Double Life: Epilogue I, Back to reality.

A/N: huh... I can´t believe I´m posting today and that I´m posting the epilogue already... I know epilogues are not supposed to have a tittle but it´s my story so this one has. I feel that this is a bit different from the rest of the story, but maybe that´s just me. 

Saku: do you remember this pix? I wish I had written down when you showed it to me, b/c that was the day in which I saw the first scene of this part, although I didnt know it was going to be part of the ending only that it was after Nic/Josh had spent some time apart. Thx for the pix!

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"Stupid rain!" Joshua grumbled under his breath as he left his now ex-girlfriend’s room. He’d stayed with her longer after their discussion and her admitting she’d cheated on him because of the hard rain. Now that he could finally leave there were puddles everywhere. He’d accidentally stepped in one so now his left foot was wet and cold, however, instead of going to his dorm he decided to take a path he had never taken to give himself time to calm down, otherwise, he knew he´d snap at his roommate if he went there in that mood.

The path he took ended abruptly becoming a mud path instead. There was wet grass around it. Josh stood there for a minute contemplating what to do and then he just grumbled unintelligible words and kept walking, taking the grass side of the path.

At some point he saw benches and then he saw that behind some bushes and trees there was a small artificial lake, like a big pond. The path started to get closer to it. He stopped and looking a partially hidden bench he went to it, there was no way he´d go further so, angrier now, he plopped on the bench and a second later he felt something being pulled from under him, he looked to his side on a glance.

"Sorry, I didn’t see you there" he said to the girl that was sitting there, hidden before by the bushes. The girl flinched visibly, he wondered if she’d been able to hear his annoyance in his voice, exactly the reason he didn’t want to go back to his room. He took another look, calming his temper.

What he saw first was the drawing pad on the young woman´s hands, her black leggings, black sweater with gray stripes, and black gloves.

Gloves, there was nothing strange with that, it was winter, people wore gloves, even him, though he wasn’t wearing them, he had them in his coat but the gloves were accompanied by a familiar face with brown startled eyes staring at him.

"Nichole?" he said almost out of breath. She hadn’t changed much, same smooth skin, pink lips; piercing gaze except her long hair was now shoulder length and her usual piercing gaze was now a shocked one.

He hadn’t seen her in over two years. Once or twice he had heard her name mentioned in conversations between Erick and Aaron´s business talk, Aaron had gotten interested in that since he started law school but he had ignored his curiosity and had never asked about her.

"I have to go" she muttered to herself and tossed her pencils and eraser in her bag, and closed her drawing pad

"Wait. What are you doing here?"

"Leaving" she tried to put the drawing pad in her bag but it didn’t seem to fit

"Do you go here? To this university?"

"Mh" she stopped trying to put her pad in her bag and stood up, she seemed to hesitate in but said "goodbye" and then she swiftly walked away with her signature walk leaving Josh dumbfounded. In the two years he´d been in that school, he’d never seen her but it made sense, it was a big campus and he´d never taken that path, he didn’t even know about the pond.

He stayed there for a while longer, his anger layered under the surprise of seeing Nichole and under all the thoughts that had haunted him those first months of his senior High school year.

"I´m not going to look for someone that doesn’t want to be found" Josh had concluded after that last text two years ago in his graduation day, Nichole´s birthday.

He´d done exactly that, keeping his word to himself but his resolution had wavered two weeks ago when by accident he saw her. Like so many months before, he had wanted to speak to her or to apologize, to try to make it better, even though he knew she probably hated him, no, he was sure she hated him but to him that he was still around meant something even though she obviously hadn’t wanted to see him again.

Two weeks later he still tried to see her again in that same bench at the same time that he reproached himself for his never ending stubbornness, still, he´d gone back a couple of times but as he knew she hadn’t return and that made it easier for him to go back to his previous idea of not looking for her because she didn’t want to be found.

With everything he had to do, it was easy to overlook that one encounter with the girl. He had more practice now after two years of ignoring, after two years of keeping alexander’s secret.

Sometimes though, like a mist the idea of Alexander and the little girl, Nichole, had started to creep in his thoughts as he ran around the park close to college one evening. Whenever he felt like letting go of the extra stress of his major he´d found that music or running did the trick. In this particular evening, he hadn’t been able to focus in his guitar being in the same room where he had to go back to study.

He had started on the busiest trail but then went to a less used one when a cyclist almost hit him. The lamps in the park hadn’t turn on yet but the sun was no longer visible in the sky.

