she whispered to herself, "and Zoe."
As they got closer towards her, she was surprised he did not even blink an eye when they passed by. Of course, he was a pretender. He could be anyone he wants to be. He pretended to be a stranger to her.
"Uh," Miss Parker started to say.
Zoe turned and with her cheerful disposition, smiled at her.
"Do you know her, hon?" Zoe stopped and asked Jarod.
"Who?"
"That woman back there. She looked as if she'd known you."
Jarod turned and gave Parker the coldest look ever. "She must be mistaken, sweetheart, I've never seen her before in my life. Come on, let's go. It's cold out here."
She couldn't stop the tears which fell down from her face. "I'm your sweetheart, Jarod. Not her. Me. Aren't I?"
Sadly, Miss Parker packed her bags and decided to leave the next morning. She couldn't get that picture out of her mind, with the two of them together, walking hand in hand. She buried her face into the pillow and screamed, then cried all night long.
She glanced at her clock, 3:00a.m. As if on cue, her cell phone rang. Jumping quickly, she grabbed it. This time she answered it properly.
"Hello?"
He could tell from her voice she had been crying.
"Hello, Parker," a sad voice came from the other end of the line.
"Jarod." It was all she could say.
"She' dying, Parker. Zoe's dying."
"What?" This time her "what" was spoken in a soft tone.
"She wanted to come here one last time before I take her home to her grandmother. She had fond memories of when she was a little girl here."
"I'm so sorry, Jarod. I wouldn't have guessed. She looks fine."
"On the outside. She has three to six weeks. So, why are you here?"
"Needed to get away from everything and everyone."
"And you find me here. Sorry to have disappointed you."
"You didn't even wish Sydney happy holidays. You disappeared completely."
"Yes, that was the idea. Tell him I'm sorry. Sorry for everything."
"You could call him, you know."
"It's best to cut ties from everything to do with The Centre."
"And me?" She asked, her voice cracked.
"Yes, especially you. I wasn't going to contact you anymore, but...here you are in the same town, face to face."
"And now?" She could feel her heart break into tiny pieces.
"Hey, look, I just called to say goodbye. Nothing more. So, this is it. Goodbye, Miss Parker."
Before she could say anything else, Parker heard a soft click.
Tears rolled down her face, for Miss Parker knew for sure that this was the final end of her life with Jarod.
TBC - Chapter2