Anna
What is he doing here?
And why is he -
Goodness! He's definitely looking suspicious enough for the kind of clothes he's wearing right now.
No wonder that the poor Ella ran like crazy.
"Matt —"
"Anna!"
"Hey! Wait -"
He's hugging me! He just launched himself at me and... He's freaking hugging me!
"Anna..." his voice, no, his tone, no, his smell, no, his...
"Matthew." He's stoned. Or was. Got drunk? Maybe? I'm not even sure.
He lets me go.
"Anna?" a voice suddenly comes behind the door. Ella. My eyes widen automatically. Matthew seems to get what I mean. He steps back.
I cleared my throat.
"Yes?" I ask.
"Oh, Anna! You okay there?" she asks with her obvious panic/nervous voice.
"Didn't I tell you not to leave?"
"Um, er, you did?" she's now trying to sound like she didn't heard what I've told her before, like I haven't told her anything, at all.
"Yes. Now, go back to work. I'll come along. I'll just fix the bags of garbage here that you wasn't able to dump on the right place.
"Oh, yes...about that. But wait - didn't you see anyone? The guy?" of course she'll ask that.
My eyes dart forward to Matthew who's still standing, not moving on the far corner across me.
"Nope. No one's here." I say.
"Oh! That's a relief. Alright! I'll go now. Be back quickly! I don't want Fiona to hit on you again -"
"Don't worry. I won't be long."
When the footsteps of Ella are fading away from us, Matthew sighs. Just then, he takes off his sunglasses and his cap.
Oh no...
"Anna -" Instinctively, I take a step back.
And that makes his gloomy expression much worse.
Wrong move, I think. But - I can't blame myself either. He's looking so...so...stoned? Depressed? Anxious, perhaps? No.
He's looking like someone who's just been sucked the life energy out of him. He looks dry and swollen at the same time. And his eyes...
He looks sad.
"Anna..." Very sad. His tone, his voice that sounds like breaking... Oh gosh, I don't know what to feel and -
"Why?" I ask. A question. A question that I didn't know why I ask. It just comes out of nowhere. I was lost.
And based on his initial reaction to my sudden question, he's also lost.
What happened to him? He looks drunk and wasted. It's not him.
Why? What happened? That's the right question to ask. I should rephrase my question but when I'm about to do that, he already opens his mouth to say something.
"Anna - it's...I'm.. I'm -" and that's it. He breaks down. With his one hand, big enough to cover his face, little sobs escape from his mouth.
Oh dear... I hate to see someone like this...
YOU ARE READING
Heartbeat Song
RomanceI'm Anna Sparks. I've been through many things that an average person could not even imagine, even in her dreams. I had a rough and crazy past during my childhood and adolescent years. And I had run away from them all at once. It's been five long...
