We Were Never Meant to Stay in Pain

4: 4

Riverton's rainy season always came with no warning.

I held my umbrella and stepped through the puddles back to my rented apartment.

The days were calm and quiet.

Before I knew it, it was the start of winter.

That afternoon, the flower shop had few customers.

I sat in the rattan chair, flipping through a gardening magazine.

The wind chime over the door gave a soft jingle.

"Welcome," I said.

I looked up and saw a man in a trench coat standing in the doorway.

It was Elwin Henson, my new neighbor.

He was a surgeon, and now and then he came by to buy a few lisianthus stems.

"It's colder today. I brought you a hot coffee."

He set a steaming latte on the counter, his smile gentle.

"Thank you." I closed the magazine and cupped the paper cup in both hands, feeling the warmth against my palms.

"There's an outdoor movie in the neighborhood tonight. Want to go together?" he said, looking at me.

I hesitated a moment, then nodded.

"Sure."

That evening, Elwin and I sat side by side on a bench in the neighborhood square.

An old film played on the screen.

Elwin was quiet, turning his head now and then to talk over a scene or two with me.

After the movie ended, he walked me back to my building.

"Get some rest. See you tomorrow." He waved and turned, walking into the unit next door.

I watched him go.

Just then a black SUV screeched to a stop at the curb.

The car door was shoved open and Brett Delgado came rushing out.

His eyes were bloodshot.

"Who is he?" He closed the last few steps to me and demanded it through clenched teeth.

I looked at him calmly and didn't step back.

"A friend of mine."

"A friend?" He gave a cold laugh.

"I've only been gone a few months and you've already made a new friend?"

"Sara Simmons, did you forget what you promised me?"

He reached out to grab my shoulder, and I coldly stepped aside.

"Mr. Delgado, please control yourself."

His face went pale, and he stared at me in disbelief.

"What did you call me?"

"Are you out of your mind? I'm your fiancé!"

I sighed and took out that neatly folded declaration-of-death ruling and record cancellation from my bag.

I held it out in front of him.

"In the eyes of the law, my fiancé is already dead."

Brett's gaze landed on the bright red official seal, and his pupils shrank sharply.

He snatched the paper away, his hands trembling uncontrollably.

"You... you canceled my registration?"

His voice was hoarse, barely his own.

"Yes." I looked at him.

"Missing for six years, declared dead by the court. Everything by the book."

"Impossible..." He shook his head desperately and crushed the paper into a ball.

"I'm clearly alive! I saw you just last month!"

"That was you." I said it flatly.

"To me, the Brett Delgado who said he was leaving on a mission six years ago is already dead."

His head snapped up.

"You... you knew all along?"

"Knew what?" I countered. "That you ran off with Elisa Fox? Or that the money from that house went into Elisa's pocket?"

Brett staggered back a step.

"Sara, let me explain..."

He tried to come closer.

"It was a temporary arrangement. I really was only trying to protect her..."

I looked at him.

"Brett Delgado, you really are pitiful."

I left those words behind, turned, and walked into the stairwell without looking at him again.