HIM

5. Park

CALEB'S P.O.V

I only ever run when I'm frustrated, and right now, though I don't know why, though I have a pretty good guess, I'm fuming.

My legs burn as I take long strides, running through the walkways in Central Park. Music blasts in my ears and sweat is pouring down my face, but I won't stop until I've cooled down.

EVERYBODY WANNA STEAL MY GIRL!
EVERYBODY WANNA TAKE HER HEART AWAY
COUPLE BILLION IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD

FIND ANOTHER ONE 'CAUSE SHE BELONGS TO ME

No, I don't normally listen to one direction if that's something you're wondering about right now. Enny put this song on my phone last year, and I never deleted it. Frankly, I don't mind this one. It's got a nice melody. It feels like no matter where I go, Enny is always there. She's on my phone, in my house, everywhere.

As I run, I think back to the first time we met.

"Go away!" this little girl shrieked in my ear after I had taken a black crayon to her beautiful drawing of a butterfly. She shoved at my shoulder with brute force. "You just ruined my drawing!"

I smiled, proud of my work, but when I looked over at her, I wasn't so proud anymore. She looked furious. Normally, the kids I would do this to would just cry, but not this girl. I could almost see the steam coming out of her ears, and I was scared.

"Do you know how long I drew that?" She poked her small finger against my chest, a strand of her long, dark brown hair falling down to her face. She reached up and tucked it behind her ear. I shook my head and scooted my small plastic chair away from her. "A whole hour! That's a whole hour I didn't get to play! Do you know the kind of stuff I could have done with an hour?" She groaned. "I hate you!"

She now had her arms crossed over her chest, and her bottom lip was puffing out. I didn't know what to do at this point, so I calmly collected my crayons and stood up.

"Wait, where are you goin', Caleb?" She asked me, staring up at me with big brown eyes. So she knew my name?

"Um - to play with the trucks." I pointed to my group of friends who were seated on the carpeted floor pushing around metal trucks.

"Nuh-uh. You're gonna help me draw another butterfly. No black either."

"But-" she firmly tugged on my arm, and I fell back into my chair beside her with a thud.

I drew the entire butterfly as she watched with a smirk on her face.

I stop running and slow down to a walk. My breathing is ragged as I try to catch my breath. I slide my earbuds out of my ears and let them hang on my neck, the music still audible from the high volume that I'd been playing it on. I look at my watch.

11:17 am

I've been running for almost 2 hours now, and I'm exhausted...and so dang hungry. I glance across the street at Enny's favorite bakery, which is right next to my favorite burger place. I'm torn between getting Enny something and getting myself something. It's a lot of work and a lot of waiting to go to both. I decide to go to the bakery and just get myself some sort of sandwich or something from there.

***

"Hey, Enny! I bought you some stuff from the bakery!" I say, as I step into the apartment and kick off my sneakers by the door. I hear the sound of her footsteps coming down the stairs. Enny's head peeks around the corner and she looks down at the bag in my hand. I see her eyes light up and a childish grin spreads across her face. She lunges for the food, but I hold it high above my head so that she can't reach it. "Not yet, young one."

"Um, excuse me?" She says following me to the living room, still grabbing at the bag, but I've got a good foot or so on her. My arms are pretty long. "I am older than you."

"In your dreams," I reply.

"Well, I'm mentally older than you...maybe not physically...but still, hand over the food!"

"Be patient."

"In case you don't know me, first of all, Hi, my name's Enny, and second all I HAVE NO PATIENCE!" She jumps up, her fingers grazing the bag, but not quite getting it. She lets out a frustrated sigh.

I plop myself down on the couch and pat the seat next to me. "Sit."

She does as I say, and I place the bag of food on the table. She reaches out for it, but I grab hold of her small wrists and shake my head. "Not yet."

"Why oh my gosh!" She whines.

"We must get drinks. How does some cherry vodka sound?"

"Dude, it's like 12:00. We already had pizza for breakfast."

"Your point is?"

She sighs. "Okay, but I'm not getting it. That requires me using my muscles."

She pushes on my back and I stand up. I stick my tongue out at her and run to the area in the kitchen where we keep all the alcohol. I grab the cherry vodka and bring it back to the living room where Enny is eyeing the bag of bakery stuff, drool practically running down her chin.

"Okay, now can I eat this delicious food?" She asks when I enter the room.

I nod my head, and she rips open the bag, grabbing her meal which consists of warm French bread and a dip which is oil, Parmesan cheese, and oregano.

I place the bottle between us and grab my ham and cheese sandwich.

I think about what I overheard her talking about on the phone earlier and take a sip from the bottle, feeling it burn my throat as it goes down.

"So I heard you're going on another date next weekend," I say and she drops a piece of her bread in the oil. She quickly picks it up.

"Yeah, we're going swimming. At the beach, I think..." She tells me and I see the corners of her lips lift up at the thought of it. She then looks at me, squinting. "Were you eavesdropping on me?"

"No, you just talk really loud," I tell her, taking another bite of my sandwich. "What about the concert?"

"Don't you worry, I'll make it." She smiles at me with her straight white teeth. She never even had braces as a kid, yet her teeth are as straight as mine. And I suffered with braces and headgear for 4 years.

"You better." I get a text from somebody. I pull my phone out of my pocket and look to see who it is. It's from an unknown number and attached is a picture. I unlock my phone and check to see what the picture is.

It's from inside our company's building, and it's super blurry, but I can just make out the face of Henry...with another girl. Fuck, I need to go on another run.