The Collapse

Iris_Hannesen

by Iris_Hannesen

Story

As catastrophes go, the collapse of the Diamond Shard Quarter came as a surprise. It happened around 7 am. By midday, the pictures of sunken skyscrapers, askew like towering birthday cakes, were all over the news. The glass-tipped towers hung this way and that, while the streets had broken apart in deep gauges. “It was pretty devastating. We were the first ones at the site, so we called for back-up… and then we started shoveling. Until they came with the equipment, I used my bare hands to get the rubble out of the way. And after every rescued person, you’d hear somebody else groan and scramble underneath the debris. There just wasn’t any end to it.” Lem had changed from his police uniform into something clean, but some of the dust still clung to his skin.

Here, in the former warehouse district, nothing hinted at the catastrophe. In the early morning, the ambulances had been rushing by, but after the city administration gave the all-clear, ordinary life resumed its ways. The afternoon sun slanted across the red-brick buildings and danced on the waves of the canal. Waiters bustled between busy tables and served after-hours drinks. 

“But are you alright?” 

Lem hesitated. His right hand was bandaged where he’d cut himself on one of the splinters. “I’m not sure that I’ve really processed it yet,” he mumbled. I knew that I should be more present for him, but I had my own catastrophe to come to terms with. An hour before the rumble of the collapse roared through the city, I’d stumbled out of my bathroom with a positive pregnancy test. I’d texted Lem to meet up tonight before he was making his rounds in the Diamond Shard Quarter. He sent me a thumbs up and a winky face before he had rescued people from the newly ripped canyon.

I was nursing an alcohol-free gin and tonic and wondered if he might have noticed. Lem was the same man I’d found on the dating site a couple of months ago, including the kind brown eyes and the lopsided smirk. But the positive test changed everything. His words didn’t register with me, just like the rising numbers of dead and missing people, the pictures of dust-colored rubble workers, the frenzied reports of newscasters onsite.  “How have you taken it? Wasn’t it your boss’s project?”

 “What?”

 “The Diamond Shard. Didn’t she design the building?” I probably should have appreciated that Lem would remember this. It was a detail I had mentioned a couple of dates ago and most men would have brushed past it. “Yes, yes she did.” I took another sip, set my glass down. I couldn’t tell him, not now. Our concomitant catastrophes had driven a wall between us. Every time I reached for the right words, they slipped away. I blinked past the stark reflection of my watch and found that I had half an hour to get home before sundown. “I think I’ll make a run for it,” I said and paid our tab. “Otherwise I won’t make it before the curfew.” 

“Of course.” Lem focused on his drink, swirled the last dregs at the bottom and swallowed the final gulp. I kissed him on the cheek before I left the restaurant and broke into a run on my way to the tram station. 

© Iris_Hannesen 2024-08-26

Genres
Novels & Stories
Moods
Emotional, Dark, Adventurous, Challenging, Hopeful
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