One Day Soon (One Day Soon, #1)
A. Meredith Walters
He found me in blood and tears.
I stayed with him through darkness and fire.
We loved each other in the moment between innocence and bitter truth.
We were the kids easily ignored, who grew into adults we hardly knew.
We weren’t meant to last forever. And we didn’t.
He ran away.
I tried to move on.
Yet I never stopped thinking about the boy who had fought to keep me alive in a world that would have swallowed me whole. He was the past that I buried, but never forgot.
Until the day I found him again, years after believing I had lost him forever.
And in cold, resentful eyes, I saw the heart of the man who had been everything when I had nothing at all. So I vowed to hold onto the second chance that was stolen from the children we had been.
Sometimes fate is ugly. Life can be twisted.
And who we are can be ruined by who we once were.
For two people who had survived so much, we would have to learn how to hold on before we were forced to let go.
This is for those who are lost…
your one day soon will come.
And to Matt-
I wish we had more time for movies.
Fifteen years ago
Thunder crashed overhead and I huddled underneath the bridge, wanting the rain to stop.
But it never stopped. It was wet, dreary, and miserable with no end in sight.
I was cold.
A deep in my bones, never get warm cold. I wrapped the frayed edges of my coat around my too thin body. My dark hair hung down my back.
No one would glance at me twice. I kept my chin tucked into my chest, careful not to look at anyone.
Life had taught me hard lessons. Don’t give away what you can’t afford to lose. A smile. A glance. Your tears.
Your soul.
Things had been different the day I had met him.
He looked at me and I was trapped.
It was too late. He held me prisoner with his green eyes and soft smile meant only for me.
He sucked me dry and laid my heart to waste.
I wanted to run, run, run.
Far and fast so no one could find me.
He said we could run together. He smothered me with promises that he meant to keep. I trusted his intentions.
Last night when our skin was bare and we were open wide, he gave me everything. I didn’t think about what he did with others when the lights were out. In back alleys and seedy motel rooms.
When his hand found mine in the dark, he was mine.
I was his.
We were going to run, run, run.
I’ll be there, Imi. Wait for me.
The harsh light of day was different. I couldn’t ignore the things I didn’t want to see.
I should run. Run. Run.
But I couldn’t. He held me captive with his aching, painful love.
So I waited. And I waited. Lost and alone. Waiting to be found.
Until the sun slipped away and my clothes had dried.
Into the night I stayed, hoping. Hoping.
My heart turned to stone and I knew.
I would never see him again.
Present Day
I had thought myself content with my unassuming existence.
I had spent the last fifteen years force-feeding myself lies that made the endless days more palatable. Reality was easier to face when it was painted with dishonest fantasy.
I was content. Not happy. There was a distinct difference between the two.
It started like the worst kind of day.
Because I was late.
Very late.
And I was never late.
I was the kind of woman who made it a point to be thirty minutes early for everything. Doctors’ appointments. Dinner dates. Root canals.
Not that morning.
The universe seemed to be working against me. Everything that could have gone wrong, did. My alarm didn’t go off. I ran out of shampoo. My car wouldn’t start.
Bad days began with bad mornings and it seemed this one was no exception.
“Im! There you are!” Bright red dye job. Too much lipstick. A smile that stretched and strained uncomfortably. Tess Finley click clacked down the hallway, hands flapping and shirt slipping dangerously low on her chest.
I wiped at the brand new coffee stain on the front of my shirt, feeling self-conscious. “Hey there, Tess. You’re looking decidedly frantic this morning,” I said, pulling my purse up on my shoulder and heading towards my office.
“Jason wants those reports that you promised him last week. He’s been hounding me already,” my co-worker huffed, her short legs struggling to keep up with my longer strides.
I fumbled through my purse, trying to find my keys. Breath mints. Check. Band-aids. Check. Two-week-old power bar. Check. I found my keys buried under a mountain of gum wrappers and napkins from the hospital cafeteria.