Crossing Destinies (A Pretender Story) #Wattys2019 #Wattys2021

Chapter III: Crescendo Part 1

Chapter III: Crescendo Part 1

Friday, May 31st, 09.00 a.m.

Erin De Rossi arrived in the hall of her gym with her usual resolute behaviour. Jean Reynolds, her old friend, secretary, and for over one year now her partner in the gym, raised her gaze from the desk and welcomed her with a smile:

"Hi, Erin, how are you this morning?"

"Less good as usual", Erin answered, pulling back a long strand of brown hair from her face, "Tonight I hadn't slept much."

Jean's smile became mischievous:

"Oh? And what's his name, do I know him?"

It was an old joke between them, and Erin made a vague gesture:

"I don't remember, I think it was Tom... or Craig... or was it Larry?"

"If you follow the usual schedule, Mark was on yesterday", Jean grinned. Laughing, Erin headed for her office, where her smile went off at once. Sometimes it was hard for her joking this way, because after the end of her marriage, she hadn't been able to feel anything more than a fleeting interest for a man. Yet there were a good number of hunks in the gym! Moreover, she was a beautiful woman who looked, and felt, easily ten years younger than her real age, and she didn't lack opportunities. But so far, none of those she had gone out could excite even a single hormone in her, so her sexual life in almost two years had reduced to a few kisses that had left her completely indifferent. The only one who had been able to evoke in her a real interest had been Jarod O'Donnell, a handsome as much as mysterious man, but their encounter had been too short and with no consequence. She would have talked about him to Jean, but in the days following her return, they had never had the chance to make a chat in peace.

She shook her head: it was time to get to work.

Two hours later she gave up: there was nothing to do, she was unable to focus. This morning she simply couldn't stop thinking of Jarod. With a sigh, she put away the papers that she was meant to take care of and stood up: if she couldn't work, she might just as well exercise a bit. She changed in her private bathroom, putting on a tight fitness suit in vivid colours, and looked in the mirror: she had never been vain, but in the last few months she had been on a bland diet, which had taken her to the shape she had been fifteen years earlier. She smirked at her reflection: twenty-two pounds [ten kilograms] less were noticeable, of course! Her thinned waist made her breasts look a measure larger, and her legs looked longer. Yes, she was very glad about her appearance... She recalled Jarod's stare when she had showed up in her swimming-suit: what did he tell her, that she looked like a mermaid? No one had ever complimented her this way... Well, her father used to, but he didn't count. And then, she had seen that same stare the day after, when she was wearing the black dress with the spaghetti-strings and the lace jacket. At the end of the evening, Jarod had told her that all the by-standing men had envied him. Again, Erin did not remember somebody ever telling her something like this.

With a sigh, she turned her thoughts off Jarod: she would never see him again, and as regrets are useless, as she had learned in the harshest way, she woke up from her daydream and headed for one of the gym rooms, where in the next couple of hours she devoted herself to aerobic and spinning exercises.

But deep inside her mind, the thought of Jarod was lingering, stubbornly.

Sunday, June 2nd, 05.45 p.m.

Jarod drove the blue Chevrolet Corvette, which he had purchased a few days before, northwards along the state road. He hadn't resisted for a long time in San Francisco: it was a beautiful town, but he didn't like the chaos of a metropolis. So, he had shoved all his belongings once more in his travel bag, hopped into the car and taken the road towards the Napa Valley. He had heard a lot about this place, famous for its vineyards producing renowned wines, and he thought it was peaceful enough for him. Not that he wished to take solace in a little village, where the coming of a stranger is always noticed, because being noticed was exactly the last thing he wanted; but he was looking for a mid-sized town where he could settle down for a while without catching somebody's eye and renew his strength, psychologically even before physically, because his endless run from the Centre had worn him out.