So true… So very true for both of us.
Colin’s been asleep for hours, but I’m too wound up to relax. Tomorrow, we leave for the ESPY Awards. It’s the one-year anniversary of the day we shocked the world by Colin grabbing my hand, pulling me to my feet, and escorting me out of the theater while the audience and host of the show watched us in stunned silence.
The media has been reminding everyone what we did. I swear, the clip has been played in a continuous loop, to the point that I haven’t turned on the TV in days. All eyes will be on us, and I’m pregnant with boobs so big that the dress barely contains them. I flip over, attempting to find a cool place on the sheets and clear my mind of the anxiety.
Colin has reminded me I don’t have to walk the red carpet with him. I didn’t last year. However, I feel like he needs my support. We need to show the world that despite the rumors, our relationship is solid. I also need to prove to Colin that I can be his partner in his career. No, I’m not going to hide in the control room like I did last year. I will walk the red carpet with my husband, proudly standing by his side as he answers the media’s asinine questions. And our baby will be there with us. Our little secret from the world. The thought makes me smile as I finally relax into my pillow.
Chapter Three
Colin
“You look like a dream,” I whisper into Charlie’s hair, inhaling the grape scent of her shampoo. It stands out against the plethora of sunflowers covering the ground beneath our feet.
My hand cups her firm abdomen, feeling our son pushing against my callused fingertips as Charlie leans into my embrace.
The sun is shining so brightly it’s blinding my vision, and I can’t read the emotions on her face but I know that she’s happy. How do I know? Because the world is colored in shades of yellows and golds.
I also know that our son will be here soon. The knowledge makes a smile touch my eyes, and my heart warms with anticipation.
Charlie’s laugh forces a giggle from me. I didn’t know that I could giggle, but with Charlie I can be myself, laughing freely, without worry of what the media might print.
She turns, looking at me over her shoulder, and begins to run in the other direction from where I’m standing. She’s obviously teasing me, and I love it. When I capture her, I’ll ravage her body and make her yell, “Colin” over and over again while I bring her pleasure. I’m the most content when Charlie is happy.
The field of sunflowers that we’ve been standing in shifts to a vast wasteland of tangled grey vines right before my eyes. The world is desolate and the earth looks like it’s been scorched. As I turn to move toward Charlie, the toe of my shoe catches in a deep crack. I stumble forward, barely regaining my balance.
“When did that happen?” I ask. But she just shrugs her shoulders almost as if she can’t hear me.
She turns, and again, she starts running away. “Charlie,” I call. “Slow down. You’re going to trip and hurt yourself or the baby.” My stomach clenches in panic. Why would she run away from me when we’re so close to meeting our son?
She doesn’t seem to hear me and keeps taunting me, looking over her shoulder. She’s still playing with me, throwing her head back, laughing like crazy. Daring me to capture her. I realize that she thinks she’s still in the field of sunflowers. She thinks she’s safe, but she’s not.
I take off in a sprint after her. She must be warned. The vines will take her and the baby.
“Charlie,” I scream as I chase her.
The vines start closing in around her, grabbing and dragging her away. They’re taking her to some place in the blackness before us.
I can’t let her go. If she enters the blackness, I’ll never hold her again.
There are no more smells in this world. When I breathe, I inhale the scent of nothingness. The vines wrap around my ankles, anchoring me to the dead earth. I can’t get away. The more I grab at them, the more they latch on to me, wrapping their tentacles around my body. Something wet oozes between my fingers. It’s my blood, but I can’t feel the deep lacerations the vines have made all over my body.
Charlie realizes she’s in trouble. I can’t see her face, but she screams “Colin” in a high-pitched, terrified voice.
“I’m coming for you. Don’t give up, Charlie. I’ll save you,” I yell back to her, trying but failing to keep my emotions in check.
Then, I watch in horror as Charlie’s rounded stomach deflates, and the vines carry her and our son into the dark.
“Oh God,” I plead. “Don’t take them away from me. They’re all I have.” The vines are now wrapped around my legs up to my hips. My arms are at a forty-five degree angle from my body held immobile by the sickly grey vines.