In Memoriam ✓

Bonus: When Cleo Met Elliot

Cleo

I was living a good life in New York. Ever since Mallory moved in with her boyfriend Reid again, I found myself with a lot of free time. So I walked in the city, sampled the vibrant foods, watched the luridly-colored lights shine on the billboards at Times Square.

One day, I was walking across from my local bakery Sweet Hearts with a box of donuts tucked under my arm. I saw a man walking across the zebra crossing, walking a golden retriever on a lead.

I admired the dog first. Its sweet, wide eyes and golden coat made for a beautiful sight. The rain was soaking it, but the dog's temperament seemed unspoiled.

My eyes slid to its owner, who was good looking to a fault. Due to the rain pouring down on a melancholic New York day, his hair was plastered to his forehead as he talked into his phone. His eyes were gorgeous, his smile equally so. If people took a second to stop and look at him, they would have noticed too.

Then he glanced up from his phone, and his eyes were on mine. I saw his smile falter, and his eyes widened as recognition registered. Then the strangest thing happened. 

He just stopped in the middle of the road. Right there, in front of a flood of traffic. His dog sensed the danger, and broke free of its lead to cross the road. My heart stopped as I heard the screeching of failing brakes ring through the air. I didn't stop to think about what saving him could cost. 

I ran into the road without thinking and took his hand, dragging him back onto the pavement. I fell down, grazing my knee as stars flew by my eyes. I groaned, wondering why I was being so stupid.

The man was still sitting on the pavement, unblinking. He looked like he was going into shock. Eventually, he tried to sit up but I  insistently pushed his shoulders back down. "Sit down! You nearly got hit by a car, and you're already trying to get up?" I scolded him.

My heart raced as I stared wide-eyed at him. It was too close to think about. I kept on imagining Reid in that car, having no idea that the rest of his life was about to change. I felt violently sick every time I remembered Reid's eyes, at the back of my mind.

"I didn't get hit?" my damsel in distress asked, squinting up at me. I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, because he nearly got hit by a car.

"No you didn't, thanks to me risking my neck. You're welcome by the way." I retorted, rolling my eyes.

"But you're back." he said in wonder, craning his neck to look up at me. He didn't look like he was bothered about sitting on the wet pavement.

I frowned, resisting my intense urge to back away. Hell, I would have been running by now, if I would have just listened to my common sense. "Look dude, you're scaring me. What's going on?"

"You look like her." he breathed. His blue eyes were wide and staring at me, eerie but familiar against the grey pattering rain against the sidewalk. "Sadie."

"Who's Sadie?" I asked, wrinkling my nose. The name was pretty, but as far as my memory stretched back to, which was the previous day, there was no Sadie in my inventory.

On hearing this, the boy had the audacity to lie down on the rain-covered sidewalk, laughing bitterly to himself. "Oh, no one. Just my dead ex."

My heart stopped upon hearing that. The last thing I wanted to be was insensitive. "I'm sorry, that sucks. How did she die, if you don't mind me asking?"

He shrugged. "I don't mind talking about her. I lost Sadie before she died, anyway. She wanted to move to England, but my roots are in New York. I can't just abandon it."