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And all of a sudden things changed
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And all of a sudden things changed |
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Martini Member
since 2000-07-11
Posts 308Toronto, Ontario, Canada 
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The evening started just like any other average Friday night. I pulled into my driveway at 6:15, just home from a long week of school and work. The house was quiet, unually quiet for a Friday night but I decided to take advantage of this quiet time and relax for a bit before I had to start getting ready to go out. It always amazed me how people said that at 21 you're as wild and crazy as you'll ever be, and yet I felt I lived such a pathetic and boring life. Nothing ever changed in my life, I attended classes at the University I was enrolled in about an hour from my home town, and on the friday afternoons I would get into my brand new car, which I really couldn't afford but would never give up, and drive back home to spend a few short minutes wrapping up the weeks events with my family before I headed off for the night with friends. This particular Friday seemed no different than any of the others that had come before. Around 7:30 I walked upstairs and turned on the shower, I turned up the hot water, and undressed, climbed in and let the water run all over me. It had been a long year, and it was almost over. Exactly a year before had been one of the worst days of my life and the year had officially ended. School was almost over, exams were beginning the following week, and all I could think about was how great the next year was going to be. Four months of Summer vacation were awaiting me and nothing could have made me happier. It was exactly a year ago that my old boyfriend, Mark had broken up with me. It had been the worst day I had had in a very long time, and it was just the begining of the worst summer of my life. But I had survived, I learned how to pick myself up when I hit rock bottom, when I felt that I had nothing left to give to anyone because he had comsumed it all. I learned that I could be ok without him it was just going to be hard, especially since we had all of the same friends. I had learned how to live again. The shower seemed to wash away all of the stress from the last little while, and when I got out, I was definately ready for an evening out. I walked into my room and put on some tight back pants and a black tank top did my makeup and waited for my friend Chris to arrive to pick me up. A few minutes later he arrived and we headed off to the bar. When we arrived all of our friends were already there. I greeted them all in the usual fashion, the usual smiles, hellos, hugs, and then I saw him. My ex. It had been a few weeks since I had seen him last, and although I was more than used to seeing him in these social situations something was a little different tonight. We smiled at each other and exchanged hellos, but tonight his smile was a little friendlier and his hello was a little more heartfelt. I tried not to read too much into it because I knew that it would only lead to heartache like it had so many times before, so instead I walked over to the bar, ordered a drink and let the night begin. The evening seemed to progress like most fridays had in the past, the ranting about the hellish week everyone had experienced, exchanges of stories of school and work and gossiping about people we didn't like. And then around half-way through the night, after a few drinks had been consumed Mark's beer was spilt all over the table, and since he was out of money, and I was feeling overly generous that evening I offered to buy him another one. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a five dollar bill and told him to enjoy, as I went back to talking to other people. When he returned from purchasing his new drink he walked up behind me and put his arm around my waist. I stopped talking with the person I had been chatting with and turned around to look at Mark, he smiled at me and moved his hand from my waist to my hand and pulled me over to a corner of the room. "What's up?" I asked him "I want to tell you something" "Ok, what??" I asked, a little confused, it wasn't very often that we said more than a few words to one another. His response back to me was a kiss, right there in the middle of the bar with our friends just feet away. When it ended I asked him what that was for and he told me that he had wanted to do that since the moment that I had walked into the room. He then smiled at me and walked back to our friends. I stood there for a few minutes in silence, quite confused and not really knowing what to do or say. When I finally felt like I could walk again, I walked over to him and said, "If you're gonna kiss me like that, right here in the middle of the bar, exactly one year to the day that we broke up then please tell me you're going to explain yourself. Because that's not exactly fair to me." "I'll explain myself" He replied "I wanted to kiss you all night, you bought me a drink and I thought I would use that opportunity to thank you." I couldn't believe he had just said that. In my opinion walking around kissing your ex's as a thanks for a drink was not a normal way of acting. And just as I was about to walk away thinking that nothing ever changes, that he still thinks he can get away with everything, and that he was just as pompus as always he said to me "I still love you, I've always loved you. I just got lost along the way somehow. And I know I'm a little slow, and I know it's not fair of me to be telling this to you a year later, when you're ok with everything and when you have seemed to move on and are happy with your life, but when I saw you walk in today I realize that I didn't want to spend another second lying to myself and you and everyone else about how I feel. So walk away, pretend this never happened because that's what I deserve, continue living your life without me, being happy. But know that just seeing you happy is enough for me to be content. So I guess I'm saying good-bye because I don't deserve a second chance." And he turned to walk away from me. I stood there for a second taking in everything he had said, knowing he was right, that I should tell him to shove it all where the sun doesn't shine, and walk away from him for good. But something was stopping me. I still loved him too. He was about three or four paces away from me and I reached out and grabbed his arm, he turned to face me. I reached a hand behind his neck, pulled him close to me, our foreheads rested against each other and I said to him. "You are a jerk. But I love that jerk with all my heart." He pulled me into his arms and kissed me like he was never going to let go, right there sorrounded by our friends, in the middle of a local bar, with everyone hooting and cheering. And at that second everything changed. "In three words I can sum up everything I learned about life: It Goes On" |
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| © Copyright 2001 Stephanie McMillan - All Rights Reserved | |||
LoveBug
Moderator
Member Elite
since 2000-01-08
Posts 4697 |
It's strange how you can think that you're over someone, and one little action can just send you right back into their arms. This is a very well-written piece, and I enjoyed it a lot. Thanks for sharing.  "Men judge generally more by the eye than by the hand, for everyone can see and few can feel."-Machiavelli |
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Wesley the Blue Member
since 1999-09-02
Posts 426Forest Lake, MN, USA |
Wonderful story, had a good pace all the way through with just enough description to get by without over crowding the readers mental senses. Love is a mystery in the way it works, you have writen a great story that proves that. Keith every day is a new day with which we can change the world |
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Martini Member
since 2000-07-11
Posts 308Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
Love Bug: How true that is. Just as I thought the past was finally behind me and that I had found a place where I was able to walk around with my head up and my heart open again, something happened and I ended up exactly where I had belonged all along. Thank you for the kind reply. Keith: Thanks so much for reading. Love is a strange, and yet wonderful thing, and no matter how much you think you don't need it someone reminds you that you do. "In three words I can sum up everything I learned about life: It Goes On" |
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