With a Pull of a Trigger

Chapter Twenty-Five

She felt utterly confused.

Catherine breathed in deeply as she put her copy of Pride and Prejudice on her lap, the pages yellow from time, the spine flexible from use.

It was a gift from Gil when she had her birthday from a time when they were still together with no lies separating them from each other. Gil had said that he gave her the book because the story of Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth was so similar from how the two of them met. Catherine had smiled, and the book had been read again and again, each time with a smile on her face from the memories the book released into her mind.

That day though, Catherine sat on a bench with a head full of questions, a cup full of cold coffee, and a book full of memories she didn’t want to remember.

It was all so utterly confusing.

Catherine’s eyebrows rose when she felt something broad and wet on her leg. A quick look down revealed that it was a dog—a Golden Retriever—licking her leg with a broad, pink tongue. Catherine felt the edges of her lips turn upward, and she put her hand on the dog’s head, rubbing the soft, golden fur.

“Sorry!”

Catherine looked up and saw a man with jet black hair and enchanting blue eyes. He had tanned, golden skin, ruby red lips, a beautiful bone structure what with the strong jaw and the beautiful physique the man had. He had broad shoulders and muscles that belonged on models.

The man looked like Adonis.

The man clipped the other end of the leash to the dog’s collar, and Catherine smiled, still scratching the top of the dog’s head. “It’s quite alright.”

Catherine looked at the man’s sweaty face. “Jogging?”

The man grinned. “Yeah, until this guy got out of hand and managed to escape the leash,” he said, motioning to the boy smelling around Catherine’s feet.

Catherine smiled at the dog. “Well at least he isn’t violent.”

The man nodded. “Buddy’s trained.”

Catherine raised an eyebrow. “Your dog’s name is Buddy?”

The man smiled. “Yeah. I took his name from Buddy Holly.”

Catherine smiled, shaking her head fondly. “That must be nice.” Catherine held out her hand. “I’m Catherine Aspen.”

Taking her offered hand, the man shook it and said, “Eric Devlin.”

Catherine looked at her wristwatch and sighed. “I have to go. See you soon?”

Eric smiled. “Of course.”

Catherine smiled and stood up, walking away.

The highway was pitch-black, the only light coming from the car she was driving. It was raining hard, the drops falling down from the dark, stormy sky, the loud sounds of it falling on her car deafening in the silence that enveloped her.

Reini had nothing to occupy her but worrying thoughts and the deafening sound of a storm brewing outside the safety of her car. She knew she had to stop for a while, that the storm might be the end of her, but she found that she couldn’t, and she knew that deep inside, she wouldn’t. There was a part of her that desperately wanted her to end it all, to end herself, but she knew that she couldn’t do that.

Pain was never something she intended to cause those she loved to feel.

Her cheeks were wet with tears, and her knuckles were white from the death grip she had on the steering wheel.

What would it be like if her car skidded on the road? If she died because of reckless driving in the rain?

What would it be like if she ended everything with just a simple, hard press of the acceleration pedal?

She stepped down on the pedal, feeling the car roar to life, the car moving faster than it was. Tears blurred her brown eyes, her heart pounding in her chest as she relished in the momentary feeling of freedom from the weight of responsibility she felt.

Reinid took a deep breath and stepped on the brakes, her eyes widening and her heart pounding louder when her car didn’t stop.

Everything came to her in flashes.

The car skidded on the road, the wheels unable to stop on the slippery road as her feet tried to step down once more on the brakes. Her knuckles became deathly white with the force she had while gripping the steering wheel. The world seemed to spin as Reini closed her eyes and thanked the gods that she had her seatbelt on. Spinning around on the slippery road, the car was uncontrollable, and all Reini could do was lean back on her seat and close her eyes, hoping for the end to come, one way or another.

And then, the world stopped.

The rain falling on her car was far away, like she was hearing it from another place. The car stopped, the world stopped, and it seemed that her heart stopped too. Reini opened her eyes and found her car in the middle of the road with no damages. It was facing the wrong way, and with a deep breath, Reini loosened her grip on the steering wheel, and drove away.

She had to leave. She had to escape.

She had to live.