New York, June 1925
Your heart was pounding like drum against your chest with every step that you took, each was one step closer to Credence. It was such a thrill but at the same time, this was petrifying. You had a goal, a sort of a plan that hinged on Credence and his willingness for a brief moment of sincerely hoped that he would.
Once more your feet had led you to Pike street, it had felt like an eternity getting from point a to point b. It was familiar walk that you knew all too well but this time there was more hesitation, more anxiety in your stride. You could feel your nerves starting to rise up from within but you needed to push it right back down.
Your eyes quickly found him standing there on his usual corner, leaflets in one hand as his mother was preaching her false gospel from her spot to his right. You needed to be quick, you needed to go unnoticed like all those times before. You dared to believe that today Mary Lou would not call upon you, asking why you had been drawn to her meeting. You highly doubted that your answer of because of your son, because of darling Credence who your red string had tightly around his finger so many lifetimes ago and wasn't letting go anytime soon.
Your knuckles were slowly turning white as your grip tightened. What lay inside was critical to your current plan, you couldn't loosen your grip on it even for a split second in fear of losing it. Your words were struck in your throat, refusing to budge. This is why you had chosen this particular option.
Internally you were quaking like a leaf caught in a brisk wind on a summers afternoon. One step then another one, your pace remained as strong as you made your way over to him. Your mask was thrown up to keep yourself from showing your obvious nerves in a situation like this one. One that you hadn't had to do in quite some time.
Rarely had you had to be strong one initially, you were not as strong as he had been in the past. This time he needed you to take the reigns, take the first step into a new beginning that would bring great happiness in your lives once more.
With a single blink, you found yourself standing before him. His head still bowed submissively as he held out a new leaflet for you to take but you couldn't help but notice a slight, bright smile spread across his lips. There was warmth that hadn't been there before as the smile reached his eyes. This was your moment,the opening you needed.
You took the leaflet from him, with a smile deeper and wider than his own stretched from ear to ear. You pushed the item in your hand into his own in place of the leaflet that once had been there before leaving him standing there, turning your head and smile back at him once more.
His heart dropped, feeling like a stone as it fell within his chest. She hadn't spoken a single word to him. His grip tightened crushing the leaflets like she had crushed his heart in an instance. His thoughts stopped when he realised that there was something else in his hand. It hadn't been there before, had she slipped to him?
Had she wanted to say something but couldn't find the right words in the moment. Had fear crept into her breath and twisted her tongue up. Credence was scared of what she given to him, what if it was pushing him now that she come to her senses. Fear was wrapping itself around him, black tentacles clawing away at his flesh trying to break through and into his very heart. Just opening his hand to reveal what lay within seemed impossible. It felt like he was trying to pry open a locked chest without its key.
Credence knew he had to do this, his own curiously was getting the better of him briefly overweighting his anxieties, his fears as it pushed him to one side. With one deep breath, his eyes slide shut as his fingers curled out to reveal what lay hidden to the afternoon sun was beat down heavily upon him and all those passing through. He cracked open one eye to gaze down upon to find a piece of paper folded over.
His second eye opened, puzzled at the source of his worry. A small slip of paper had held his heart to ransom. He had come this far, he needed to go further to reveal what was written, addressed to him and for his eyes only. His fingers lightly gripped an edge, unfolding the note pulling it back to reveal three lines of her handwriting. A breathed a sigh of relief, a breath he hadn't known that he was holding back until now.
14:00 July 21st
Cafe Lyon 2nd Street
I'll be waiting for you
Credence would find a way, he'd move heaven and earth to be there. He wouldn't keep you waiting. He needed to know more, he needed more of your smile to brighten up his bleak, dreary days and those vast empty lonely nights.