Stick To the Script // Danny O'Donoghue

Chapter 8-This Night

Danny

This night I dream of Bryna.

We were out one day in Dublin walking arm in arm along the side walk.

It was beautiful outside. The temperature hovered around twenty degrees Celsius, the sun was out, and the sky way bright with big, puffy clouds everywhere.

She had on this gorgeous, blue sundress that brought out the color in her summer sky blue eyes and looked brilliant against her porcelain skin.

She twirled around in it like a princess as I held onto her by the tips of her fingers, her touch so light and taunting.

It had been a few months since she'd gotten mugged on the streets, and she seemed to be doing better.

I could not tell at first that something was wrong. I knew she needed me then, but I couldn't seem to find the time. It took something drastic, like her getting touched all over by some creep for me to realize that her need was urgent.

That night when I walked out telling her I was going to make things better, that night was one of the hardest nights in my life.

I didn't really fix things that night. Instead I sat drinking Jack all alone in the local bar, thinking about how I was gonna make things work. It seemed like every time I picked myself up I got kicked to the dirt.

I came home late that night. She was curled up on the couch with my sweatshirt on. The house was freezing cold, I tried to turn the heat on but it wouldn't cut on. I called the company and of course no one answered.

I searched the cluttered kitchen counter and found the unpaid bill that I had opened a while ago. It was long past due.

I cursed myself for being such a failure as I carefully picked her up and took her to bed, covering her shivering body with all of the blankets we owned.

I crawled into bed with her and hugged her close to my body, rubbing her cold hands between mine until they warmed up.

I heard her stomach growl and I placed my warm hand on her abdomen. I could feel her ribs. I couldn't remember the last time I saw her eat.

Looking at her there, teeth chattering in her sleep, eyes squeezed tightly shut, I started to cry. I had never seen someone so weak. And a all because of me.

I told myself that everything would be okay. We had each other and that's all that mattered, but of course that was all a huge lie.

The next day I took off work and I went straight to Limerick where my parents lived.

They had told me if I ever needed anything to ask them. They were much wealthier then for some reason that was still unknown to me, and were kind enough to share their wealth. But I didn't have the greatest relationship with them at the time, and was not the type to ask for help.

So instead I went to their bank, hacked their account, and did it my way, only taking as much as I needed. They wouldn't miss it.

I felt extremely guilty afterwards, but I couldn't do anything about it. Bryna thought that I just asked my mother for money, and she still did. I just had to keep the two of them from talking at least for a while.

"Danny," she had said, snapping me out of my daydream.

I came to find a woman wearing a pink apron and a hat that looked like an ice cream cone staring at me.

I looked over to Bryna who had a troubled look on her face.

"I'm sorry?" I asked.

"We're ordering ice cream babe." she said. "Tell her what flavor you'd like."