Who: Persephone and Psyche When: Tuesday afternoon Where: Central Park
She hadn't gone back to the park.
That should have come as no surprise to anyone, least of all herself. She couldn't have gone back. Part of her doubted he ever really intended to be there again. But then, part of her doubted that that weekend had ever really happened at all. She could have dreamt it. If she had dreamt it, though, would she still feel a relentless sense of guilt?
Sighing, she glanced at the clock - she'd be late at this rate; she'd have to call the school and explain. No sooner had she reached her daughter's teacher than she was interrupted - there was no need for apologies, she said. In fact, Heddy Medina had already been picked up from school. By her father.
Psyche managed to thank the woman very politely and hang up.
Then she bolted.
She knew then she had most definitely not dreamt the past weekend. But the moment she did, all else was forgotten - it all became a blur compared with what she had to do right this instant. She snatched her purse, calling over her shoulder to the receptionist that she'd be out for the rest of the day, and ran down the flights of stairs (she couldn't possibly wait for the elevator) until she was outside, on a busy, sunny sidewalk, vying along with the rest of the city for a taxi. Even after she managed to get one, she felt they must have crawled all the way to the school (and it wasn't even rush hour yet). It may have been senseless to go when she knew Hedone wasn't there, but she couldn't help it. She had to see for herself, had to know what exactly had happened. Besides, they couldn't have gone far, could they? He probably didn't know this area. He probably would stay nearby. Or maybe he would have taken her to the park again?
Her head spun as she wondered how he could have known where Hedone attended school, and what else he might know.
She had to stop this. She had to. How else was she going to get anything done?
Only there was nothing to be done: once there, she only received the news she had already heard. Heddy had been picked up already; she seemed very happy; no one imagined it would cause such confusion. There were thousands of questions Psyche wanted to ask, but she could see an equal number, if not greater, in the teacher's eyes, and why she hadn't known Hedone would be with her father was not something she cared to discuss.
So she left the school, walked back out into the sunlight, and stared blankly at the street until an idea took hold of her. Persephone. She would call Persephone. It wouldn't change her situation, but it would make it much better. Her fingers trembled as she scrolled through her list of contacts, finally finding the number...
...only to reach her voice mail.
She wasn't really sure what kind of message she ended up leaving Persephone. It was all broken and fragmented, like her thoughts. If Persephone even managed to decode it, it would probably be a small miracle. But she really couldn't think about that right now.
Psyche found herself back in the park, seated on a bench, watching...nothing in particular. If she was frozen in the moment, it was a mercy. If she moved, if she tried to take herself away from this sense of stillness, however small...