Part 11
The days that followed were a blur,
a whirlwind of legal proceedings,
of board meetings,
of media storms,
of public humiliation,
Daniel was a ghost,
he was a headline,
he was a case study in corporate greed,
he was a meme,
he was a joke,
he was destroyed,
I saw his face on the news,
he looked haggard,
he looked defeated,
he looked like a man who had nothing left,
he looked like a man who had lost his soul,
I didn't watch the news,
I didn't read the papers,
I didn't look at the internet,
I stayed in my house,
my house,
the one I had bought,
the one I had furnished,
the one I had made a home,
the one that was finally mine,
the silence was sweet,
the peace was profound,
the solitude was blissful,
I spent my mornings drinking tea,
I spent my afternoons reading books,
I spent my evenings watching the sunset,
I was recovering,
I was healing,
I was mending,
I was becoming whole again,
I received a letter,
it was handwritten,
it was shaky,
it was from Marissa,
she was in prison,
she was writing from a cell,
she was writing to ask for forgiveness,
she was writing to ask for help,
she was writing to ask for money,
I opened it,
I read it,
I tore it into pieces,
I flushed the pieces down the toilet,
I watched them swirl,
I watched them disappear,
I watched them go,
they were gone,
they were forgotten,
they were irrelevant,
I went for a walk,
the park was beautiful,
the trees were lush,
the sky was blue,
the world was turning,
the seasons were changing,
the life was continuing,
and I was part of it,
I was a part of the world,
I was a part of the future,
I was a part of the light,
I saw a man,
he was sitting on a bench,
he was reading a book,
he looked kind,
he looked intelligent,
he looked like someone who had never told a lie,
he looked like someone who had never broken a promise,
he looked like someone I could trust,
I walked past him,
I slowed down,
I hesitated,
I turned back,
I looked at him,
he looked up,
he smiled,
it was a warm,
genuine smile,
it was a smile that reached his eyes,
"Beautiful day,"
he said,
his voice was gentle,
his voice was calm,
his voice was a melody,
"Yes,"
I said,
my voice was soft,
my voice was shy,
my voice was new,
"it is,"
I said,
I sat on the bench,
I didn't introduce myself,
I didn't tell him my story,
I didn't tell him my secrets,
I didn't tell him my past,
I just sat with him,
in the sunlight,
in the peace,
in the moment,
I was starting again,
I was living again,
May you like
I was being again,
and it was enough.
