Relief

Relief
“Be safe. I’ll come and visit you soon, okay?”
“Thanks, Patrick.”
“I’ll come and visit you, too.”
“Harry...please don’t.”
“That’s fine. I’ll just have to think of something more clever to get you down here.”
Arianna rolled her eyes and climbed into her rental car. Patrick and Harry watched her pull out of the driveway.
“Damn, I need a drink,” Patrick admitted.
“That poor girl. Life sometimes really has a way of being a cruel son of a bitch,” Harry spat. “You ready to go get that drink?”
Patrick narrowed his eyes at Harry in contempt. He hated Harry with a passion, but he didn’t hate free drinks. “You’re paying.”
“Of course.”

“Just ring the doorbell, Arianna. The worst he can do is slam the door in your face and tell you that he never wants to see you again,” Arianna whispered to herself as she stood on Pierce’s doorstep.
She finally rang the doorbell after a few more moments of self-talk and wiping her sweaty palms on her coat. Arianna rang the doorbell again after a few moments.
“I’m coming, I’m coming!” a woman called out, causing Arianna to panic. “Hello? May I help you?” the young woman asked. She was a beautiful dark-skinned Black woman with a large curly fro, and she wasn’t much older than Arianna. What threw Arianna off the most was the toddler that clung to the woman’s leg and the twin infants she had strapped to her chest. These children were clearly bi-racial.
“Um...I...I...I think I have the wrong house. I’m sorry to bother you,” Arianna quickly said as she scurried towards her car.
“Arianna? Is that you?”
Arianna scrambled with her keys and dropped them outside her car door like the women in horror movies that couldn’t keep a steady hand. Arianna scooped her keys up, unlocked the door, but was stopped before she could even enter.
“Yeah, no. I’m not letting you run away this time. You came here for a reason, Arianna,” Pierce firmly stated from behind her. Arianna had her back towards Pierce and refused to turn around.
“I just came to check on you. You seem to be doing very well, and I’m happy for you and your family.” It hurt, but Arianna truly meant it. She went and found happiness with someone else. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out, but Pierce deserved to do the same.
“My family? What the hell are you talking about? Wait...are you talking about Zoe and the babies? I’m not with Zoe. Zoe is a family friend. I take care of her investments, and those children surely aren’t mine. I’m going to take the surrogate route, and she agreed to be my child’s godmother if something happened to me,” Pierce confessed.
Arianna whirled around and finally faced Pierce. It had been two years since she was this close to Pierce. He looked the same, more graying in his hair, but the same. For several moments, all the pair could do was stare at each other. Pierce couldn’t believe his eyes. Arianna Rose Carter stood in front of him as he lived and breathed. He dug his fingernails into the palm of his hand to remind himself that he wasn’t dreaming. From the way Pierce’s mouth dried, it was as if he was seeing Arianna for the first time all over again.
Pierce snapped out of his trance once he heard Zoe loudly sing “Kiss The Girl” from The Little Mermaid from the front door.
“She seems like a good time,” Arianna giggled.
“She’s amazing, and I think you two would’ve been really great friends,” Pierce honestly answered.
“Perhaps.”
“What are you doing here, Arianna? Where have you been? I know I had a hand in running you off, but shit, Arianna, a fucking postcard every once in a while would’ve been nice so that I at least knew you were alive.”
“I was lured here by Harry. He sent me a text from Patrick’s phone telling me that you were in the hospital dying and I needed to come quickly if I wanted to say my final goodbyes.”
“Wait a minute...how does Patrick have your number? Have you been in contact with Patrick?”
Arianna closed her eyes and released a heavy sigh once she realized her mistake.
“Yeah,” Arianna admitted.
“Since when?” Pierce demanded.
“Since I left. I wanted at least one person to know where I was and how I was doing.”
“How often would the two of you talk? Because Patrick has been swearing up and down for two years that he hasn’t heard from you.”
“Please don’t be mad at Patrick. He was sworn to secrecy, and I understand how you may feel betrayed by him, but in my eyes, he was respecting my need for privacy and boundaries.”
“I’m not going to lie to you...your presence is very upsetting to me right now,” Pierce admitted, causing Arianna’s chest to tighten.
“I appreciate your honesty, Pierce. It wasn’t my intention to upset you; however, after cruelly hearing you were on your deathbed, I had to lay eyes on you for myself before I left Texas again. Now that I say it out loud, it sounds incredibly selfish of me. Oh, God. I’m such a mess. Anyway, you’re alive and well, and you’re getting your baby. Congratulations, Pierce,” Arianna said, moving to enter her car again.
“Arianna, can we go somewhere and talk?”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Pierce.”
“I understand your hesitation, but you’re going to return wherever you ran off to, and God knows when you’ll blow back into town again. I know I don’t deserve it, but I still love you, Arianna, and I would like to know how you’ve been getting by. I want to hear about your day-to-day life, the people you’ve met, the friends you’ve made, what you’ve accomplished, and an update on Legs would be nice as well. I know I’m not entitled to anything, but I’d at least like to know something good has come from our separation, and you’re in a better place.”
Arianna wanted badly to say no. She didn’t want to burden Pierce with her sob story or for him to feel sorry for her. She felt sorry enough for herself for both of them. But if she could tell Patrick and Harry, then she should be willing to tell Pierce.
“Fine. Let’s go to the park we like. Get in. I’ll drive.”