Rugged To The Core

Chapter 63

"The day you lose someone isn't the worst – at least you've got something to do – It's all the days they stay dead."

~ Steven Moffat.

Lucky

'I went to bed last night thinking about my past again. My mother isn't getting better and that terrifies me. I laid awake and I wanted to fall apart but I remembered you had dared me to persevere. Now I'm somewhere between looking for strength to do so and asking myself if It'll all be worth it to persevere when the one you love couldn't. Amidst all this, I still dream of soaring. I don't understand it because I'm drowning in despair.

I'm still sorry.

~ Abel, the grumpy gorilla.

Since you've blocked me on every social media platform and didn't reply my last message, I didn't know if you deleted my number so I decided to add my name.'

Leaning against the railing with my arms propped on them, I stared at the words displayed on the screen of my cell-phone cradled in my hands. I read them over and over again, when the light of my phone began to dim, I tapped the screen, still reading.

Abel... What do I do with you now?

Finally, I decided not to reply him though I felt an uncontrollable urge to do the opposite. I pressed the power button at the side of the phone and sighed, transferring the phone to my right hand before shoving it in the back pocket of my jeans trousers.

After reading Abel's first text message, I began to feel my anger slipping away. But I couldn't bring myself to reply though, I didn't know what to say. The inner drama queen in me said it was too soon, his words were still clear in my head. But I did miss him, I missed him a lot. There was no point denying it. He stole several hours of my days and nights.

"Careful!" Someone yelled, it was a masculine voice — a familiar one at that.

"Break anything inside the box, you'll pay. I mean it." He warned. I turned and spotted him.

My mum's shop was in a small shopping plaza in the suburban part of the town. It was a three storey building, there was a small supermarket in it, a pharmacy, a bookshop, a bakery, an electronic store, a decor store, mattress store and my mum's boutique. There were also vacant stores, like the one next to my mother's, located on the third floor.

A man stood before the entrance of store with his back to me. He was busy barking orders at uniformed men carrying boxes into the store. This man was tall, lean and light skinned. He was clad in ankara shorts and a red thumb-hole cuff shirt, his feet were strapped in a pair of versace sandals. I couldn't see the frontal part of his body, but it was his dreads that gave me the instant recognition — well, that and the small inkings creeping up his nape.

Fabian...

Suddenly, as if feeling my gaze on him, he turned around to meet my gaze. He looked deadbeat, there were dark bags under his eyes, his stubble ran all the way from his jaw down his throat.

"Hey..." I breathed out, turning my body to face him.

"Fancy meeting you here..." He threw me a curt nod.