The Other Side

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Why she was here? Had she caught him peeping in her car and followed him to the park? What did she want? Why did he still think he knew her?

"Hello," Tom said cautiously.

She didn't reply immediately. Instead, she stared him up and down before her lips pursed. "What are you doing here?"

He was sitting on the bench, but that much was obvious, so Tom said, "Watching them play football." He supposed he had been doing that, before his mind had wandered off.

The woman's eyes narrowed. "What?" she asked confusedly. "How did you get here?"

Here? Did she mean the park? "...I walked?"

"You walked-" she stopped disbelievingly. "What do you mean you walked?" she demanded. "Is that supposed to be funny?"

Tom shook his head quickly a few times. He wasn't trying to be funny. He really had walked to the park. He could remember it quite clearly. It hadn't happened very long ago.

"Is this some sort of test?"

A while passed before he realised she was waiting for an answer. Tom shrugged. He didn't know if it was a test. He didn't know what she was talking about either, but he stared at her, much like she stared at him – brashly.

She was quite striking to look at. He had never seen red eyes before, not red like this – fiery and powerful. And oddly, it wasn't a scary look.

He still felt like he knew her. Her face, her body, her everything was so familiar. There was almost a glow about her. He felt this sudden urge to touch, to feel. He shuddered at the thought and looked away. Touching a stranger was worse than watching them whilst they slept.

And then the oddest thing happened.

The woman reached forward and touched him. It was more of a poke really, first on the stomach, then his chest, and then his cheeks, left and right. She then held his right hand, lifted it up and let it go.

Tom let his hand drop before he tucked it away by his side. He slowly shuffled away from her until he came to the end of the bench. He held onto the armrest and worriedly stared back at her as she muttered to herself. He was beginning to think she might be crazy. Sure, he had thought of touching her too, but he hadn't, and that was the big difference.

It was a shame, he thought as he watched her lips move as she continued to mutter to herself. That feeling of familiarity hadn't left him. He still felt like he knew her.

"Oh grow up," the woman said as she noticed he had moved away from her. "This is stupid," she added sullenly before sighing. "Fine, if this is what they want..."

The woman smiled and moved towards him. Tom's first thought was to shift away further, but he was already at the end of the bench. Before the thought of standing up and running away entered his mind, she held her hand out for him to shake.

"Hello," she smiled, "I'm Cindy."

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