I'm feeling a little emo today and this came from it. I hope you enjoy.
"Don't I know you," the question was an easy one and shouldn't be causing him this much anxiety, but it was more than the question it was the person who had asked.
He turned and looked into her brown eyes, once again finding himself getting lost in their depths. His breath hitches and he lowers his eyes. "I'm sorry," he chokes out, "you must have me confused with someone else."
"Oh," she replies, "please, I'm sorry. It's just that you seem so familiar to me." She turns her attention to the young man who steps up besides her, "Hey, Ben did you find what you were looking for."
"Yeah, grabbed the last one," he answers as he holds up the bag containing the new lap tap he had just purchased, "the guy said it's the one all the college freshmen are getting." Ben lowers the bag and looks at the man he mother had been talking to. "Hey, don't I know you," he asks.
There's something that flashes in the man's green eyes before he responds, "Nope, sorry kid. It's a case of mistaken identity." The man's voice cracks and his eyes water up.
"Oh, sorry," Ben says as he holds his hand out, "I'm Ben. It's nice to meet you."
The man takes Ben's hand and gives it a firm shake. "Names, Dean. It's nice to meet you."
The woman tucks a strand of her brunette hair behind one of her ears as she silently watches the interaction. She can't shake the feeling that she knows this man, but she can't put her finger on how. She shakes herself out of her musing, places a hand on her son's shoulder and says, "Well, Dean. It was nice meeting you; but, we still have a lot to get done today and we really wouldn't want to keep you from your errands either."
"Well, ok…," He stumbles over the words. He doesn't want to let them go, not again. He holds out his hand to her and she accepts it. "Lisa," he continues after she had given him her name, "It was very nice meeting you, too."
He watches as they walk away. He feels a knot form in the pit of his stomach when Lisa glances at him over her shoulder. He wants to run to her. He wants to tell her everything. He wants to make her understand how sorry he is and that he hates how much he has missed out on. But, he can't. The man who walks up to them and places his arms around her, wrapping her in a tight embrace, and the laughter that rings back to his ears won't let him. He had given them up, all those years ago, so they could have what they have right now…..normal.
He turns and heads in the other direction, the sights and sounds of the strip mall lost to him. He wipes the single tear that had escaped from his eye away, straightens his shoulders and files his emotions away. They were better off without him, even if he wasn't.
His life was meant to be a solitary one, well with the exception of his brother and a small rag tag group of friends; love was not to have a part. He was going to die young and alone and he had accepted this a long time ago; didn't mean it didn't sting like a bitch, but he had accepted it.
His life was messy and complicated by things that were better left in the dark. He had left them to their peace and he'd be damned before he took it from them. He slides behind the wheel of the only home he has ever known and starts her up. The low rumble of her engine fills him with a peace that only she can and his brother's softly spoken, "Are you ok," and grudging acceptance of the standard "Yeah, I'm fine," brings him back from his thoughts of what could have been, back to the reality of what is.