Love's Redemption

Redmption 66

“Maddie, you fell on purpose, right?”

I didn’t know Kara would come to that conclusion. My waist was still aching, and I was sure there must be a dark bruise. I really wished I could just lift my shirt and show her.

I wasn’t dumb enough to take desire more seriously than my own life. Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

I rolled my eyes at her but didn’t stop her from talking. She continued, “What does it feel like? Are his arms really strong? How was his-”

“Kara!”

I immediately cut her off and said, “You really don’t have a single proper thought in that head of yours!”

She

She stuck her tongue out when she noticed that I was genuinely angry. muttered something under her breath, but it was so quiet that I couldn’t hear

her.

9

I held my tender waist and walked out of the control room.

I suddenly remembered that Brandon had called me but didn’t finish his question. He was the one who made me trip and embarrass myself.

What an interesting guy.

It seemed like I should keep my distance from him. I had to make sure I stayed alert around him, and I had to pretend he was just a regular technician.

Besides, all that happened between us was a simple blind date. It wasn’t like we were involved otherwise.

Kara passed the documents Brandon had asked for to him and walked out. She saw me standing by and said, “Maddie, Mr. Howell wants us to go to the affected lighting first. He’ll be there in a second.”

I nodded. I was about to walk over with Kara when my phone rang. It was a call from Derick. “Where are you? How could you just leave me alone?”

I froze when I heard him. It had been a long time since he arrived. Had he not left yet?

Did he test out every single ride in the park?

“I thought you left,” I said honestly.

“Not yet. Where are you?” he asked.

I told him where we were going to debug the lighting next and he said he would come find me. However, I was there for almost an hour before he finally

showed up.

“Did you get lost?” I asked teasingly.

He was holding a plastic ball from the ball pit and playing around with it. As expected of a snooker champion, he really couldn’t let go of anything that reminded him of a snooker ball.

“I’ve been in mazes all over the world. Your tiny amusement park is child’s play to me.” Apart from snooker, Derrick also liked breaking through mazes.

Chris once told me that Derick would make sure to visit the mazes in every location he traveled to. He had pretty much gone through all of the mazes in existence and was targeting underground mazes next.

The world was full of all sorts of people with all sorts of interests.

There were people who liked racing, birdwatching, exploring, and collecting

various items.

“No matter how complicated a maze is, there’s always going to be a way that leads back home,” he suddenly said.

I froze momentarily before understanding what he meant.

He was telling me not to be afraid that I was lost. All I had to do was remember the path I wanted to take.

He also reminded me once to really think about what I wanted.

He seemed like a happy–go–lucky guy, but he was genuinely quite wise.

Most importantly, he was still kind to me. I seemed to finally understand why he had made the trip here. He wanted to give me advice.

He wasn’t telling me to forgive Chris and give him another chance. Instead, het was telling me to let go of the past and focus on the future.

My chest felt warm. “Okay. Thanks, Derick.”

He passed me the ball he had been holding. “I’m going back now. Feel free to find me whenever you want. No matter how things are with you and Chris, I’ll always be your friend.”

“Okay.” I took the ball and nodded.

The very next second, I felt a slight weight on my head. He caressed my hair and said, “You’re a good person. Someone who actually deserves you will come along one day.”

He then retracted his hand and walked away.

I held onto the ball he had been playing with. It was still warm from the heat of his palm. My heart felt bitter and ached slightly as he walked away.

I thought a lot of things and people would leave me once I split up with Chris, but now I knew that wasn’t the case.

Even though some of my friendships started because of Chris, they wouldn’t end because of him.