Sharon
“But weren’t you scared?”
Sharon picked at the fuzz on the blanket over her lap, looking at her roommates. After a hot shower and a good meal, she was seated in their tiny living room/kitchen area, the tv on but no one really watching the show. The two women seated across from her were looking at her like she was going to break at any moment and she really didn’t know what to do. She was grateful that they had reported her missing, but… well, her life just seemed empty. The last time she had been in this apartment, she had been filled with excitement about moving to New York and starting school.
Even those dreams seemed like so long ago.
“Of course, I was scared, but I’m glad it’s over with now.”
“We are just glad you are okay,” Sarah, one of her roommates, said, her eyes wide. “And you didn’t miss many classes either.”
Sharon nodded, glad for that. She would go and explain it to her professors tomorrow, get back in the swing of attending her classes and working toward her degree. She would get back to her life, even if it killed her in the end.
“They didn’t… well, you know,” Amie, their other roommate said, unable to get the exact words to come out.
Sharon had picked these roommates because they were just like her, innocent to the big city life and genuinely nice. She was still one of those girls, wasn’t she? What she had done with Vittorio… No doubt they would both blush furiously as she explained the passion she had experienced with him, the acts that they had done, that she had only heard about before.
And the killings. No, they would be as appalled as she had been, taking a life no matter how evil it was. That was why she had left. She couldn’t take the killing.
“O-of course not. I am perfectly fine. I think I am going to call my parents now.”
“Of course,” Sarah said, giving her a smile as Sharon exited the room, retreating to her bedroom to make the call she had held off on doing.
Thankfully, not quite sure if she was truly missing or not, her roommates hadn’t called her parents and neither had the police. If they had, her parents would have been on the first flight to New York.
Finding her cell phone, Sharon dialed the number, holding the phone up to her ear as it rang. A worker from the soup kitchen had found her bag and turned it over to the police, who had in turn held onto it until her roommates had reported her missing. She was glad that it too had been recovered.
“Hello?”
“Hi mom,” Sharon said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
“Sharon!” her mom said happily. “We were beginning to wonder if you have forgotten us.”
“Never mom,” Sharon smiled into the phone. “I’m sorry. I-I’ve been busy.”
Her mom laughed, the sound warming Sharon’s heart. She hadn’t realize how much she had missed her mother until just then.
“Okay, out with it. Your father is not here.”
“Out with what?”
“The boy you are seeing,” her mom said, dropping her voice a notch. “That would be one reason you haven’t called us! Who is he? How did you meet?”
Sharon’s smile faded. She couldn’t tell her mom about Vittorio.
“I…”
“You can tell me,” her mom continued, believing Sharon’s hesitation was just because she didn’t want to tell her. “I promise it will stay between us girls, even if he has colored hair and multiple piercings. That’s the rage these days, right?”
“Mom,” Sharon laughed. “That’s not the rage at all.”
“Well I’ve never been to a big city like New York,” her mom stated with a huff. “Humor me, Sharon. Your father is busy with his fishing right now and I am bored.”
“Alright,” Sharon giggled, knowing how much her mom hated her dad’s fishing trips. “He doesn’t have any piercings.”
“Well good. What else?”
Sharon swallowed hard, picturing Vittorio in her mind.
“He has nice eyes and is pretty strong.”
“What’s his major? Did you meet him in class?”
Oh, if she only knew!
“I, we didn’t meet in class, but more like at a dance club.”
“A club,” her mom said slowly. “Well I guess we can’t tell you not to go. You are old enough to make your own choices, Sharon. Just don’t do anything crazy and mind your studies.”
“I-I will,” Sharon answered, closing her eyes against the sudden onslaught of tears. She hadn’t done anything stupid but lose her heart to a man she couldn’t be with. “He’s nice mom. I-I think you would like him.”
“I hope to meet him then,” she responded. “It looks like your father is pulling up in the yard. Do you want to speak to him for a moment?”
“Later,” Sharon forced out, wiping her cheeks. “I-I have to go mom. I love you.”
“We love you very much, Sharon. Call anytime.”
Sharon ended the call and threw the phone on the narrow bed before sitting on it herself, her head in her hands. She had just lied to her mother, telling her things that would never happen. There was no way she was going to ever let Vittorio near her parents. They would never have a normal conversation, Vittorio winning them over with his crazy grin and personality.
He had none of that. Well, technically he did, but he wasn’t the take-home-to-meet-your-parents type of guy.
He wasn’t even her type of guy.
Sharon wiped her face and stood, erasing all traces of her tears. She wasn’t going to cry over this any longer. That part of her life, that one brief moment in time, was over with. She wasn’t going back to Vittorio and he certainly wasn’t going to be looking for her. Likely, he would be glad she was gone and not causing any trouble for him any longer.
Both were back to their normal lives, though hers was a bit boring.
That was the way she wanted it.