Music in the Key of Love

Chapter 29: Chasing Cressida

Cressida tore through the apartment, hoping that the elevator was still there, that no one had gone down to the lobby in it. She could hear Graham calling her and punched the button over and over, as though that might make the door open faster.

He entered the foyer just in time to see the door close on her white and stricken face. He briefly considered taking the stairs, but discarded this idea almost immediately as impractical. It was nearly twenty flights, and he might fall and hurt his hands.

Katherine had now entered the foyer, damaged blouse hanging open.

"Jesus, Katherine, not now, okay?"

"At least put on a coat and shoes, don't go chasing after her in nothing but your trousers and socks," she suggested.

Graham stomped on some shoes and pulled his coat on.

The elevator finally came back and he got on, pressing the L button very hard. The last thing he saw before the door closed was Katherine's face, disappointed and hurt. Welcome to the club, Graham thought grimly, of the women disappointed and hurt by Graham Stevens.

"Did you see Cressida?" He asked the doorman. "Which way did she go?"

"She ran straight across the street and into the park, sir, nearly got hit by a car."

The park? At this time of night? And in December? Not a lot of people in the park, and most who were there had nefarious purposes. Graham felt the first frisson of fear for Cressida.

He, too, risked jaywalking across Fifth Avenue and gained the other side of the street. He quickly ran to the 72nd Street entrance and ran in, hoping she wasn't headed for the Ramble, the remote and woodsy section of the park. "Cress! Cressida!" It was brutally cold, and he could feel the biting wind on his bare flesh around the collar of his coat.

He looked and thought he saw movement to his right, so he ran in that direction. There weren't a lot of lights, and he was worried that she might fall as she ran.

Dear god, what had he been thinking? The truth was that there wasn't a whole lot of thinking going on when he'd reached for Kath. He'd been angry and frustrated, and wanted to do something violent. There had been no tenderness in his actions.

"Cressida! Please, Cress, where are you? This isn't safe!"

"Shut the fuck up!" A deep voice responded from somewhere in the park.

Graham ignored the voice and kept calling. Finally, though, he had to stop running, he was too out of breath. He also had to admit that he had no idea where she was, and he could be running completely in the wrong direction.

But he couldn't go home and just leave her here. He passed a man walking his dog and asked, "Did a girl go running by here? Upset?"

The man just stared at him, as if unsure that he wanted to answer.

"It's cool, she's my sister," Graham explained, tying to look reliable and not like a rapist.

Finally the man gestured behind him.

Cressida was headed straight for the Ramble.

No. No no no.

"Cress? Cress, please wait for me," he called as he started again, this time at a jog. He began wandering though the Ramble, calling her name every so often, looking for the scrap of pink and yellow that would indicate her blouse and backpack. There were lots of rustlings and noises coming from the dense cover; birds, he supposed.

Please, please let her be okay.

Graham tried not to think about why Cressida was out here; he was only worried for her safety. He only wanted to find her, to make sure she was okay. Beyond that he wouldn't think.