Mallory's Melody

Chapter 46

FOR SOMEONE DIANA LOVED, she hated him with her every being. It was a belief she'd held all her life, that love and hate were polar opposites, that they could not reside in the same place. You could not love and hate the same person. But now, watching Jason Trevor walk away from her, she saw that she'd been lied to all her life. She loved him, as one would love a person who had been by their side through thick and thin, but she hated him too, for not being that person at this moment. For choosing the selfish route, the safe path. He wasn't going to participate in the game. He would not help her save Mallory from Starlight Academy.

"I've lived for people all my life," he'd said when they were still at Paradise Hotel. "I want to help Mallory. I really do. But right now, I think it's best I focus on myself. I've been through hell, Diana. I mean, my whole life has been hell, and I'm not willing to go through that again. I just got out."

Even though she saw the logic in what he was saying, she still couldn't see him as anything but selfish. He kissed her cheek and uttered words she couldn't recall, but that had the overtone of finality, of goodbye. She'd been too dumfounded to return the goodbye, more so by his sudden change of character than by the suddenness of his goodbye. He was a transformed person in her eyes, selfish independence radiating from him, strong, masculine conviction swirling in his irises. He walked away from her, with a brazenness that both alarmed and thrilled her. Four years of knowing and loving someone could mean nothing when it all came down to the moment when you would never see them again.

She would never see Jason Trevor again, and that realization choked her mercilessly, made hot tears spill from her eyes. It filled her mind with memories of the times when they were together, happy, in love, invincible. Flashes of memories she knew she should, but just couldn't bring herself to discard. She felt remorseful for the times she wasted hating him, supposedly hating though. She'd never truly hated him. Not once. That was just a lie she told herself, to quell the pain she'd felt ever since Jason began to fancy Mallory. But the truth was clear.

She loved Jason Trevor like hell.

And now that he'd left, she did not think she would ever know what happiness felt like again.

"Diana?"

She rose her head from the dashboard of her car and wiped her tears. Someone was knocking on her window. When she saw it was Cole Trent, she rolled down her window. He was hardly recognizable, looked more like a ghost than an actual human being. The last time she'd seen him, he'd been a healthy-looking and clean-shaven man, a total contradiction to how sickly he looked now. His once hairy head was now nothing but a clean slate that reflected the rays of the sun. He appeared emaciated, clothes saggy, and cheekbones protruding out of his face with a starkness that screamed ill-health.

She forced a smile. "Mr. Trent! What a surprise to see you here."

He smiled back at her weakly. He looked behind his shoulder every five seconds or so, as though he was looking for someone.

"Any chance you might've seen Mallory around here?" He asked, scratching his bald head, his face mirroring the unease she'd been feeling for the past hour. She had become so absorbed in the grief she felt over Jason's departure that she forgot her sole reason for coming here. To save Mallory from herself, a noble act that made her retch whenever she thought of it.

"No," Diana said, smiling. Perhaps the smile would send the signal to Cole that everything was fine, even when she knew well enough that it wasn't. But she didn't want to add more to the man's burdens. "But I have an idea where she might be. We could search together"

Cole breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, good. Finally. I've been looking everywhere for her. I'm kind of worried. She never misses curfew."

Diana got down from her jeep. "I'm sure she's alright, sir."

"I doubt," he said. "I really doubt."