His hands thrust in his pockets, he paced the room anxiously. He’d spent the day silently brooding. He was almost certain there was something he was forgetting. He couldn’t afford to be careless, not this time. Not when he was so close.
Sitting down on the hard sofa, he went over his mental checklist for what seemed like the millionth time the past hour. He’d taken care of everything but still he couldn’t help but feel uncertain. There was an apartment waiting for him upon arrival and he’d even spoken to an old friend and secured a job working at the local bank. The position was certainly below his standards, but just what he needed. No one would suspect a thing.
The only thing left to do now was pack. Giving the apartment a quick once over he decided it would take two hours at most to pack all his things. He barely had anything worth taking with him. He figured whatever he didn’t want he would simply leave behind.
Glancing down at his watch he decided to start packing. He had plenty of time before his scheduled departure, but he wanted to be prepared. He wanted to leave unnoticed.
Pausing for a moment, he wondered who, if anyone would notice his absence. He couldn’t think of a single person. Not that it really mattered to him. Not having any friends or family around simply meant that he had more time to focus on what was important to him. He didn’t have to answer to anyone. He was in charge of everything and he loved it.
Slowly he stood up and stretched slightly before making his way over to his desk. Carefully he bent down and slowly opened the drawer. Gingerly, he retrieved his precious album, closing the drawer softly. He smiled wistfully at the sight of it as he fingered its leather cover remorsefully. Without forewarning, he felt a surge of bitterness. The bitterness quickly turned to anger as he clutched the album tightly and set off in search of some newspaper to wrap it in.
Nick stretched languorously, thankful that it was the weekend and he didn’t have to go to work. The weekends were his only chance to kick back and relax. They were a welcome respite from the hectic schedule at work.
Typically he would head over to the club on Friday night and wake up Saturday morning beneath the comfortable sheets of a pretty girl that he had met there. The rest of the weekend was usually spent relaxing. Sometimes he drove out to New Jersey to meet up with his old friends or even went to the gym, nothing special. As for friends in New York however, between work and frequenting the club he had barely had the chance to get to know anyone. It didn’t bother him in the least though. He didn’t want to have any friends. He’d had many friends in the past but quickly realized just how fickle many of them were. A few good friends were all he needed.
As he gazed around the apartment, he oddly felt a sense of unfamiliarity. It was a completely new feeling for him waking up on a Saturday morning, alone and in his own bed. Suddenly, an unsettling feeling washed over him and he quickly he shook his head attempting to rid it from his body. It was a feeling that he had promised he wouldn’t allow himself to feel ever again. A feeling that brought back so many memories of a time not to long ago when he had been absolutely miserable. It was a time that still continued to haunt him no matter how desperately he tried to banish it from his memory.
As he stood gazing around his stylishly furnished apartment, he felt his mind uncontrollably drifting back to the past. The past was a time filled with happiness, love, excitement and even passion. All the things that his life now lacked. Everything had been so different back then but it had all changed and she was the only one to blame for it. In one devastating moment, Nick had gone from leading a life of blissful perfection to one of utter misery.
For years she had been his entire life. She had been the very air that he breathed, the one person who made him feel complete. With her by his side, he was invincible. She was exquisitely perfect and everything he had ever dreamed of which is why he had asked her to marry him.
They had been so incredibly happy with one another, until she left.
An expression of hurt flitted across Nick’s face as the painful memory of the night he had come home to an empty house flashed vividly through his mind. He had known something was wrong the moment he arrived home for she was almost always there to greet him at the door with a smile when he arrived. He remembered walking towards the kitchen slowly, a foreboding sense of loneliness taking over his body.
It was on the kitchen table that he had found the ring lying unsuspectingly with a note attached. For an hour he had stood frozen, unable to bring himself to read the note. When he finally worked up the courage to read the note, he felt as though the wind had been knocked out of him. He couldn’t breathe. ‘I’m sorry Nick’ it read. There was no explanation, no indication of her whereabouts – nothing except the ring and the note. That was the day his life had changed and from then on he had never been the same.
His mother had warned him so many times that he would end up getting hurt, but he had been too blind to see it. She was his everything, it was as simple as that. He lay awake nights staring at her as she slept and thinking of the future they would share together. In the end, they had had a big fight and for months there had been a lot of tension between the two of them. Nick’s refusal to speak to her had led to a falling out between the two of them.
For almost a week the note and ring had remained untouched as he moped around the house. He had taken to drinking for a while and ended up trashing the place in the process. Nick cringed as he remembered that in his drunken stupor he had foolishly hurled both the ring and note into the fireplace along with pictures and anything else that even remotely reminded him of her. It was only when he sobered up the next day that he truly realized what he had done. Those things had been all that he had left of her – she’d taken everything else.
After a few more weeks of wallowing, Nick had finally given into his parents insistent pleas and moved out to New York. They were positive that it was the only to make a clean break. Much as he hated the thought of leaving New Jersey he had agreed, simply because he knew it was the only way for him to keep his sanity. She was everywhere. Even though she was gone, he could feel her presence in the apartment. There was the kitchen where she’d spent countless hours making him romantic dinners, the sofa where they cuddled as they watched movies together, the backyard where they would spent endless hours during the summer just talking and their bed where they had slept holding each other close.
Sitting down on the bed a wistful sigh escaped his lips. Clasping his hands beneath his head he slowly reclined against his pillow. Suddenly his thoughts shifted and he began thinking of last night. He couldn’t explain it then or now, but for some reason he had been inexplicably drawn to Jessica. When he followed her outside it was as though he was guided by some unseen force. He smiled as he remembered her nervousness and the look upon her face as he handed her his business card.
She wasn’t going to call – he knew it.
Jessica sat on her bed, her legs loosely crossed and her hair tied messily in a bun. She bit her lip in concentration as her fingers moved deftly about the page. Silence filled the air save for the faint sound of her pencil strokes. After a few minutes, she sat back eyeing her work critically.
She had risen early in the morning and unable to sleep had grabbed her sketchbook. For the past two hours she had been deep in concentration as she worked carefully. Jessica loved to draw. Although she was modest, she was well aware that she was an amazingly talented. Even as a child she had always found a way to channel her energy into something creative.
When she had left North Hempstead, the first thing she had done was pack was her collection of her various sketchbooks. Each one was like a journal – it told a story. Each drawing was a reflection of her personality. Whether she was feeling happy or sad at the moment, it was obvious in her work. Drawing was her solace. It was her distraction from the real world.
After a few more minutes of touch-ups she closed the sketchbook, satisfied with her work. She turned to place it on her night table but instead noticed the crumpled piece of paper lying there. Last night when she had arrived home from the club she had been so exhausted she had quickly changed letting her clothes fall into a messy heap on her floor. In the process his business card had fallen out of her jacket and she had hastily placed it on the night table planning to throw it out in the morning.
She picked up the crumpled card eyeing it suspiciously. She spied the nearby garbage can and was prepared to throw it in but for some reason she strangely changed her mind. A sigh escaped her lips and quickly she shoved it into the top drawer of her night table. Even though she knew she was never going to call, something told her not to throw it out.