I probably shouldn't start a new story but I couldn't help myself. Let me know if you like it and if I should continue!
Stephanie pulled some strands of hair behind her ear and away from her face but it was pointless as another strong gust of wind blew it right back in her face. Taking her hair band from her wrist she tied her hair back and looked up at the now grey colored clouds. She sighed knowing she didn't have much longer to sit here before the storm started. She looked back down and straight ahead of her at the headstone. Today made a year since her husband's death and it didn't feel any less painful now than it had then. Last year on this day they had got into an argument and he had stormed out of the house wanting to put some space between them to cool down. She had watched him through the kitchen window get into his car and pull away not knowing it was the last time she would see him. While he was out driving he was hit by a drunk driver head on and died while the drunk driver had ended up surviving. To this day she blamed herself, of course she blamed the drunk driver too but if it hadn't been for her starting that stupid argument he would still be alive.
Before the accident they had been talking about finally starting a little family of their own. At least In her mind it was finally time, she loved children and she couldn't wait to be a mom. They had started dating when Stephanie turned twenty and had dated for four years before tying the knot. Some people thought it wouldn't last because of their age but they hadn't cared because in her heart she knew he was the one. Nobody had ever made her feel the way he had and no other man ever would. He was the one she was certain was going to be the father of her children and who she was going to grow old with. So after dating for four years and making it to their second year of marriage Stephanie decided to bring up the subject of children one night as they were getting ready for bed. She could still remember the smile that spread across his face as they talked about it.
This was definitely not the way she had pictured her life a year later. Sitting in the cemetery talking to him, she came often as she could. At first it felt strange just sitting there talking but the more she came the more it had brought some comfort to her. She was having a hard time letting go and moving on.
Stephanie wiped the tears from her eyes as drops of rain started to fall and she knew it was time to go.
"I'll be back soon" she whispered standing up "I love you"
She walked away from his grave and headed down to her car as the rain started coming down heavier. Once she reached her car she hurried in and shut the door behind her. She reached over to the passenger seat where she had left her phone and checked it for any missed notifications. Her mother had been calling to check on her most of the day because she knew it was going to be a hard day. Linda had even offered to come with her to the cemetery but Stephanie had refused the offer. All she really wanted to do today was be alone but nobody of course was taking the hint. It was like they were afraid she was going to go off the deep end. So when she noticed she had two missed calls it wasn't that much of a surprise really. Honestly she was more surprised that it wasn't more than that. One was from her mother and the other was her best friend who had made her swear she would come over to her apartment for dinner.
Stephanie laid the phone back down in the seat and started her car. She didn't see a reason for calling her best friend back since that was where she was headed. As for her mother well she appreciated how caring and supportive she was being today but she was avoiding most of her calls. At some point she was expecting Linda to start in on how she should move on and get back out there. It was what she had been doing recently anyway and she had tried to talk Stephanie into finally taking off her wedding ring. That just wasn't something she was ready to do yet, she couldn't even bring herself to think about it. She pushed those thoughts away as she turned on the windshield wipers and put her car in drive and pulled away.
When she reached her friend's apartment building she pulled into a parking space and shut the engine off dreading to have to get back out in the rain. At least she did have an umbrella this time though. She reached in the backseat floor board feeling around for her umbrella that she always kept in the car for times like these. Once she found it she turned back around and stared out of the windshield for a few more seconds with a sigh. She watched as people raced through the rain to the building and some running out of the building to their cars trying to get out of the rain.
It wasn't just the rain she was dreading getting out in. She was dreading going in and forcing a fake smile to some of the people she had come to know since her friend moved here. It was going to the be the same sympathetic eyes and questions of if she was okay. Most of the time it didn't bother her but today was different especially since she really didn't want to talk to anyone. But maybe she could get lucky and not see anyone she really knew all that well in the lobby or the elevator.
