If We Love Again

Chapter 8

I Can’t Remember

I should have held on tight. I never should’ve let you go. I didn’t know nothing. I was stupid. I was foolish. I was lying to myself. I couldn’t have fathomed that I would ever be without your love.

 –– We belong together, Mariah Carey

• • •

   

         EARL AND I passed by the thickets. "Where are we going?" I asked as he held my hand, slowly dragging me toward God-knows-where. He wanted to run, but I told him I couldn’t, I might get an attack.

        It was past 5 o’clock in the afternoon yet the sky was starting to get dark. Or was it the thick leaves of the tall trees above shrouding us from below?

        I was starting to feel a tinge of exhaustion. Earl was gripping my hand tightly; I had no choice but to follow his steps.

        I panted lightly.

        "I-I need a break..." I muttered as I halted. I slouched myself on the grassy surface.

        "We’re not wasting any time, Lianne, the sunset will take place in about half an hour."

        I grunted.

       I didn’t have an immense endurance like him. And why would I want to watch the sunset? I’ve seen it a lot on television and I don’t think it’d be a big loss if ever I missed whatever his agenda was. "My knees are getting numb."

        "Guess this leaves me no other choice then." He scratched the back of his neck and pulled me up; carrying me bridal style.

        "Hey! Put me down! I can walk on my own!" I protested.

        "Says the girl who whines about how her knees hurt minutes ago," he scoffed.

        He was pretty snarky. I decided to keep my mouth shut and simply just went with the flow. I shouldn’t have gone out with Earl but he was clever, he was wise enough to make some way for me to follow his whims. It all started with a text, he asked me to go out with him because of some sort of emergency, but it all ended up in this long walk. I was so damn worried, when he called, his voice on the phone sounded frantic.

        "Ah, finally, we’re here," I heard him mutter as he sighed.

        "Can you put me down?" I said tersely.

        He gently put me down. Earl assisted me to regain my balance. "Look over there," he pointed toward the lake, the water was veiled with the shade of orange; probably from the reflection of the sunlight. There was a crimson tincture on the horizon. This was the first time I’ve ever seen an actual sunset, I’ve seen them in the movies and pictures, but I never thought that an actual one was this beautiful. I wasn’t able to appreciate them much, for me; it was just the basic thing that people see every day. But I was wrong.

        "Max told me about this place," he raked his fingers through his hair, his gaze was focused on the beautiful scenery. "There’s a legend about this lake. Watching the sunset with the person you love would bind you two forever. The redness of the sky would serve as the red string of fate that’d connect them." His lips quirked up into a small smile.

        Hearing this from him, I couldn’t help but smile sadly. "What if they part?" 

        "No matter how far they part with each other, that string will always bring them back."