The Unwanted Marriage

Chapter 8

THEA

It was only 6 in the morning when I got ready to go for a run. I didn't exactly remember the last time I went for a run. It had been 12 days since the trip happened and I started to gain weight from eating a lot, it was time for that morning run to burn some calories.

Arthur was still fast asleep beside me. We went out so late last night that we only just had 4 hours of sleep. Well.. I did have only 4 hours of sleep. I couldn't really sleep when all I thought about was how we only had 2 days left before we were leaving back to England.

I was not ready to go back home. I still wanted to be here, with my husband. But we couldn't be here forever. We had responsibilities in England, we had a life there.

I took my phone from the night stand but realized it was out of battery. I didn't recharge it last night when we got back to the hotel. It would be useless to bring it with me anyway so I left it charging instead. Not wanting to wake up Arthur, I quietly left the room and closed the door behind me.

30 minutes of running, I began to run out of breath so I slowed down and walked instead. It was still early so the city was quiet. It was quite chilly this morning but the air was so fresh. When my breath got steady again, I started to jog again until I finally reached to this lake that I hadn't seen before. I took a seat on the nearest bench and let out a sigh.

I didn't know what happened to me, I didn't know why I was upset this morning. My minds were preoccupied with so many things, mainly about my parents. Maybe I had missed them so much.

"Is this seat taken?" Someone asked. A middle-age woman.

I shook my head. "No, it's all yours."

She smiled then sat beside me. I looked at the lake in front of me, not minding her. "You're not from here, aren't you?" She asked again.

I looked at her. "How do you know?"

"I go to this lake every morning, I always see the same people, but not you."

"Yeah, actually this is my first time visiting."

"Where are you from?"

"England. You live here?"

She smiled. "Darling, I have lived here my whole life. I was born here."

"That's nice. It's a beautiful city."

"Indeed it is," she agreed, then rose a hand to me. "I'm Agatha, by the way."

I shook her hand. "Nice to meet you, Agatha. I'm Althea."

Something flickered in her eyes. "Your name is very Greek, are you sure you are not from here?"

I smiled. "Actually, I'm half-Greek. My mother was Greek, married to my dad who was British."

"Ah, that explains thing." she nodded her head as if everything made sense. "So, what are you doing here alone?"

I shrugged. "Just went for a run to clear off my mind."

"Boyfriend stuff?"

I shook my head. "No, it's my parents. They passed away 2 years ago and I seem to not over it yet."

"I'm so sorry for your loss, honey."

"Thanks, I really appreciate that."

We were silent again, but for once I was glad I was not alone. I just wanted someone to be here with me.

"You know.. my husband passed away 15 years ago in this lake," she broke the silence and surprised me. "I was 30 at the time, he was 33. We went on a picnic in this lake, to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary. It was a beautiful day and we had so much fun. We just watched the sky when we heard a little girl screamed for help. Someone was trying to kidnap her and dragged her into the van, my husband saw it and without hesitation, he ran to save the girl. He punched the guy and took the girl immediately as the guy fell to the ground. Then it happened.."