Then you came along

Chapter Four

Ella turned the radio on, she turned the volume up hoping that some good music would clear her mind and stop her from feeling so miserable. She checked the radio stations one by one, maybe she could find a radio station which plays some good house music which could elevate her spirit or maybe she needed to hear the melody of some sweet classical music which would help her relax her tensed body. Music has often been described as the only medicine that the heart and the soul needed, but on that very day, it felt like she was being given a slow dose of poison from each radio station that she tuned in. On one station she heard the announcer dedicating Eric Clapton's   " Tears in heaven ..", to those who had recently lost a loved one, “ you may be gone from my sight but not from my heart and soul”, the announcer said and Ella quickly changed the station but Maria Carey's song  " without you..", was playing on the next station and she was right into the chorus. Ella kept changing stations after stations but all the songs were sad love songs in the end she turned the radio off and shouted,

" I’ve had enough !". 

Her hands were shaking, tears shimmered in her eyes, she wanted to find a place for her to stop so she could get out of the car and just breathe, all of those melancholy songs mixed with memories were cutting off her oxygen flow. Her plea was answered when she noticed a board that indicated that there was a leisure park a few meters away. Turning right she entered the lane and after a few minute's drive, Ella parked her car in the parking space. She switched off the engine, gripping the steering wheel with both hands she leaned forward and touched her forehead against the leather cover. She took in a deep breath as she raised her head and glanced at her reflection in the rearview mirror. The person looking back at her wasn’t a pretty sight to look at. She had dark circles around her puffy eyes. Her skin was dry and her hair wasn’t as shiny as it used to be. The person looked like someone from a zombie apocalypse movie, she quickly looked away and got out of the car. Ella glanced around her, the place looked quite deserted, except for a few people who were sitting on the benches facing the other side of the lake. She slowly walked towards the wooden pier lost in thoughts. 

Everything seems to keep reminding me of my grief, even the radio stations seemed to have been programmed to add on to my suffering, she said to herself. She felt like the whole world was against her.  She walked to the end of the pier and was a bit surprised to see that such a beautiful place was deserted at this time of the day. Ella removed her shoes, placed them next to her as she sat down on the edge of the pier with her legs dangling over the surface of the water. She took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly as she stared blankly at the lake.

Maybe I should go to him, wherever he is. I couldn't be his girlfriend in this life maybe.. we can be together in another life, Ella said to herself and smiled.

She tilted her head to the side and closed her eyes as she let the wind caress her face. It felt like a pair of hands on her skin and she opened her eyes and looked towards the sky. Then Ella quickly stood up and without a second thought, she jumped into the lake.

Damian parked his motorcycle in his usual spot close to the wooden pier and swung his leg off the bike. He removed his helmet, placed it on his bike, and ran a hand through his dark hair. As he turned towards the lake he saw something which looked like a body floating on the water. He squinted his eyes, he thought it was the sun that was playing tricks on him but when he realized that it was indeed a body floating in the lake, he quickly ran over to the edge of the pier. Without hesitating he dived straight into the lake, shivers ran down his body as he grabbed the lifeless body of the young woman and carried her towards the pier. Since she was as light as a feather, he was able to lift her and placed her on the edge of the pier,  then he climbed out of the water. 

" Hey can you hear me?", he shouted as he gently touched her shoulders, but the young lady didn't move or showed any sign of life.

He felt her pulse and listen to her heart, it was beating faintly and as soon as he realized that she was still alive, he tilted her head back to open the airway, checked her chest for her breathing, and when he noticed that her chest was not rising and falling, he quickly started to give her mouth-to-mouth. One could never tell that he was doing everything on impulse. Damian was surprised that even if he wasn't paying much attention in the first aid classes that he had to attend back in high school as part of the giving back to the community detention, he was doing everything by the book and he was praying that this young lady will soon open her eyes. 

" I thought I will never have to do this.. please wake up  !", he pleaded as he glanced around him in desperation hoping that there was someone else around to help him.

He realized that he couldn’t leave her to go find help ,he would have to continue giving her mouth to mouth with hope that she would come around.After the third attempt, her eyelids fluttered open, she looked straight at him, and then she coughed up some water, Damian quickly turned her to the side and she coughed up some more water. The young lady was breathing heavily, he gently told her that everything will be fine and that he will call for an ambulance or her family so that a doctor will examine her. Damian didn’t even know why he was being nice to this stranger, he should have just left her when she came around. The young lady closed her eyes and took in deep breaths in between coughs, then she turned and looked at him. She narrowed her dark brown eyes, tilted her head to the side as she stared at him. A look of excitement slowly clouded her face and she smiled as if she was looking at someone she knew. Damian had to admit that she had a beautiful smile and even if she was dripping wet and had dark circles underneath her eyes, she was kinda pretty.

Dear God, M I dead?... He .. looks just like him... m I dead...Luke is that you .. maybe it was just a dream a horrible dream..he is still alive.. or maybe I am dead and he came to get me, my Luke, my Angel  Lola silently said to herself and then her heart started to race. Part of her was scared that her body was floating back in that lake and her family would be devastated when they will find out what she had done, but another part of her was excited that she was in the afterlife world, next to the love of her life.

She mumbled something softly and Damian touched her gently on the shoulder and asked her if she was ok, she nodded yes, and then she looked at him, this time as if she was staring straight into his soul. Her facial expression suddenly changed , this time anger appeared on her face and he wondered what he did wrong. 

This is not a dream and I'm not dead and this is not Luke! , she shouted in her mind.

