City Lights

Chapter 23

Days went by in a blur.

Everything was back to the back old routine except that for things between Anna and me.

It was different.
It just was.
It'd been two weeks.

She still hasn't told me what happened that day and I hadn't confessed what I'd done as well.

It was as if we both knew that the other was right, yet we were too proud to admit.

I shrugged and sat back at the old rooftop.

Yes, in this busy rustling city of New York where one couldn't find space plenty enough to be alone, I'd managed to find an abandoned location.

It wasn't as scary as it sounded.
It was actually quite cool.
The view was amazing and everything was serene.

I could think freely whatever I wanted to and that reminded me of my getaway at home.

Home.

Ah, how long has it been since I had one.
My mind started to drift somewhere else and I almost pulled out my cigarette box but then I remembered something and I didn't.

It wasn't much but I had pledged that I would never smoke here.
Nothing special, just that I wanted to remember and forget anything and everything and smoking would be an escape.
I wanted to face my problems like a person should and all these addictions were nothing but a road away from reality and no matter how tempting they were, I couldn't really always depend on them.

This was a reserved place, in a sense that I shall never ruin its purity.

I sighed and looked up.
I was definitely not making any sense.

Since Anna and I had our, what shall I call it? 'Big moment' shall I say? I'd been drifting away, looking to find myself somewhere, where I wouldn't feel as suffocated as I was usually.

She was the only person I'd let myself have the courage to trust again and yet I regretted it now.

It'd been two hours.
Two hours since I left the place.
We'd finally bought a car and Anna said she was okay if I used it tonight.

She'd been partying less, ever since that day and she also seemed a little depressed.

I'm guessing it had to do something with the fact that she was no longer seeing that guy. Either that or it was something Tristan said.

Tristan.

My mind went back to his name.
I was no longer sure what he meant in Anna's life, or in mine.
He was purely a stranger to me yet he'd managed to arise my curiosity.

There was something about him.
Something that made me want to know him.

I sighed and shifted, feeling uncomfortable with the track of thoughts my mind had chosen to follow and picked up my phone from where it rested.

I saw that I had 2 messages and 2 missed calls.
Immediately, I wondered if I had an engagement to attend to, quickly opening the messages to see one from Anna, asking at what time I'll be back and the other from my parents, asking me when I'll be back home.

I decided to ignore the both of them and proceeded to check my call list to see a missed call from the cafe where I worked and the other from an unknown number.

Why would Mrs. Reed call me today?
It was Friday night and I had finished my shifts the entire week.
Not bothering to think much about it, I called her back and relaxed when she said that she'd only called up to inform me that the cafe would be closing down for the next two weeks for construction work.

After making sure that I'd put my phone and my journal back in my bag, I made my way to our car.

I hadn't bothered to know the car's name, model number and as such anything else regarding it, considering I was shit at cars and well, the information wouldn't be mattering to me anyways.

On my way back, I made a quick escape to the the new diner that had opened up recently and picked up some food for me an Anna.

Just because we weren't behaving same as before wouldn't make me stop caring for her.
She was, and still is the only person I could trust, even after what's she's hiding from me.

She'd been less lately and no matter what I try, she never really eats properly.
I'd given her space, time, everything, yet she seemed to be pushing me away.

She was hurting.
I could obviously see that, I just really wished I could help her.

Reaching back and parking outside our main building, I made my way up, now a little less suffocated than before.
I would've let all of it go.
Tristan.
Anna.
My past.
Everything.

If it weren't for the fact that the person who opened the apartment door was not Anna, but Tristan.

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