Thirty Minutes to Heartbreak

Chapters 16 - 20

Chapter 16: You Omnipotent Folks

In retrospect, ordering that much ice-cream had been greedy and unladylike. As Para shoveled the sugary confection into her mouth, she squinted at her phone which was constantly ringing. Thornton was calling Pax every few seconds. Impressed and slightly upset by his persistence, she considered increasing her consumption to be the best solution to her conflicted feelings. Para didn’t have to wait for the frozen delicacies to melt, for as soon as the scoops neared her tongue they became liquid. At this rate, she was able to guzzle the dairy products down like a creamy milkshake. Kids sitting nearby glanced at her with a combination of suspicion and jealousy. Para smiled at them smugly. When her watch beeped, she licked her sticky-fingers, and decided to finish the rest of her scoops in solitude.

Balancing shopping bags and frozen goodies in one arm, Para strolled away from the food court and headed towards the women’s restroom. She waited by the sink for all the women to leave before locking the door to ensure her privacy. There were only a few minutes remaining in her union, and she climbed onto the counter housing the sinks and leaned her head against the mirror as she nursed her final ice-cream cone. It was mint-chocolate chip, and she had saved the best for last; Pax loved mint while Amara preferred chocolate.

In her other hand, she received a text message: Pax, please pick up. It’s urgent. She rolled her eyes and muttered, “Urgent, my foot.” But part of her really wanted to pick up the phone. After the memory-inducing kiss, everything she had pushed to the back of her mind was rushing to the forefront with full intensity. Para banged the side of her head against the mirror lightly, causing cracks to run through the entire panel. “Whoops,” she whispered to herself, but she didn’t move from the spot where she sat.

Para’s eyes darted to the west. Mara, can you feel him flying around searching for me? He just left your house and now he’s at my condo. I haven’t been to my condo in ages—not since the incident. He paid for half of it, you know. Maybe I should speak to him. Maybe once I separate, I will teleport over to Thorn…

Her mind immediately interrupted itself. Wait a moment, Paxie. Need I remind you why we risked everything to join ourselves as one person? For vengeance. He cheated on you.

But he was thinking something about extortion. What if there were circumstances…

You and I both know that Kalgren Tech spares no expense in hiring the best lawyers. People in positions of power are constantly threatened. Come on! How many times have people tried to kidnap me? If it weren’t for your uncle, I’d be in a body bag at the bottom of some river. Thorn has been running the company for long enough to know how to deal with situations like that.

We don’t even know what the whole situation was! Para straightened her posture abruptly as she tried to consider the possibilities. I was a shitty girlfriend, and I didn’t let him explain it to me. I just flew off the handle and went ballistic. I gave him life-threatening injuries and more problems to deal with when he probably needed me for support.

Don’t you dare think like this, Para chastised herself. She wasn’t quite sure which half was speaking, or whether it was the union of her halves speaking. Her mind was a mess of voices. There is no good reason for someone to cheat. No excusable reason.  Thorn is a charmer. He’ll say the right thing and put his hands in the right places, and poof! All is forgiven. Then, one day, another busty redhead walks into his office intending to blackmail him by revealing one of the fifty apocalyptic mistakes he makes in an average day, and instead of calling a lawyer he unzips his pants.

She sighed and let her head drop against the mirror again. The cracks along the glass intensified. “I destroy everything I touch,” Para said as she stared at the splintered glass. Her watch beeped to indicate that there was less than a minute remaining of her union. More than anything, she didn’t want to separate. There was always an awful feeling of withdrawal and loneliness when she was in her original bodies. Para drew her knees up to her chest and hugged them, as though if she tried to hold herself together physically, it would prevent her spirit from ripping in two.