The air whooshed out of her as if she had been dealt a swift sucker punch to the stomach. She was so sure it had been him, she had desperately needed it to be him. However, it wouldn't have been the first time that she was wrong.
Maybe she just needed an excuse to run away from the only chance at a normal life. Least that is what her mother would later tell her.
There had been no signature on the card. She had once again jumped to conclusions and its painful reminder was the slow squeezing of her heart, as the acrid smoke from her extinguished flame of hope wound its way through her body.
Spots danced before her eyes, she tried to regain her balance and focus but failed, tears blocking her sight-line to a clear getaway.
He tried to reach for her. She jerked away, stumbling back out the door, struggling to understand what had just happened.
He called her name. Softly, but the roaring of blood in her ears blocked out the sound. She didn't care, she needed to breathe, for the second time today she felt suffocated and blind. Stumbling around like a new-born animal.
Strong hands grabbed her shoulders and sat her down. The swift movement causing her veil to fall down over her face.
In a fit of rage, she grabbed at it. Ripping it out with pieces of her air and throwing it on the ground. She wanted to scream and yell and rage, but nothing passed her lips. They felt dry and cracked, as if they hadn't been used in years.
There were five of them standing around her. She laughed bitterly. If only there had been two more then she could be the broken Snow White.
Lester sat down next to her, running his fingers over her head and through her hair, soothing her burning scalp from the tearing of the veil. There were murmurs and harsh words passed, but she didn't hear any of it. She was lost, more so then she ever had been in her life, and now this time, there was no one there to save her, or to pick her up.
He never came, he never came she kept muttering to herself, like a mantra as she rocked back and forth. The Haywood building no longer felt safe and homey, it had now become another dead end of Trenton.
He should have, someone mentioned, swearing. She thought it was Tank and he swiftly stood up from kneeling in-front of her and strode towards the office door and the man sitting at the desk staring into nothing.
Everyone leaned over to see what was happening, but their curiosity was answered by the slamming of the cold grey door, and the gust of wind in their faces.
There was silence, a painful silence followed by a loud thud. She couldn't place the sound.
More muttering happened around her and she tried hard to zone in on what was being said. All she could catch was the tail end of a sentence and something that sounded like he deserved it.
She shook her head to clear her thoughts. She defended that she needed time to herself, to think and in some form to grieve. It had been a long day, they all knew it, so they conceded to her desire to leave, not before insisting that she take a different car.
She knew why. They wanted to know where she was going. For now, she was okay with it. It was like a ghost embrace surrounding her in the form of GPS. Least someone cared.
The truck was black, not only appropriate for the employees at Haywood, but for her, and her mood. It smelled like cleaner, a kind break for her senses from the strong scent of cologne that wafted over from the low, sleek car next to her.
The one that never moved, and never came.
The drive was short, or so she thought. Her mind was swirling in thoughts, drifting in exponential tangents and wavelengths. She wasn't sure where she was going, and after the events of the day, she couldn't honestly say that it applied to her direction in life as well.
The beach beckoned. It was beautiful, pristine and white. Unlike the remainder of her dress. The sea called out to her, professing its love. It would always be there. She smiled, drawn into the motions of the waves like a moth to a flame.
She had already been burnt.
The truck stopped as the water reached the middle of the doors. The water lapping at her legs, cleansing her body and soothing her emotional burns.
She smiled, closed her eyes and let go of the wheel. Bliss eventually took over.