Chapter 2 - THE SHATTERED FACADE
Damon stood in the center of the crowded mall, his grip tightening around the paper coffee cup until the cardboard crinkled loudly under his fingers.
The festive music seemed to drain away, replaced by the deafening, rhythmic thrumming of his own panicked heartbeat.
He couldn't look away from those two small faces, those miniature versions of himself staring back with wide, curious eyes.
Beside him, the New Girlfriend adjusted her emerald green satin cocktail dress, oblivious to the fact that her relationship was ending in this very second.
"Damon? You’re staring again," she snapped, her annoyance cutting through his trance like a dull blade.
He didn't answer, his eyes locked on the Young Mother, who was walking toward the exit with an elegance that felt like a punch to the gut.
She looked different, her forest green turtleneck softening her features, but the way she held her head was unmistakably the woman he had lost.
Or, more accurately, the woman he had let go of during that bitter, cold winter three years ago.
"Who is she?" the girlfriend persisted, her voice rising in volume, drawing sharp looks from passing shoppers near the decorated tree.
Damon finally turned to her, his face pale, his eyes rimmed with a sudden, overwhelming moisture that he couldn't control.
May you like
"That's not who you need to be asking about," he whispered, his voice trembling with a terrifying, newfound realization.
"You need to be asking me why those boys have my eyes," he added, the words feeling like glass in his throat.
