Killing Me Softly (#Wattys2016)

THIRTY-THREE

THIRTY-THREE

"So she flipped out over some Sweet'N Low?"

Cindy nodded and swabbed an arm across her forehead. "Yup. Totally nuclear. Kind of scared me, to tell you the truth."

Cindy and Mira had become jogging buddies and were coming up on their fourth of six miles. Cindy had relayed the story about the grocery store and the Sweet'N Low episode.

"He's got to be hitting her. I really think this could be some kind of domestic situation," Cindy said.

"You really think so?"

"You saw that movie, what was it, with Julia Roberts? Enemy something? Remember, if she didn't have things exactly the way he wanted them, he'd beat the shit out of her?"

"Oh, God, you're right. This sounds exactly like that movie. We should go to the police."

Cindy nodded her head slightly as she continued to pump her arms and search for the final surge of adrenaline she needed to finish the last two miles.

Cindy looked over at Mira. "You could go. You've known her longer."

Mira snorted. "Have you forgotten the bloody locksmith story?"

"Oh, right. Still, though..."

The two women continued jogging for a few moments, the only sounds they made being raspy breaths.

"Maybe it's like you said," Mira finally wheezed. "She's not all there and he's trying to protect her."

"I don't know," Cindy said, defeated. "I just don't know."

The two women kept jogging down the trail, unsure of what to do about Paula.