" Why did you save me?!", she struggled to say and Damian was taken aback by her question.

" What do you mean? Why I saved you?", Damian asked with a frown.

He couldn't believe that this young lady was angry with him for saving her life. Ella tried to sit up but she was still feeling a bit weak, Damian realized that he had jumped into the lake with his phone in his pocket. He quickly took it out , one look at it and he knew that there was nothing he could do to revive this one.

" Great!", he mumbled.

He was thinking that he should find someone to call for an ambulance or her family. This girl was acting so strange that she might jump in again. 

Ella noticed the phone in the young man’s hand and quickly told him not to call for help.

“ Well, this phone couldn’t be used to call anyone. I jumped in...”, Damian was saying when she interrupted him.

" No one asked you to do that, now leave me alone!", Ella said.

Ungrateful little b..... Damian said to himself as anger rippled through him.

Damian stood up and looked at her shaking his head in disbelief. He jumped into the lake, risked his own life to save someone that he had never met before only to be reproached about his good deed.

That’s what you get when for a moment you forget who you are and try to be Mr. Nice guy! Damian scolded himself.

" I’m sorry I interrupted your suicidal attempt! Next time I’ll make sure I’ll mind my damn business!”, Damian angrily said as he pushed back some strands of hair from his face, narrowing his eyes he looked at her.

" I fell in ok .. and I don't know how to swim!", Ella lied. 

Damian laughed  and Ella looked at him, 

" What's so funny? That I can't swim..", Ella asked standing up.

Damian tried to help her but she told him she didn't need his help as she brushed his hand away.

" I've never met anyone like you! At least acknowledge that I saved your life !", Damian snapped at her, he was still surprised with the way she was behaving towards him and her behavior was annoying him.

" I didn't ask for your help... I told once and I’ll say it again, do you understand!", Ella murmured and he heard it. 

He looked at her from head to toe and then he shook his head as he walked away briskly.

" Ungrateful brat!", he shouted at loud.

“ i***t!”, she whispered underneath her breath.

Why does he look so much like Luke, maybe I'm just seeing things .. maybe I’m still confused after what had happened...gosh what did I try to do!?, Ella said to herself as a shiver ran down her spine. She glanced towards the lake, she slowly bent and picked up her shoes before she slowly made her way back towards her car.  She couldn’t believe that she nearly took her own life, it was so unlike her to be thinking like that. Maybe she needed professional help to help her get over Luke. She would never be able to speak to her parents about what happened today, she better keep this as a secret and she promised herself that she wasn’t going to even think about anything like that again. Life is a precious gift, she told herself.

The only problem is that someone else knows what happened today, what if he speaks about me to someone.... stop being silly Ella, this is a big city, plus this guy doesn’t even know you! Ella said to herself and then she spotted him in a distance. She stopped walking, she stood there shivering from her wet clothes as she looked at him.  He approached the parked motorcycle and when he grabbed the helmet and put it on his head, her heart skipped a beat and her whole body froze. Her breath quickened as she stood there, she couldn’t even utter a single word. 

He even rides a motorcycle! , she said to herself as she slowly came around. Ella quickly walked towards her car without glancing towards this person who was the perfect replica of Luke.

Damian watched her walking towards her car and shook his head as he started the engine of his motorcycle.

" Crazy girl! I hope that  I don't ever come across you ever again!", Damian whispered.

" Gosh, I hope that  I never see his face again!", Ella whispered as she got inside her car.

Ella walked in the house with her wet clothes,  water dripping from her hair to her toes, she was praying that she wouldn't bump into her parents but she wasn't that lucky since they were sitting in the sitting room watching tv as she walked in, she tried to tiptoe towards the staircase.

" Ella Day! What happened to you?", Gregory asked standing behind her. She stood on the bottom step of the staircase and slowly turned back to look at her father's worried face.

She didn't know what to answer, or how to answer.

" I ... fell in a lake", she said softly and her parents looked at each other.

" What?! Honey...Are you ok?", her mother asked worriedly walking towards her.

"  I'm fine, can you stop worrying about me... I need to be alone .. I'm tired of you asking if I'm ok all the time .. you are suffocating me!", Ella looked at her mum and then at her dad. She quickly ran upstairs and slammed the door to her bedroom and leaned against the door. 

Gregory started to make his way towards the staircase, he didn't like the way Ella had spoken to Carol and him. It was the time that he had a serious conversation with his daughter.

" Gregory, just leave her alone. We will talk to her in the morning", Carol said.

" Carol, I'm tired of the leave her alone thing. Ella is going overboard! Did you hear the way she spoke to us!?", Gregory replied and Carol could feel the anger in his voice.

" You are both angry. You need to calm down before speaking to her. I'll go upstairs and check up on her  ", Carol said and her husband shrugged his shoulders and showed her the stairs. 

Carol walked towards her daughter's bedroom and turned the door handle and found the door locked. Ella who was leaning against the door was startled when her mother tried to open the door. 

" Ella, open the door”, Carol said.

" Mum please leave me alone. I promise ..I'll speak to you in the morning...I'm sorry for what I said downstairs ", Ella answered from inside. 

" We will speak in the morning... make sure you eat something tonight.. did you hear me Ella! ", her mother said with a serious tone before walking away.

Don't ever do that again Ella.. don't you even dare to think about taking your own life ..!, she reprimanded herself as she leaned her back against the bedroom door and closed her eyes. The image of that young man appeared in her thoughts and she quickly opened her eyes.

“ I hope he keeps his mouth shut and we never cross each other’s path ever again”, she whispered.