With that thought she opened her car door and got out while opening her umbrella. She shut her door and locked the car before making her way to the building quickly. She just wanted out of the rain and to her friend's apartment where she could sit back and relax or breakdown if she needed to. Her friend was the only person who she had let see her completely breakdown after her husband's death. The only person who didn't try to push her into moving on while she wasn't ready and who she could tell everything to. Reaching the building Stephanie waited as someone came out of the door and started running to their car before she made her way inside. She closed her umbrella and immediately spotted one of her friend's neighbors Stacy who she talked to a lot. Stacy hadn't noticed her yet though and she thought about trying to make a run to the elevators to avoid her but as she started to walk to it she heard her name being called. Taking a breath, she turned back in Stacy's direction as the tall blonde made her way closer to her.
"Stephanie. How are you doing today?" Stacy asked softly. Her blue eyes full of pity as she reached out and touched the side of her arm sympathetically. She hated when people looked at her like that.
"I'm good" Stephanie replied forcing the best smile she could. Hopefully Stacy didn't see how fake it was.
"Are you sure?" Stacy asked tilting her head to the side.
"Yeah I'm sure. I'm just running late to dinner but I'll catch up with you some other time" Stephanie replied and hurried off to the elevator not giving Stacy a chance to say anything else. She pushed the button to the elevator and waited for it to open. It wasn't long before it opened and she stepped on and pushed the button for her friend's floor.
When the elevators stopped and opened again she stepped out and headed down to her friend's apartment door ignoring the people in the hall. She hung her head down and just watched the floor in front of her as she walked until she made it to her destination. She opened the door quickly and walked in setting her umbrella down in the corner.
"Hey Steph" she shut the door and looked over to see her friend's boyfriend standing in the living room with a small smile on his face. She also noticed he was holding what looked to be a small nerf ball that probably belong to her friend's nephew.
"Hey Sam" Stephanie replied with a small smile of her own. Her friend and Sam had been dating for a couple of months now. So far he seemed to be a nice guy and he was warm and friendly to her so that made him okay in her book. Plus, he made her friend happy and she was sure her friend was falling for him. "Jess in the kitchen."
"Is that her?" Stephanie heard Jess yell from the kitchen.
"No it's some stranger I decided to invite in" Sam called back before he started to chuckle. Then he threw the ball in his hands over to the couch and that was when Stephanie noticed a guy sitting on the couch chuckling too. It was someone she had definitely never met before or seen around here in the apartment building. Then she started to wonder if Jess had been so insistent on her coming for dinner because she was trying to set her up. Here she was thinking her best friend wasn't going to push her into moving on or anything and now she wasn't so sure. She was going to be so pissed if that was what she is trying to do.
"It's me" Stephanie said walking through the archway of the kitchen to see the back of Jess's blonde hair as she stood at the stove cooking. When Jess heard Stephanie's voice she turned around and smiled at her.
"I was starting to think you were going to blow me off"
"No because you would have called and bugged me until I caved and came anyway" Stephanie replied walking over the kitchen table and pulling out a chair to sit in.
"Yeah I would have" Jess said nodding her head "are they still in there throwing that damn ball?"
Before Stephanie even had a chance to answer she heard something crash in the other room. Stephanie watched as Jess's green eyes filled with anger before she rushed into the next room. She couldn't help but chuckle a little, her friend's temper could be amusing at times. There were times though she could really put the fear in you with it too.
"Didn't I tell you to stop throwing the damn ball before you broke something?"
"We were only trying to have a little fun" a deep voice said that Stephanie knew wasn't Sam's.
"Just leave the ball alone."
A couple of minutes later Jess came back into the kitchen clearly irritated and went back over to the stove checking on the food. Stephanie decided she might as well question her friend on the guy she didn't know and find out if she was trying to set her up. If she was then Stephanie wasn't sticking around for dinner.
"So who's that guy?" Stephanie asked fiddling with her wedding rings on her hand.
"He is Sam's friend. This is the first time I'm meeting him. Apparently Sam invited him because he wanted to meet me since Sam is spending so much time with me"
"You and Sam have been dating for a couple of months now. Why is he just now wanting to meet you?" Stephanie asked confused watching her friend stir the food on the stove.
