Breaking Free

01

"Bryson," I stated.

"Riley Allister."

My heart was pounding inside my chest as he got closer, looking me up and down. How ironic was it that Bryson had moved to North Carolina out of all the places in the world? But here he was, standing right in front of me. I didn't know what to say to him. It had been years since we last talked. Everything ended so quickly, and I hardly gave him a chance to explain what happened, or when he did try to explain it, I didn't believe what he was saying to me.

"You look good," he said, breaking the silence and tearing me out of my thoughts. I could feel the lump in my throat, making it hard to reply.

"T-thanks," I managed to stutter out. He chuckled, looking over to where Adam was. Adam was still fighting with the alligator, trying to get the rope around its head so he had more control. I couldn't help but shake my head as I watched Adam; he looked ridiculous.

"Shouldn't you be helping him?" Bryson asked, turning his attention back to me.

"I don't technically work for them yet, so I can't." He nodded at my answer. I looked at him as he looked back at me. The more I looked at him, the more it brought back all the good times and memories we had together, but it also brought back that one bad time that I had felt ruined my life.

"Riley," he started off, not breaking the intense eye contact we were holding. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything that I did to you." It had caught me off guard. It had been almost four years since I had seen him. I wasn't expecting an apology still.

"It's fine, Bryson. It's in the past." As I said this, he looked right through me. That was the one thing I hated about Bryson. He could read me like an open book.

"It doesn't matter if it's in the-"

"Riley!" Adam called, interrupting Bryson in the middle of his sentence.

"I'm sorry. I'll be right back," I apologized as I headed over to Adam.

"This is not a one man job," he said. I could see the sweat pouring off his face and I couldn't help but chuckle.

"I'll call the chief. Maybe he'll let us call animal control." Adam nodded. He had managed to get the rope around the alligators head, but he wasn't strong enough to control it. I pulled my phone out, dialing the Chiefs number.

"Riley, how's it going?" He asked.

"Not so good, chief. I think we need to get animal control out here. This gator is huge, and Adam can't do it by himself." I heard the chief chuckle on the other end.

"I knew he wouldn't be able to do it by himself. I'm just teaching him a lesson." I couldn't help but laugh. I knew exactly what the chief was talking about. Adam gave me a confused look as I hung up the phone.

"He's going to call animal control. He said this was him teaching you a lesson." Adam groaned as he continued to hold the rope. "Keep up the good work, Adam. They'll be here soon," I said laughing as I walked away. I made my way back over to Bryson.

"Look, Riley, I just want you to give me a chance to prove to you that I've changed. Let me take you out for dinner or something." I thought about it for a minute.

"I'm still with Matt," I replied.

"As friends, Riley."

"I'm sure he'll take that well," I said, causing Bryson to chuckle. "I'll figure something out." I gave Bryson my card. He shot me a smile.

~~~~

Soon enough animal control had arrived with a group of three men plus Adam. It took a little while, but Adam had done the hard part for them. They just had to tape its mouth shut so they could transport it.