Josh was focusing in the music in his i-pod, and the rhythmic tap, tap of his feet at the same time that somewhere in his mind as he pushed Alexander away there was the beginning of a song.

It meant he was starting to relax, this one was being a little elusive but he could hear the pace of it, it´d be good with two voices, perhaps Aaron could help him sing it once it got done, though a more different, softer voice could do it better, a rising tone sounded in his head, near the middle of what could be the song, he started to see the notes of the song when by accident he collided against someone, he thought he´d gone slow but maybe not because this person grabbed his t-shirt and they ended up in opposite directions from the one they´ve came from.

"I´m sorry" he hurried to steady the man in black jacket, he was young, perhaps his own age.

"You´ll be" the man moved his jacket showing him a small gun

"Ah, no, not that!" Josh thought with a mental grumble. He felt like he´d had enough death and near death experiences. He looked around lifting his hand slightly in a surrender motion, no one was around, in a moment the farthest lamps started to turn on... the one just above him didn’t.

"Give me your wallet quick!" the man demanded. Josh willed himself to calm down

"I don’t have it with me" he said in a calm voice, as calm as he could be in that situation.

"The wallet!" the man took a step forward

"Look, I don’t have it but I can give you my watch and my i-pod" he took them off and presented them to the man.

"The money!" the man took out the gun and pointed it to his face.

"I told you I don’t have it!" there was a note of desperation in his voice.

"Shut up or I´ll shoot you!" he said through greeted teeth about to take off the safety of the gun as he did so, a few birds flied away

"No you won´t" a melodic voice said behind the man. Josh´s eyes were wide, he´d seen her literally fall from the sky. As she spoke he also saw her white smooth hand close to the man´s naked neck, the man gasped and clutched his chest dropping the gun on the floor. Josh was glued to the floor

"Nichole?" he started, she stopped him by putting a finger on her lips in a silence motion, then she spoke to the phone she was holding to her ear

"Yes -she said- I just saw a man being robbed. -she listened- I don’t know, I saw them at distance -she stayed silent, eyes looking at Josh who stared back, then she gave the name of the park and hung up

"Is he...?" was the first thought that Josh could voice

"Ah, you see me now" her brown eyes were fixed on him; she had a smile plastered on her face, one that didn’t show amusement or happiness. Josh opened his mouth but no thoughts came out "he is passed out only" she provided, slightly looking away

"Where you...? How... how do you know I was here?" he knew it was impossible that she´d been after him, following him. She pointed up in one of the high branches a messenger bag was hanging.

"I didn’t know...I was drawing the sunset" she said and in a way that reminded Josh of a feline she quickly climbed the tree, grabbed the bag and jumped back, almost without a sound, she turned around and started to walk away

"Wait!" Josh called after her, running to catch up to her, she didn’t wait, instead took another trail, an even darker one

"Wait! I need to talk to you" he advanced and blocked her path, she stopped and stared without words

"Thank you" he said after a moment she nodded once and tried to go around him "I´m not done" he blocked her path again

"I am" she spoke curtly

"Just listen to me" he said and she only turned to her right to take another trail, he ran to her, took her by her wrist and when she tried to push him away, he only took her other wrist, it was evident in her eyes that she hadn’t been expecting it but she recovered quickly, she relaxed her arms but kept her distance

"Let me go" her voice had a tone of authority

"I need you to listen to me"

"No you don’t, let me go" she said again

"Please, just hear me out" he pleaded staring in her eyes

"If you don’t let me go, I’ll have to hurt you"

"Ok" he knew he was playing with fire in this situation, she could seriously harm him and he’d been sure she hated him but today she had saved him from a situation that could´ve ended bad, he hadn’t been seriously scared, not as scared as when he´d been when Nat had pointed at him with her gun, back then the woman had been calmed but this man all he want was money and flee.

 Nichole narrowed her eyes "just give me a minute" he asked of her and let her go, he hadn’t been sure if she´d ran away although he´d been almost sure she´d go away and she did. Once again, she turned to leave, not caring to follow a trail this time

“You can do it” he raised his voice marginally, he thought he saw her stop for a second and looked like she was going to turn around but she didn’t, she continued her way. He closed his eyes tightly.

“Once again” he murmured finding it odd that he´d seen the girl again. He touched his nose with his index and thumb as he laughed to himself, “if we were at Burgeoys…” he thought and shook his head already running back to the illuminated path, back home, back to reality.