"I don't know" Jess shrugged "maybe he didn't think Sam was that serious about me or something."
"So this isn't some sort of set up between me and him?" Stephanie asked blatantly making Jess turn around with wide eyes and stare at her.
"God no. I would never do that to you. You should know that. I'm not your mother, no offence to her. It's just I know how pushy she has been lately" Jess replied and Stephanie just nodded her head. Thank God she had been wrong about her friend's intentions because if she had been right, well she didn't know who else she would be able to talk to. She would of given Jess the cold shoulder for a while.
"Okay just making sure. Today has been hard enough without something like that happening. I'm too afraid to answer most of my mother's calls because I'm afraid she is going to start going on and on about how it's time to find someone new"
"You will find someone eventually when you feel you are ready to. Nobody can make that decision for you and it's just going to take time for you" Jess replied turning back around to check on the food.
"I wish my mother understood that" Stephanie said with a sigh. By the time she got back out to the car where she had left her phone there would probably be God knows how many missed calls from her mother. Maybe she should have called her before coming here so her mother wouldn't freak and start calling hospitals when she couldn't reach her.
Lost in her thoughts Stephanie didn't even realize someone else had joined her at the kitchen table until she noticed them out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head to look at them and their eyes met. It was Sam's friend and she kind of felt uncomfortable as he stared into her eyes.
"Hey" he greeted her with a smile.
"Hey" Stephanie replied awkwardly with a polite smile.
"I'm Paul" he said continuing to stare at her "and you would be?"
"Stephanie"
"Leave her alone Paul" Jess warned in a stern voice and Stephanie turned her attention to Jess who was staring at Paul with a stern look on her face also. She was kind of glad for her friend's interruption because she was getting uncomfortable with him just staring at her.
"Why don't you just give me a chance instead of giving me all these rules? I feel like that is all you are doing"
"Paul I'm trying but since you got to my house I've told you to stop doing something more times than I ever have to tell my six-year-old nephew. I mean he listens better than you"
"I'm a good listener. Here I'll give you an example" Paul replied and then she felt him lean closer to her "so tell me a little about yourself"
"Paul seriously leave her alone" Stephanie heard Sam say as he came into the kitchen and took a seat at the table in front of Paul.
Stephanie looked down at her hands feeling awkward and playing with her wedding rings again. God she missed her husband Brent right now. It was moments like these that she wasn't sure if she would ever move on because when some guy hit on her it just took her back to missing Brent even more.
"Food is ready" Jess announced breaking Stephanie out of her thoughts. She raised her head from staring at her wedding rings and happened to look over at Paul. He was now sitting there quiet and staring at her hands which confused her until she realized he was staring at her rings like she had been. "Guys I'm not making your plates of food for you too."
Everyone started chuckling and finally got up to fix their plate of food.
"That was pretty good Jess" Paul said patting his stomach.
"Thank you Paul" Jess replied with a smile.
They were all now sitting on the couch in the living room relaxing after dinner. Stephanie had started to feel a little more comfortable now. Maybe it was because Paul hadn't tried hitting on her anymore or stared at her. Somewhere through dinner she had relaxed and started to enjoy her friend's company. It was pretty funny to watch Jess and Paul interact with each other though because it seemed like Paul was purposely trying to annoy Jess. There was also Paul and Sam's interactions too which had made her laugh. It was a nice change to laugh instead of cry or feel sad but it also made her feel guilty that she was laughing today of all days.
"So where did that ball go?" Paul asked with an amused smile on his face as Jess narrowed her eyes at him.
"Somewhere you won't find it" Jess replied grabbing the remote to the television and turning it on.
"Oh I could find it" Paul said stretching his legs out and sinking back further into the leather couch. "But I'm too full to go searching and too comfortable."
"I seriously have to get that ball back to Aaron" Jess replied talking about her nephew.
"I bet he gets to play with it in here" Paul joked turning his attention to the television as Jess flipped through the channels.
"God Paul you are like a kid" Jess replied shaking her head and finally settled on a romance movie to watch.
