The Unsaved

Chapter 3

I did, however awaken from that deep sleep. Today, though, was a new day and I was determined to live it to the fullest.

I stretched and looked over at Dillan. He wasn't there.

I got up and exited the blanket fort. Sure enough, Dillan had found a way to entertain himself. He was using the aluminum foil and making little figures that vaguely resembled animals. I walked over to get a closer look at them and to try to contain the mess as best I could; when Dillan gets an idea, he goes all out.

"Hey there, pickle. What are you making?"

Dillan gave me a confused look. I was supposed to know, wasn't it obvious what he was making?

"Are those animals?"

"Yeah, I'm making a zoo that I can sell tickets to."

Now I had the confused look, "Sell tickets to? What for?"

"That way you don't have to worry anymore about money and you can stay home with me all day instead of going to work."

Dillan smiled and continued with his work. My heart ached, he was so kind and caring. He had little clue of the evils in the world and just strived to make everyone happy. Who was I to crush his heart's desire?

I let him continue on with his work while I got dressed for work. I work at a small diner down the street from our house. It's classier than most diners but still not the best job in the world. It pays enough, and that is all I need.

I walked into the bathroom to do my hair, as I was rounding the corner I stubbed my toe. I exclaimed very loudly. Right at the same moment, the the small shelves in the bathroom fell over and everything was spread across the floor. That was odd, but I was glad that I had started getting ready early so I would have time to clean the mess.

I finished getting ready, said goodbye and gave some instructions to Dillan and the part-time nanny, and then grabbed a cinnamon sugar bagel and headed out.

I rode my bike to work, today was the perfect day. There were a couple white fluffy clouds in the sky and there was a soft breeze blowing, cooling it off and making this summer day the perfect temperature.

Stopped at one of the lights, I looked over and saw Annabella across the street. I wave my arms and tried to get her attention but she was moving quickly and with a purpose it seemed, so she didn't see me.

It was weird, but I have never really noticed how graceful she was. She wasn't very tall but she walked straight up, her long straight blonde hair flowing behind her in the breeze, and when she walked it was almost as if she didn't touch the ground but hovered over it.

I looked up and realized that the light had been green for a while now. I started quickly walking my bike across the street. A car was coming quickly around the corner and I panicked, it stopped dead in its tracks. I waved and continued on, heart racing like NASCAR.

Today was a busy day at work. Everyone seemed to want coffee and sandwiches. We looked like a bunch of little bees, flying around in our yellow uniforms, bumping into one another, and working like crazy to deliver all of these orders.

"Man what a crazy night, huh?"

I turned around to see Jacob, one of the guys who works in the kitchen making the food. He has never spoken to me before, so I was a bit surprised.

"Haha yeah, I nearly twisted my ankle several times rounding that corner just outside of the kitchen. Despite the rush, we did keep up pretty well tonight."

"But you are always good at that, I'm not sure how well we did back here..." He smiled, a crooked grin that showed off his perfect white teeth.

We continued talking while cleaning after the diner had closed. He was an interesting character with a great sense of humor. It was also nice to have him around because he is tall and was able to reach a lot of things for me without having to get out the ladder.

We were having an interesting conversation on how and what makes different phenomenons work.

"Sucking out of a straw doesn't make sense to me. Because when you are breathing, your lungs expand to make a vacuum that draws in the air. But how does that work with drinking through a straw or slurping soup? Nothing is expanding."

"That's an interesting one..." He scratched his chin, "I think it is probably your mouth expanding to draw in the liquid."

"But that doesn't make sense, can't you drink without expanding your mouth?"

He looked around and grabbed the water he had been drinking and a straw. He attempted to drink without expanding his mouth in order to prove his point, but ended up tipping the cup on accident and spilling the water all over himself! We both busted out laughing.

You know when you have that feeling, like someone is watching you? I got that feeling just then. I turned towards the dining area, where the feeling was coming from, a big sloppy grin still on my face from laughing.

There. In the middle of all the tables, stood Bryson. He had a blue rose in his hands and a hurt look on his face.

"Bryson, what are you doing here?"

"I came to surprise you with a rose and apologize for the other night. I picked blue because it matched your eyes. But I guess you are busy..."

That hurt look quickly turned to anger as he looked down at the rose he was spinning in his right hand.

"Bryson, that's not what this is, that's not what's happening!"

"I know exactly what is happening. I should have expected this, what else should I expect?"

Bryson walked angrily outside and waited as I finished cleaning, working in silence. I vigorously cleaned tables, making them shine and ridding them of every last crumb. I was afraid to talk to anyone and possibly make the situation worse.

When the dining area was sterile as a hospital, I walked outside into the warm, humid, Florida night air. Bryson was leaning against the wall, on the ground was the rose. It was in a million pieces and looked as if it had been stomped all over. I had made him mad and this was not going to end well.

"Bryson, are you okay?"

"Okay? What do you think? After witnessing that, do you think I would be okay?!"

"It wasn't anything, we were just talking while we cleaned. Nothing was going on between us, it's the first time I've ever spoken to him!"

He grabbed my shoulders tightly and looked straight into my eyes with his that were filled with fury and rage.

"I have loved you since the beginning and I still do, I haven't been unfaithful and you don't see me talking to other girls! I wanted to do something nice and surprise you, but this is what I'm thanked with!" He began violently shaking me, and raging tears started streaming from his eyes. "Why would you do this to me?! What makes that guy better than me?! All I wanted was to surprise you and have a nice night without arguing for once!"

His hands grew tighter and his fingernails began digging into my arm. My face was puffy and red, my eyes were a waterfall of unending tears.

"Bryson! You're hurting me! I'm sorry! Please stop! I'm sorry!"

Bryson threw me aggressively to the ground. He called me multiple, unmentionable names and he cursed me.

"I thought you loved me! Do you even understand what you've done to me?!"

With every horrible accusation that came from his lips, he delivered a blow to my back or side as if I were his punching bag. He accused me of talking to every guy I came across and of being unfaithful to him and lying.

Then, he gave me one final kick in the ribs. He stormed off to his truck and drove away. I had no air, I couldn't breathe. I felt like the rose, torn into a million pieces and stomped into the ground. I was left to be blown away in the wind or trampled on by others. My beauty was stripped from me and I was useless.