A Love Story

Vertigo

Vertigo

–

Anakin clasped his hands together behind his back as he walked through a construction site. He followed the directions Ben gave him. He came to a corner bearing the smell of fresh concrete, surrounded by bags of cement and reinforcement and saw Wald squatting over tiles separating wood planks from glass.

"What did I miss?" Anakin chuckled as confusion spun between his eyes. When Wald stood, Anakin could see the man had no traces of bitterness in those small, easily-smiling eyes. The boys hugged and moved to what looked like rusted patio chairs to talk under a long-stemmed umbrella. It was then that Kitster could be seen climbing down the corroded metallic bars of a ladder. His hair black and shiny from the sun.

"Well, Kit and I are back working in construction." Wald placed his bucket hat which stored cigarettes between his feet on the sand. He shook one on the chair handle.

"Seriously?" The smile Anakin gave mixed humor and pain at their misfortune.

"Yep. The Hutts took over the park, swapped us all out for their own staff."

"Wait, they can't do that!"

"Sure they can. Sebulba took off. Left them everything."

"That's not what everyone says..." Kitster had now joined them, giving Anakin a friendship handshake, one that immediately came back to them like muscle memory, restored with finger snaps and fist bumps.

Anakin watched the severe look on Kit's face. It showered there was some bitterness after all. It was commonly left behind in places where old opportunities once flourished.

The diffusion of a white color on Anakin's face showed his compulsion to know more, which Kit answered.

"Some people think he took his money and split. Others think something's up." Kit's mouth compressed, not wanting to partake in gossip and hearsay.

"Like what?" Anakin remained calm, but his anxiety within grew violent.

"Well, Watto's going crazy. Says there's no way his son would take off for this long. Then he took all the cars and equipment back to the dealership."

"Nobody knows what really happened. But since Seb disappeared, the track hasn't been the same. Everyone was out of a job practically overnight. Aayla's doing nails at a beauty salon..." Wald added onto Kitster's train of thought, which sounded like far off echoes to Anakin. His focus was dragged through past baggage as he departured from the conversation. He was lost in his own observations and self-absorption.

–

Anakin came home to find Padme standing before the dining table. She was filtering through a box of candles to adorn the table for dinnertime. She enjoyed weaving together little details like this. It was nice to focus on simpler tasks.

"You hungry? Was just about to make food."

Anakin didn't answer. His gaze floated to her as soon as he entered the apartment. From behind, he embraced her tightly, hugging the space between her breasts and belly with an eagerness to erase all he had heard about the sand park, to dissolve everything that clouded the beauty of when they're alone, just the two of them.

At first, Padme did not notice his mental absence. But soon, the way he held her exacerbated his feelings of loss. He was savoring the embrace as if to feign loveliness or infiltrate a reality better than the one in his head.

"You okay?" She asked.

His lips were on the shell of her ear and he took in the silken voluptuousness of her hair. "I shouldn't have walked out on you after our fight the other night. I won't do that again... I just needed to clear my head."