Chapter 30
Chapter 30 (Alex’s POV)
The morning sunlight streamed through the blinds, slicing across my bedroom in bright, sharp lines.
I blinked against it, my body heavy with exhaustion.
Another sleepless night.
Another night filled with flashes and half-remembered dreams.
I sat up slowly, rubbing my hands over my face.
It felt like I hadn’t rested in days.
Maybe I hadn’t.
Maybe my mind wasn’t letting me anymore.
---
I swung my legs over the side of the bed and stared at the floor.
For a moment, I didn’t move.
Didn’t breathe.
Didn’t think.
Then the memory came.
---
A park bench.
An old wooden bench under a massive oak tree.
The bark was rough and peeling.
The grass around it was patchy.
The sky overhead was gray — it had been raining.
And beside me...
Someone sat beside me.
Laughing.
Leaning into my side.
Her hand in mine.
---
I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to hold onto the memory.
Trying to pull her face into focus.
But it slipped away like water through my fingers.
Leaving only the feeling.
Warmth.
Safety.
Belonging.
---
I stood up, the decision forming in my chest before my brain could catch up.
I needed to find that place.
Find that bench.
Find whatever it was trying to call me back.
---
I showered quickly, dressed in simple jeans and a hoodie, grabbed my keys, and left.
No breakfast.
No checking emails.
No messages to my assistant.
Let them wonder where I was.
I didn’t care.
Not today.
---
The city buzzed around me as I drove, but I barely noticed.
My hands gripped the steering wheel tightly, knuckles pale.
I didn’t even know where I was going.
Only that I had to go.
---
I started with the parks near my penthouse.
The big ones.
The famous ones.
The ones everyone visited.
But none of them felt right.
None of them pulled at my chest the way the memory did.
---
By noon, I had driven halfway across the city.
Past neighborhoods I hadn’t seen since I was a teenager.
Past small playgrounds and old community centers.
And then, turning a corner, I saw it.
A small park.
Tucked between rows of houses.
Overgrown in some places.
The grass wild and uneven.
Children laughed in the distance.
Dogs barked.
And at the far edge, under the shade of a giant oak tree...
The bench.
---
I pulled over without thinking, parking badly against the curb.
I got out of the car, my legs unsteady.
Each step toward the bench felt heavier.
Like gravity was pulling me harder here.
Pulling me home.
---
The bench was old.
Faded.
The paint peeling.
But it was the same one from my memory.
I knew it.
Deep in my bones.
---
I sat down slowly.
The wood creaked under my weight.
I stared out at the park.
The trees swaying gently.
The children playing.
The sun peeking between drifting clouds.
---
And for a moment, just a moment, it felt like she was there.
Sitting beside me.
Laughing softly.
Her hand brushing mine.
A flash of brown hair in the corner of my eye.
The smell of rain still clinging to the air.
---
I turned quickly, heart pounding.
But there was no one there.
Just empty space.
---
I pressed my hands against my face, breathing hard.
Frustration burned in my chest.
Tears stung the back of my eyes, but I blinked them away.
I wasn’t crazy.
I wasn’t imagining this.
She was real.
She was real.
---
I leaned back against the bench, letting my head rest against the wood.
Closing my eyes.
Letting the memories wash over me.
---
I remembered her laughter.
The way it lit up the space around her.
I remembered sitting here, talking about dreams.
About the future.
About places we wanted to visit.
I remembered promising her things.
Forever things.
---
A drop of rain splattered against my hand.
I opened my eyes to see the clouds had thickened.
A soft drizzle started falling, coating the park in a light mist.
I didn’t move.
Didn’t run for cover.
I let the rain soak into my clothes, into my skin.
Welcoming it.
Holding onto the feeling.
The memory.
The connection.
---
I stayed there until the sun started sinking behind the rooftops.
Until the rain stopped.
Until the park emptied out and the air grew colder.
Until I couldn’t feel my fingers anymore.
---
Finally, when my body couldn’t take it any longer, I stood up.
But I didn’t walk away immediately.
I placed my hand gently on the back of the bench.
A silent promise.
A silent vow.
I would find her.
I would find the missing pieces of us.
I didn’t care how long it took.
I didn’t care how crazy it made me look.
I didn’t care what I had to lose.
---
I walked back to my car slowly, each step feeling heavier and lighter at the same time.
Heavy with the weight of the unknown.
Light with the hope that I wasn’t alone in this.
Somewhere out there, she was fighting too.
I could feel it.
Deep inside.
---
I drove home in silence.
No music.
No distractions.
Just the steady rhythm of the rain tapping against the windows.
---
When I got back to my penthouse, I didn’t bother changing out of my wet clothes.
I sat on the couch, staring out at the city lights.
Thinking.
Remembering.
Hoping.
---
I didn’t know her name.
I didn’t know her face clearly.
But I knew her heart.
I knew the feeling she left inside me.
A mark too deep to erase.
A scar too strong to heal over.
---
I wasn’t giving up.
I wasn’t letting the world rewrite my story.
Not without a fight.
---
I would find the answers.
I would find her.
And when I did...
I wasn’t letting go.
Not again.
Not ever.