SHATTERED

╣TWENTY- EIGHT╠

   He had yelled his lungs out to the extent he couldn't hear his own voice and just as he was about giving up on the woman, she turned around and stood, trying to see who had been yelling ‘Wait!!’, ‘Hello!!’
Panting, Logan walked up to her with a smile on his face.
"Hi, I guess you need this. " he showed her the sealed bottle of water he held. Logan saw tears cascade down the woman's cheeks.
“Th...thank you.” she blubbered after accepting the bottle of water.
Her voice sounded like that of a young woman to Logan's surprise.
In a flash, she had already finished the water.
"Oh my gosh! I feel revived." she muttered under her breathe.
"I'd love to know your name if you don't mind?" Logan said to her.
“I... I don't know.” she replied, bluntly.
“You don't have a name?”
“Alright,” he said when she refused to answer. "My name is Logan. What's your name?"
"Lo... Logan. Logan Clifford."
He was shocked when the woman mentioned his name correctly.

How did she know? Is she an angel or...

“That's correct. How did you know my name?” he asked.
“You said your name was Logan and I said Logan Clifford because, I once knew someone who bears that name.”
"Hmm," Logan sighed. "You know what, I'll take you to the hotel down the road. You have to put on something new, not this." he said as he removed the dirty stinky shawl from her body.
"But, I don't... " the woman tried to turn down his offer of help but couldn't after seeing the way he persisted and she badly needed to get out of the trash she was putting on.
"Don't worry, I will take care of the expenses."

                  ➰➿➰

"I'll come later in the day to check on you ." Logan said to the woman, after he had gotten a room for her. He gave her the the room key and left.
The woman unlocked the door and walked into the room. She dropped the shopping bags she held in both hands on the sofa, opposite to the queen sized bed.
She undressed and rushed into the bathroom to give her body a thorough scrub.
For the first time in so many years she smiled; she had longed for a roof over her head and she had gotten more than that. She couldn't imagine herself living in a three star hotel for two weeks. For two years she hasn't felt more comfortable than she felt now.
    Logan came back to check on her around 9pm as promised. He knocked on her door but, she didn't respond.
“Lady, it's I, Logan.” he said. After waiting for sometime, he decided to turn the door handle open and luckily for him, the door wasn't locked.
He became alarmed when he didn't see her in the room.
“Lady, where are you?” he stood, looking around and also sensitive to any sound.
“Th…”
Logan paused. He knew who she was but, she didn't know him and he couldn't fathom why, although he was happy and sad she couldn't recognise him.
He plopped down on the bed, burying his head in his palm, weeping uncontrollably.
“God, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry” he blubbered.
He stood up abruptly from the bed, sniffling loudly as he wiped his tears away with his palm. He tiptoed quietly to the bathroom after contemplating whether he should go in or not.
He sighed in relief when he saw her, sleeping soundly like a  child in the bathtub. Her  body was buried with lather, only her face could be seen. He sat on the edge of the bathtub and started stroking her wet tangled blonde hair that stuck to her face. He had missed the soft silky feeling of her hair, he didn't know when his hand went down to her face and at this point the sob he had tried to stifle came out as a loud cry. He missed her. He had badly missed her. He never in years thought he would see her again.

               ➰➿➰

Eliel sighed deeply after reading the resignation letter Ethel sent to his email. She had also sent it to her boss's email. He reread it again blinking rapidly trying to fight back the tears. He picked up his cellphone and quickly dialled her number.
“Hey, Eliel.” her voice sounded cheerful from the other end.
“I have read the letter, Ethel. But, why so sudden?”
“Eliel, I need a break because, I need to focus on finding my parent and my sister. I can't continue to live on like as if they don't exist. I should have resigned earlier…”
He heard her sniffle.
“Are you okay?”
“I am not, I have wasted so much time.”
“I'd love to help you.”
“You sure?”
“Absolutely.”
“Then, I'll see you at the park this evening.”