Dinner with the Mafia ✔

Chapter 5

It had been a month since I saw Atlas for the first time, and weirdly enough, he saved me from another near-death experience. After my morning run, I sat alone near Central Park's frozen lake at four in the morning. No one was in the area, so I seized this opportunity to look over the latest updates for our company on my phone.

An hour later, I finished everything and walked to the lake's edge to appreciate the scenery up close. The lake was crystal clear, and I could see my reflection. I wanted to step on it, so I tried placing one leg over the ice, but it cracked, so I fought against the temptation because I valued my life. As I wanted to turn around and walk home, a hand pushed me into the ice, and before I could look at the culprit, the ice broke.

"No! Help!" I yelled and tried fighting the icy water, but my clothes weighed me down, and I began to feel tired. "Hel-" before I could finish, my body gave out, and I went down. Darkness. This is how I die? Alone? Cold? Without achieving greatness? Without finding love? Without saying goodbye to dad? I do not want to die! God, please. Help.

Someone yanked me up as soon as I prayed and begged for my life, and I could finally breathe again. My coughing fit did not stop even after what seemed like five minutes. I could not hear anything as my ears rang or even see whoever saved me. "Jol-" I took a deep breath and closed my nose with my hand to open my ears. "Jolene!" I heard a man's voice, but I was still disoriented. "Are you okay? Can you hear me?"

"What? Who is this?" I weakly replied.

"It's me, Atlas. Are you calm now?" he said, and I finally saw his face. He saved my life again.

I took another deep breath and nodded. "Yes, yes, I am calm and fine. Thank you so much, Atlas. If you weren't here, I would-"

"No need to finish. I am glad you are okay. I saw someone struggling to stay above water, so I jumped in. I did not know it was you! You are an accidents magnet."

I did not laugh at his joke because I was still shaken up and freezing. At this moment, I realized that my teeth were clanking together, and my lips were most likely blue. "Can I use your phone? Mine belongs to the lake now, and I need to call dad to pick me up."

"Sure, I would have gotten you home, but I don't have my car. I walked."

I smiled and grabbed his phone. "It's okay. You did more than enough. I am so grateful to you." I dialed dad's number and waited. Atlas sat on the bench, a bit far because he wanted to give me privacy.

"Hello? Who is this?"

"Dad, it's me."

"Bambi? Why are you calling from this number?"

"Dad, don't freak out, but..."

"What? Are you okay?"

"I fell into Central Park's lake, but Atlas, who happened to be around, saved me. Again. I am relatively fine now. I just need you to come and pick me up. We might need to visit the hospital to warm me up or something. I did not want to burden Atlas anymore."

"I am already in my car; meet you in a few minutes. Hang tight, dear!" And he hung up.

"Atlas," I called, and he came. "Thank you again. Do you desire anything I can get you? I want to repay you so bad!"

"I have many desires, but none you should worry about. My reward is that you are alive, and I am your hero." His smile seemed genuine enough for me to drop the topic and just accept his reasoning.

"Alright, but do not hesitate to ask if you need anything. You have my dad's number. I would have given you mine, but you know... it let go." I joked, and he chuckled. "By the way, did you see anyone suspicious around here?"

He arched his eyebrows. "No, I was the only one here when I arrived. I see your dad's here." A car parked roughly near the benches, and dad ran to my side. "I should get going. I need to prepare for work. Stay safe, really..."

"I will, bye." I waved goodbye, and he passed dad, who did not see him. Dad was too much. "Didn't you see Atlas walk right past you?"

"No, I was only looking at you. Can you walk, or should I carry you?" dad asked, and I tried standing up.

"Yeah, I need support. Lend me a hand, please."

"Here. How did it happen? You are usually careful."

I removed my jacket that was too heavy for me to keep on and threw it in the trunk. "I am careful. Someone pushed me into the lake. It wasn't my choice to just dive into frozen waters."

"Someone pushed you? Didn't you see who?" dad asked, clenched the steering wheel, and drove to the hospital.

"No, and I even asked Atlas. There was no one around when he arrived. Maybe I just imagined things, and my leg slipped?"

"Probably. Oh, I got you this blanket; I hope it helps." He stretched his arm backward and grabbed a fuzzy blanket. "Here you go; we'll be at the hospital in about fifteen minutes. Do you feel anything other than coldness?"

"Luckily, no, but I might have damaged something internal because the impact with the cold water was hard."

"Yeah, better be safe than sorry." He kissed my hand and focused on the road. "But how lucky you were to have Atlas save you?" dad asked, and I nodded.

"Extremely lucky, which is unsettling. Two saves by the same person! Talk about fate." 

~~~

I hope you liked this chapter :)

Chapter 6 is out now on inkitt. I will send you the link if you want to read it there. 

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