Falling For Seconds

Chapter Nineteen

  I was the only one at the funeral. Not a single person showed up. It was just me and the pastor from Dale's church, whom I had a nice long, awkward chat with. Apparently Dale had only attended once or twice, but thought it best to put it in the will that he wanted Pastor Ken to bury him.
  The whole funeral was short. The day was dreary and unimaginably cold. The funeral home had put up a gazebo over Dale's gravesite, just by chance it snowed, but it did little to counteract the bone chilling wind. I couldn't believe there wasn't a single person who came.
  I held his ashes while the pastor talked about psalms and how Dale was reunited with his wife and so on. It was the scripted mumbo jumbo that every pastor, who had no real clue of who the person who passed was, stated before setting said person to rest.
  Poor Ken only knew about his wife because we had talked a little before that service began.
  On the way home I stopped and bought a coffee. The attorney had called every day since our talk two days ago. Mostly the talks were short and covered only legal jargon, but at the end of every call he would tell me that he had faith in me and that he was praying.
  I felt like for some people that would help ease the heartache of losing a loved one, but to me it was an empty endearment.
  I wasn't still completely sure I could run the bookshop, let alone get it all renovated and put back together. I hadn't touched the manila folder since I had dropped it on my island in my kitchen. It was all still too much to process.
  Out of the corner of my eye, as I walked out of the coffee shop, I noticed a black figure weaving in and out of people across the street from me. The person had a black jacket on with dark jeans and a toboggan pulled over his head. I squinted my eyes and began to wonder what his goal was or if I was just paranoid.
  I took a sip of my coffee as I stopped at an intersection and waited for the 'walk' symbol to appear in green on the pole in front of me. The stranger, I noticed stopped at the crosswalk to my left. Coincidence, that's all, I tried to convince myself but still my heart rate quickened.
  If it was who I thought it was, I knew how it was going to end. It's just coincidence, I repeated. The crosswalk symbol turned green and quickly I turned right and changed my route. This was the only way I would know if he was truly following me. A city block down I made a left and crossed the street. Once on the other side I gazed quickly back over my shoulder.
  He was speed walking down the sidewalk. It's got to be coincidence. It can't be them...
  I turned back and started my walking again. This time weaving up and down city streets, dodging traffic and trying not to get hit. I stopped again when I had reached one of the public transit's stations. I had to get on the train to get home, but I wanted to make sure the stranger wasn't still following me.
  When I assure there wasn't a black coat in sight, I turned and walked towards the train. I fumbled with the transit card in my pocket until finally I had it in my grasp and pulled it from its hiding place.
  A strong tug on my right coat sleeve sent me towards the alley by the train's scanners. My coffee fell to the ground, but no one seemed to care as I drifted further into the darkness.
  Not again! My inner voice screamed.
  My back came in collision with the cold brick building on the left side of the alley. Above me, I could here the transit stopping to pick up its waiting passengers. I looked ahead of me and met a pair of copper eyes under a black ski mask. "Levi?"
  The eyes looked over my face again and again, before directing to something on the ground. I was pinned against the wall or I would've hugged him. Or maybe slapped him. Either worked, or maybe both...
  He was breathing heavy, so heavy in fact it was almost panting. "What is wrong with you?"
  I fought against his grip until he looked up at me again. "What are you doing?" He snapped.
  He hadn't answered my question. "What does it matter what I'm doing? You are the one panting with a ski mask on!"
  His left hand let go of my shoulder to clasp the back of the mask and pull it away from his face. His cheeks were pink from the effort he had been exerting. His hair was wet and matted to his forehead. "That's none of your business. Why were you running?"
  I shook my head while I slapped his hand off my, still trapped, right shoulder. "I'm not playing games anymore, Levi."
  "Neither am I, why were you running?"
  "Why do I always have to answer your questions? Why can't you answer mine first?"
  Levi rolled his eyes and I swore the whole world stopped. His face came within inches of mine and I couldn't help but shiver.
  I never thought I'd see him again, but here he was. "I'm working. Now, why were you running?"
  "I wasn't running. I was speed walking and how did you know that?"
  "That's none of your business right now. Was there someone following you?"
  "Maybe." I state sarcastically.
  Levi took a step back before he threw his right hand into the brick wall behind him. You love this guy?
  "What is it?" I ask taking a step toward him. His jeans were covered in a white powdery substance and his thick sweatshirt was stained heavily with different colors. He held a hand up to cease my advances.
  "Why? Why do you get to leave and then show up unannounced, then keep shutting me out? It's not fair!"
  He flew to me, shoving me back up against the wall, covering my mouth with his hand. The warmth of his body radiated to mine and immediately I felt at home.
  "Do you realize that there are people in this city that want to fucking kill you? What are you thinking walking around all willy nilly like you don't have a huge damn target on your back? This isn't a game, Hadley. Go home and keep your ass there until I call and say otherwise!"
  The only thing that registered was that he was going to call me. My body was longing for him to touch me more. His hand over my mouth sent the wrong signal. I was mad at him, I tried to convince myself. I am not backing down! But my body was acting completely out of line. Slowly, I nodded. "Get home now and don't take any pit stops." Levi commanded.