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“Anna!” I hear him, but I keep running until I’m back along the path and heading into town, taking the fastest route back home. But as I unlock the door, I hear him call. He’s followed, running after me.
He pulls up, huffing and puffing and bending to lean on his thighs to catch his breath. I close the door, not prepared to let him cross the threshold to my space. He’s not welcome there.
“Anna,” he pants. “Come. On.”
“No.”
“Listen. Wouldn’t you want to know? If everything were different, if I could be different, then maybe we could make things work. We could make all those dreams we had a reality.”
I stand there, dumbstruck and lost at his words.
“For a moment, for a split second, I thought we might…” I don’t finish the sentence because it’s a crazy response. How could I even contemplate that? “But now, you have a child.”
“A sister. It’s not the same.”
“You’re right. Perhaps, but she won’t see you as her brother. She’s too young. And what about drugs? Tell me you’re clean.”
“Since the day I met her.”
“So, a few weeks.”
“I have to start somewhere,” he bites back. “You know this. But she’s changed my life.”
I wish I could grow armour around my heart to protect me from Jeremy. I wish I were immune from his pain. “You could do it for her? A child you’d never met, but you couldn’t for me? The person you said you loved more than anything in the world.” My words drip with envy and pain, but I’m done hiding my feelings from him.
The words I want to say freeze as I see Marty walking towards us.
We were going for lunch after my run. I’d forgotten. And I squeeze my eyes shut.
“Everything okay?” he asks as he comes to stand next to me. He puts his hand on my shoulder, and I wait for Jeremy’s response.
It’s not what I expect. He looks at me, then at Marty, and steps away.
“Goodbye, Jeremy.”
“Jeremy? This is Jeremy?” Marty asks.
Jeremy at least has the decency to look a little embarrassed.
“Why are you here? Haven’t you done enough?” Marty steps in front of me as if putting a physical barrier between us.
“It’s okay, Marty.”
“I’m sorry. I am. I only wanted to talk with Anna.”
“She doesn’t want to hear anything you have to say.” But as Marty says the words, I know they aren’t true.
“I told you I couldn’t be with you until I had my own life sorted. That you deserved better than what I was. Well, that’s changed now.”
“Shut the fuck up, man. Don’t.”
“Marty.” I pull back his shoulder.
“Don’t you dare defend him, Anna. Not after what he’s done to you.” He steps forward, forcing distance between me and Jeremy.
“Hey.” Jeremy puts his hands up and backs away from Marty. “Anna, I mean it. I meant everything I wrote in that letter. Through everything, I’ve never stopped loving you. That’s been my one constant, and that hasn’t changed. Even with Sophie.”
“Jeremy, I think you should leave,” I suggest, knowing this isn’t going to end well.
