"As a young lady, growing up in that town I was taught that the only thing you had to do was marry the first rich bastard that came your way. Unfortunately back then I had no backbone. I never stood up for myself. How could I with no confidence? I was only ever told that 'my beauty would take me places.' How wrong they were," she wrote as an amused smile escaped from her petite, perfect-formed lips.
"Love wasn't at the top of my priorities as it once was long ago. I owe it to Ethan for breaking my heart and allowing me to realize this. I was completely and madly in love with Ethan. You see, Ethan wasn't much older than me, only by a few months, so naturally people assume that we went to the same schools and had known each other for a long time, but that wasn't the case at all. Ethan was the heir to the millions owned by the powerful and crooked Winthrops. He lived the high life, grown up in high society. I, on the other hand, was on the verge of poverty as a young child. I was forced to go to public schools, where as he went to the best schools in the world. We grew up around the same time, but we never met once...that was until my sweet 16th birthday," she paused with her body leaned forward in anticipation. With her index finger, she tapped gently upon her lip as she recalled all recollections of her sweet 16th birthday.
"Some of my more wealthier friends decided to throw me a sweet 16th party, seeing as how they accidentally stumbled upon the fact that I really never had a birthday with my friends or gifts for that matter. I was never really picky. I had enough, I had the basics. I didn't need to have any of the popular clothes or gadgets that most people had. I had the love of my family, hand me downs, and a roof over my head. What else could someone ask for?" Once again she paused now beginning to feel the pain of writer's block. Beginning to grow disgusted, she placed her head into the palm of her hand. 'What am I doing?' she found herself questioning her own actions. 'No one will understand what happened between us. They'll only look upon me as though I committed something as horrible as incest. It wasn't incest though, it was innocent love between two people who found each other a little too late.' Theresa quickly grabbed a tissue from the box of Kleenex which sat beside her. 'I was too late...too late to save him.'
"Mama and papa were able to save up enough money to buy me a dress for my birthday. It was the sweetest thing they ever did for me. It was completely unexpected, which made the dress all the more better. Beth, Luis' fiancee at the time, offered to do my hair and make-up for me. By the time I was to leave for my party, I was already floating on cloud 9. The night could have ended right then and I wouldn't have minded. When I arrived, I received many compliments, many from men as well. I had never really paid that much attention to the opposite sex that much until then. The men around me were gorgeous and they were all wealthy. It was my chance to turn on my charm and find myself a future husband. I danced a bit, looked around at the competition, which didn't seem like much, and really enjoyed myself. The men I thought I was interested in turned out to be rather boring. My chance was lost...or so I thought. As I was about to give up in despair, I saw him. Ethan Winthrop, the rich and powerful Ethan Winthrop, was at my party. I had always thought him to be cute, but never in a million years would I have guessed that I would ever get close enough to meet him. My friend Jessica greeted him at the door with a hug. I was shocked that she even knew him. My eyes were glued on them both. I felt as though I must look really stupid starring at them like I did. I instantly removed my eyes from them as I saw Jessica wave for me to come over by them. I could only turn my head away and try to play it off like I had not paid any attention to her. I felt my feet cemented to the ground when I saw both of them coming towards me. I could hear Jessica laughing and saying to him, 'You have to meet Theresa. She's such a doll!' Part of me wanted to run and hide, while the other half, curiously wanted to meet him. Still to this very day shivers are sent up and down my body when I close my eyes and just listen to his voice for the first time. The first time I heard him it was almost magical. His voice immediately put me under his spell," she smiled as the wind swept through her hair from the open window beside her. It was still quite cold for the last day of March, but she didn't care. She rather liked the cold. Anything complicated she loved actually. She had always loved a good challenge. The challenge that lay behind her though changed her life forever and in a way, she felt as though she owed the world to Ethan.
"Right before he went off to law school he tore my heart apart, leaving me hurt, broken, and lost. That's one thing they never thought any of the girls while growing up...how to mend a broken heart. Foolishly I believed that I could win him back, so I chased after him. Everyone in Harmony had their own suspicions as to why I was chasing after him. Because my family was just barely maintaining life in the middle-class, most people assumed I was just chasing after his money. Money wasn't the top priority in my heart though. I truly loved him. For the first time in my life someone showed me that I wasn't just some kind of expensive china doll," she paused as memories of their past floated through her head. "I enrolled in law school," she typed as her fingers seemed to dance across the keyboard now. "Most of my family initially thought I had lost my mind. We had no money to pay for the expensive university in which he had enrolled in. I did something though that shocked many of the Harmony citizens. I not only got a job, but two for that matter. I had every intention of winning him back, but I didn't realize that there were many obstacles ahead of me, some in which could have left me devastated for life. Though this sounds like it should have a fairy tale ending, it didn't. I never won him back. He's done fairly well for himself. He's made a name for himself in the courtroom. I'm happy for him, but that's how I felt before I found out that I was to face him in the courtroom. I wasn't scared. I was considered one of the top 10 best lawyers in the whole country back then. If I felt anything it was curious. I wanted to know what he thought of me now. Hell, I just wanted to know if he even remembered me."
Theresa saved her work on her disk as she began shutting off the lights in her house. She turned the computer off and quietly made her way upstairs. She peaked in on her daughter and son, making sure that they were snuggled into bed nicely. As she finally reached her bedroom, she collapsed onto her bed, no bothering to remove her shoes, jewelry, or clothes. She laid on her side as she stared at his picture, the only picture she had of him. Theresa extended her arm out and grabbed the photo. She brought it close to her and placed a kiss upon his lips before hugging it close to her heart and falling asleep. "Goodnight," she whispered to the heavens, praying silently that he would hear her words.