"No, no not happening" Paul said shaking his head and getting up from the couch. There was no way he was sitting there watching this garbage. His friend might have to because it was his girlfriend but he wasn't watching it.
"What's wrong with it?" Jess asked crossing her arms and glaring at him.
"It's a romance movie. That's what is wrong with it. You do realize that half of the shit in these doesn't happen in real life?"
"You do realize that half of the shit in your action and horror movies don't happen in real life too, right?" Jess asked raising her eyebrow and stared at him.
"At least it's entertaining" Paul replied with a shrug. "Well it was fun. Up until now so thanks for dinner and Sam I'll see you later."
"I think I'm going to go too" Stephanie said getting up from the couch. It was the perfect opportunity for her to get out of watching it too. Usually she loved watching romance movies but she couldn't handle it today and if Paul got to leave then why shouldn't she get to too? Besides she just wanted to go home and be by herself for a while.
"Seriously Steph?" Jess asked bummed that her friend wanted to leave too.
"See she's a girl and she doesn't even want to watch it" Paul said pointing at Stephanie.
"Shut up Paul" Jess replied giving him a dirty look. She had a feeling why Stephanie didn't want to stick around and watch it. She actually had a good excuse of why though.
"I just kind of want to get home" Stephanie replied with a shrug.
"Okay well you will call me when you get home right?" Jess asked and Stephanie nodded her head. "Let Paul walk you to your car."
Stephanie looked at Jess weird wondering why Jess wanted her to let Paul walk her to the car. She watched as Jess got up from the couch and came over to her before pulling her to the door.
"It's not what you think. I don't like you walking alone to your car at night" Jess whispered.
"Nothing has ever happened before when I did it"
"I would feel better if you let Paul walk you to your car"
"Fine" Stephanie replied rolling her eyes as her friend smiled at her.
"You don't mind walking Steph to her car do you Paul?" Jess asked in a sweet voice as he approached them by the door.
"Uh I guess not" Paul replied with a shrug as Stephanie grabbed her umbrella from where she had sat it earlier.
"Great. I'll see you later" Jess said pulling Stephanie into a hug and then turned to Paul. "It was nice meeting you. I think"
"Aww" Paul replied putting his hand on his chest. "You too."
Stephanie chuckled before opening the door and walking out. She waved to her friend one last time before heading to the elevator with Paul following behind her. After pushing the button for the elevator they stood there in kind of an awkward silence waiting for the elevator. Neither one of them not really knowing what to say to the other. It was kind of weird for her because he had been the first one to talk to her earlier and he didn't seem to have a problem talking to Jess who he had just met.
When the elevator doors opened and stepped in Paul was feeling awkward at the silence but he didn't want to say anything. He was afraid he couldn't stop himself from hitting on her and she was clearly a taken woman. So the only thing he knew to do was keep his mouth shut because he didn't want to make her uncomfortable. When he had first saw her walk the through the door of the apartment tonight he hadn't been able to stop himself from staring at her. That had changed really fast for him though after he noticed her wedding ring and couldn't help but feel disappointed. She was a beautiful woman after all, did he really expect for her to be single? He did wonder why her husband hadn't joined them for dinner though but he didn't dare ask. He shook his head clearing his thoughts as the elevator doors opened again and they headed into the lobby.
Stephanie was relieved when they had made it into the lobby and quickly walked through it making it outside to where her car which wasn't far away. The rain had stopped which she was grateful for because she hated being in it or driving in it.
"This is me" Stephanie said breaking the silence when they reached her car. "Thanks for walking me to my car."
"No problem" Paul replied giving her a smile as she unlocked her door and opened it. "It was nice meeting you."
"You too" Stephanie said with a nod.
"Maybe we'll see each other again sometime" Paul replied watching her get into her car.
"I'm sure we will" Stephanie said with a chuckle. "Well bye Paul."
"Bye Stephanie" Paul replied watching her shut her door before heading off to his own car hoping that he would see her again. He knew she was a married woman but he couldn't help but want to see her again. Maybe they could at least be friends, well if he could actually talk to her without making an ass out of himself.