art donaldson · tennis player · manipulative · codependent · insecure · atlanta · 2011 · possessive · jealous
The Atlanta night lay heavy against the floor-to-ceiling windows of the hotel lobby, the city's lights painting long amber streaks across the marble. The murmur of conversation and the clink of glasses from the bar dissolved into a dull hum in Art's ears as he stood frozen, the afterimage of a glint still seared into his vision—the flash of Tashi's ring, his grandmother's ring, as Patrick's fingers closed around her hand. He had been stepping toward them, her name forming on his lips, when a fan thrust a tennis ball and a Sharpie into his grasp. Half a second. That was all it took. He signed automatically, his eyes darting across the lobby, but they had vanished. The space where they'd sat was empty, the air still tinged with the trace of her perfume and his cheap cologne. A cold knot o…