The Open Road

Chapter 5

Susan

The gasp escaped my throat unwillingly as the shock waves hit me like static on paper. Could it be? Were my eyes playing tricks on me? Had I wished it so bad that I actually deemed it to be true? I glanced at Darren who was still preoccupied with feeding Kim lies about Bob. Sighing out of relief, I composed myself and did what I knew best; acting.

"Oh my is that Jenni? Darren let me greet Jenni, I'll be back in a jiffy."

I scurried away without waiting for an answer afraid that the figure I had seen would disappear into the swarming crowd. Besides, there were a number of people around, Darren couldn't act violent in public. He treated me like a prisoner, in fact this was the first time I was walking off on my own in years.

The person I was following was now hastening his steps. He had donned his cap, made a 360 degree turn and walked away. I knew if I didn't know for sure, if I didn't see for myself it would fall heavy on my heart. I just had to see if the man with the cap was my Bob.

I remembered when Marie, my elder sister, had texted me at around six in the morning telling me to turn on the TV. I had obeyed her request and as soon as my eyes met with the piece of breaking news, I had felt my knees weaken. I couldn't decide if I was elated or anguished by the news. Would they kill him on the spot when they found him? Would Darren hire hitmen to go after him? It was possible. Or maybe things would go well and he would prove his innocence and finally... A girl could dream.

I rounded a corner leading to a creepy alley. It was dusty and empty not to mention a good distance away from Kim and Darren. Had somebody lured me out here to kidnap me? I was after all about to marry a billionaire, yeeeiy me! I mentally rolled my eyes at the crude assumption everyone was making.

I suddenly felt exhausted, like someone had run me over with a trailer. I leaned against a washed out grey wall and let tears flow freely down my cheeks. What made me think that fate was so merciful that it had drawn Bob and I together shortly after his escape from prison? Bob was smart, he had a delicately intelligent woven mind that always got us out of trouble. That was what had attracted me to him in the first place. No, not his chiseled face or perfectly shaved goatee or his ever curly hair or his muscular body...Of course all these were delightful, Bob was easy on the eyes, always had been. But it was his ability to think and think smart that had webbed me.

I still couldn't comprehend how he had ended up behind bars.

Kimberly's pearly smile brought me back to my senses, she was my life, my pillar, the only link I had left to real happiness. I straightened out my crumpled dress and rearranged my dark hair to hide my bruised face.

If he still loved me, he would find a way.

I felt a strong grip on my left arm coming from behind. At first, my mind whirled and landed on Darren but then he hadn't followed me meaning... Was I being robbed?

I was born and raised in the ghetto, sorry man, wrong woman to rob.

Catching the thief by surprise was my best option so I turned and hit him on the shin while getting ready to make a run for it. The man grunted in pain and fell on one knee. I felt a razor blade grin crawl onto my lips, it had been long since I felt such liberation. I decided if I wanted to continue feeling things I had to get out of that alley before the guy regained his composure and man handled me with as much aggressiveness as I had shown.

"I see you still have those ninja skills Sue..."

I froze, literally. I stood transfixed to the spot as my heart came to an abrupt stop. My mind turned void, I was undeniably dysfunctional. This lasted for seconds as my brain adjusted to the shock. My eyes wandered off to analyse the man before me. The first place they landed was on the man's right arm, the upper part.

There it was.

A beautiful tattoo of my name peeked under the folding of his shirt. The voice? The tattoo?

It had to be him.

"Bob?"