I RAN THROUGH THE CITY, MY FEET POUNDING AGAINST THE PAVEMENT LIKE THE HEARTBEAT IN MY CHEST, FAST AND UNEVEN. IT WAS OUR DAY, THE DAY—GOD, HOW I’D WAITED FOR IT, PLANNED FOR IT, DREAMED ABOUT IT. BUT WHEN THE TIME CAME, YOU WEREN’T THERE. YOU WEREN’T ANYWHERE.
I kept looking, like a man chasing his own shadow, desperate and blind. I yelled your name into the void, the crowds flowing past me, uncaring, faces turned away like I didn’t even exist.
I grabbed people, random strangers, their indifference like a slap in the face. "Have you seen her?" I’d ask, shoving my phone at them like a fool, showing them your picture, thinking maybe, just maybe, someone would give me an answer that mattered. But nothing. One guy—slick, eyes full of hunger—he said he knew where you were. He looked me over, saw the desperation hanging off me like a torn suit, and…
