тєars ín тнє raín (wєєknd ғan-ғíc)

町 (The Town)

Amber's P.O.V

I had to go.

I couldn't stay stuck in that room any longer. The clean, white walls mocked my tainted mind. Anytime I closed my eyes, I was reminded of Abel and his adulterous habits. When I managed to fall asleep, I dreamt of Abel. It always started out sweet.

But no matter what I did in my dream, the outcome will always be a nightmare. I would walk in on him and Aiko having sex right on our bed. She would be staring right at me, smiling and moaning purposefully loud. And Abel? He would just act as if I'm not there. I tried to stop him, but I am only pushed away with such a force that felt so real, I had to wake up. I tried to get his attention, call out his name, but he would only look up at me for a second and turn right away. That time, the immense feeling of sadness covered my soul and I woke up out of my sleep bawling. I kept crying and crying, to the point where I had to be sedated.

So I stopped sleeping. I stood up for days at a time. The doctors started to notice and prescribed me sleeping pills to deal with my insomnia. They assumed it was because of the physical pain I might be feeling from the surgeries, but that wasn't the case. It was the mental pain. The emotional pain. No amount of medication can fix that.

I set up a call with someone right before I had surgery on my arm. I knew Abel would go back to the hotel, so I had someone meet him there. I needed a distraction that would keep him away from me long enough. I already knew he would go out to the club and do something involving alcohol and drugs, but I needed something that would further prevent him from turning back to come back to me. I needed something to prolong that. Take his mind off me. So I called up an old acquaintance of mine and asked for a favor.

I felt bad making Abel more paranoid than he already was, but did it really compare to the pain and suffering he bestowed on me? No. Nothing compares to that.

"Amber. You sure you want to do this?"

We're standing up in the hills, looking down at the city lights. One solid tear rolling down the right side of my cheek. I wanted to back out, I wanted to just say "never mind" and sneak back into the hospital room like nothing happened. He made me feel so good, so damn good. I took him in and made him my everything, but unfortunately it was a mistake. A mistake that can never happen again.

"I just feel this is a bit extreme. You can easily not speak to him again. Put a restraining order on him even."

"It won't work."

"And witness protection will?! What about your sister?"

"Listen. I understand your concern, but trust me when I say this is the only way. Val will be fine. Now just do your job. Please." A lump started to form in the bottom of my throat. I was not worried about Valerie at all. If anything, she'll most likely be the first to catch on. I was worried more for Abel.

I looked at my phone one last time. No text from Abel. No text from Valerie. I turned around and looked at Rick. His sunken eyes looked into my raccoon ones.

"Just like we rehearsed Amber."

I slowly nodded. I dropped my phone on the rock nearby, causing it to crack. I walked to the very edge of the cliff, the dirt and pebbles falling below me. It was a good 30 feet down. I could barely see the stunt mattress he had set up for me and the people besides it looked like ants.

I bent over with my hands on my knees, my chest starting to get tight. Then the tears began to fall. Saltwater turning the dry dirt around me into small spots of mud. I heard Rick stepping closer to me.