No words escaped my mouth. No response to Paul's question.
Suddenly, I found myself turning on my heel and sprinting toward the shoreline, Paul shouting my name in confusion as I saw him standing up in my peripheral vision. It was like everything was in slow motion. My body crashed into the waves as I leaped off the shore, and I began swimming as if my life was at risk, desperately trying to get back to the mainland.
That was an amazing gesture on Paul's part, and I wanted to say yes, but I just couldn't do it. Not with my thoughts still lingering on Richard. Saying yes to Paul would feel wrong.
As I felt my hand brush the sand of the ocean floor, I hauled myself up into a standing position and trudged my way out of the water, never looking behind me, not even once. I didn't want to see the disappointment or the shock on Paul's face, that would hurt too much. I did care for him, and I did love him, but he wasn't who I was meant to be with for the rest of my life, and I realized that now. Even if I didn't know Richard all that well still after my memory loss, I knew more about us being together now, and somehow, deep in my core, I missed him and loved him.
I nearly collided with the double doors of the house I was running so fast, and I opened the door as quickly as I could, frantic to get away from this place. My legs carried me up the stairs where I grabbed the backpack I had used as a carry-on on the plane, beginning to fill it with clothes and necessities like my tooth brush and my hairbrush. I had to get out of there before Paul managed to catch up with me. Shoving my favorite necklace into the bag and deciding I had to leave all my other clothes and things behind, I descended the stairs, glancing around the living room for a map. I found one laying on one of the bookshelves and I picked it up after shrugging my backpack on, figuring I could look at it later as I jogged out the front door. I quickly slipped on a pair of shoes and began running at full-speed again, never sparing a glance at the house behind me.
As I was running, I opened up the map, and found the house rental building on it. I looked around as I reached the end of the trail leading to the house until I saw that building, and figured out where I was on the map by the placement of the rental houses. There was a public airport ten miles from here. That was a long walk, but I was desperate.
I began sprinting, heading for the sidewalk over on the shoulder of the road. I went as fast as I could for as long as I could, reaching a small town about four miles in. There was a general store, and I cautiously walked inside it, using the restroom quickly and washing my face before actually looking around the store.
Since I hadn't gotten any food or drinks from the house, I picked up two bottles of water, a pre-made sandwich, and a bag of gummy bears, paying for them before shoving all of it but one bottle of water into my backpack. I took a small pause outside, breaking open the bottle of water and gulping down half of it, giving myself a moment to catch my breath and calm down before beginning to jog.
I made it to the airport in the next couple of hours. The sky was dark, and the stars were twinkling up above, bright and beautiful. Opening the door to the airport, I walked up to the front desk and asked if they had any flights to England leaving soon with an available seat. The woman behind the counter said they had one, and it was boarding now. She got me a boarding pass and I went through a quick security check before speed-walking to the gate and boarding the plane. I took my window seat, finishing off the first bottle of water and eating the sandwich while I waited for the plane to take off.
After I had eaten the sandwich, I buckled up and placed my backpack on my lap, holding it there as I drifted off to sleep, exhausted...
* * * *
I was awoken by the drop in my stomach as the plane landed, slowly lifting my head from the wall of the plane and looking around. A young woman was sitting next to me, and I gave her a small smile when she looked over at me.
