Page 9 of Darkened Promises

Rosy wouldn’t want that, for people to get hurt on her account. And that thought is the only thing keeping me tethered to sanity.

Her.

If anyone starts it first, then I’m promising fuck all.

I enter the gym and scan through every area, desperate to see a glimpse of braided hair and a colourful outfit. Somehow everything is dull, drab. She’s not here.

I traipse through the space, scowling at anyone who tries to approach me. They know me here, and they like the small talk bullshit. But I have even less patience for it today. I check through the other smaller rooms, then corner a female employee. She’s worked here for a while, so she’ll know where to find the information I need.

“I need to know when someone was last here,” I demand.

She’s taller than my girl. Tougher, with more bite, judging by the scowl forming across her freckled face.

She folds her arms across her chest. “Why don’t you just ask them?”

I’ve picked the wrong one to ask. She’s infuriating. I can already feel it.

“Already tried that. She’s not responding. I need you to find out when she was last here, please.”

“Firstly, that’s against our policy, so no. Secondly, that’s also against the female code, so no. If you give me her name, when she’s next here, I can warn her off you.”

This is getting me nowhere. Why can’t she just fucking listen and get me what I need to know? If Rosy’s been here, then I’ll know she’s okay.

If not…

Fuck.

There’s no point wasting my time. I turn and stride away.

“Asshole,” the redhead spits after me.

I check the main area again, just in case I missed her. Still nothing.

Swinging around, I pummel the hanging punching bag, coating it in my frustration and blood. I’m a sweaty, panting mess when I stop.

Shouldn’t have wasted the time; I need to get back out there and look for her. I glance down. My knuckles are torn to shreds. My girl would worry and want to clean them up if she saw them.

But she can’t. She’s not here.

I’ll leave them as a reminder. If something’s happened to her, then I’ve failed.

I send a message to the group chat. Not that it feels good to admit I haven’t been able to find her, but a hacker might be able to get into the gym system and find out when she’s been here. Noah has friends who might be able to do it.

SIX

NOAH

Guilt builds in my gut. I could feel the seeds of it last night, but now it’s growing, gnawing painfully inside me.

My fingers drum quickly against the steering wheel at the unfamiliar feeling. I’m not usually so outwardly worried, and usually I find it easy to rationalise without fixating. However, I can’t seem to shake the feeling that I made a mistake, that we shouldn’t have given her the space she requested.

Turning onto the dirt track that leads up to the farm, I force myself to inhale and exhale, calming my thoughts and unsettled gut.

She’ll be here. Rosy wouldn’t leave the animals.

I knock on the open office door, heart already sinking when I see an older woman at the desk instead of Rosy’s beautiful face.

“Good afternoon. I’m sorry, but we aren’t open for the public to visit. We have scheduled visitation days, so you can come back then.” She smiles and turns away and checks her phone, then sighs loudly.