Shattered Memories, Broken Hearts: An SOSS Story

Chapter 2: No Tears Left to Cry

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 Four years later.....

Griffin sighed as he threw the completed piles of paperwork onto the front desk of The Tremont hotel, rejoicing at the fact that all of the hotel's bills had been paid for the month. But just in case, he flipped through all of the pages again to make sure that he didn't miss anything, and sighed in relief when he saw that it was all in order.

About a month after he had been released from the hospital, Griffin had decided to move back to his old hometown of Sulphur Springs, Louisiana as a way to feel closer to Harper and took over ownership of The Tremont so that way his parents and Mrs. Dunn could retire and enjoy life since they were starting to get up there in years. And he enjoyed every minute of it. He had hired some bellboys and concierges so that way he wouldn't run himself ragged managing the hotel all by himself, and he still kept up his guitar playing whenever he had the chance, so life was good.

On his desk in the manager's office lay a pile of books about some of his favorite rock artists, as well as a few other personal items he had kept over the years, including a Darth Vader snowglobe that Wyatt had gifted him for his 16th birthday and a CD of some of the band Metallica's greatest hits. His gaze finally rested on a photograph, and he picked it up to look at it. As he ran his fingers over the mahogany picture frame, he gazed at the occupants of the picture, all of whom were smiling as they enjoyed their family outing in Audubon Park in downtown New Orleans. His sister Zoey had her arms wrapped around Topher with their sides turned to the camera while they looked enchanted at the marvelous evening sunset. Their little five-year-old daughter Makaylah was being her usual hyperactive self and looked almost like a blur as she was jumping around in pure glee. Wyatt was seated on Topher's right as he bit down on a hot dog that was absolutely slathered in ketchup and mustard, staining his lips. Griffin was the one who had taken the picture.

His eyes became moist and damp as he thought about the one person who had been missing from the photo. The only person he wanted to be in the photo. The one person who had been absent from all of their group photographs for the last four years.

His girlfriend, Harper Dunn.

He had been willing himself for the last four years not to think of and/or about her. But no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't seem to get her out of his mind. He hadn't seen her in four years, but the pain of her absence was still as strong as it was in the present. He knew that it would never be possible for him to completely get her out of his mind. Whenever he closed his eyes, he could still see her face and her long, flowing curly, black hair. The round almond shape of her honey-brown eyes. All the contours of her body, and the chilling feeling of her skin up against his. He could still hear her soft, caring voice and the smile that she reserved especially for him. Whenever someone made a joke, he still expected to her giddy laughter, which he often teased her about, but secretly loved. The way her eyes twinkled and shone brightly whenever she thought of a joke she could play on Topher....

"No," he stopped himself. He had to get Harper out of his head ---- all he was doing was torturing himself. Whenever his mind drifted off to thoughts of Harper Dunn, he would often need to retreat inside of himself, usually with an art book of some sort. All art reminded him of her. But Harper was gone now, and it was time for him to move on.

But it was simply no use. No matter how hard he tried to forget, memories of that fateful day came rushing back to him. Memories he desperately wished that he could forget. Memories he wished would just go away. But they always stayed in his mind, coming back just to haunt him. They were like a constant disease at the back of his mind, which he would not be able to rid himself of for the rest of his life.