Chapter 1: It all lead up to this
Joey Potter sat on a bench in Carlisle Park, breathing heavily into a brown paper bag. She was having another anxiety attack, her second one today and fourth one this week. In two days she was getting married to her long-time boyfriend Paul, whom she met while studying in France. They had been dating for three years and now they were about to get married. She never used to suffer from panic attacks, but as the wedding drew closer and closer, she became an insomniac, her mind racing and heart feeling like it was about to pop out of her chest. She knew that she loved Paul, she loved him the first moment they met in Montemarte at a small sidewalk café, but recently she began to wonder if this is what she really wanted. Yes she loved him, but there was this nagging feeling in the back of her head that he wasn't "the one" for her, that there was someone else waiting for her out there. She dismissed those thoughts as "cold feet" for awhile, but then things started happening, her dress was torn while being hemmed, the caterer and the dance hall cancelled at the last minute and now she began to wonder if they were signs that this wasn't supposed to happen.
"Joey are you okay?" Paul asked, sitting softly beside her on the bench. She nodded, still gasping for air in the brown bag. He had also noticed his fiancée's recent anxiety and saw her pulling away from him for the first time ever. "What are you thinking about?"
"Paul I don't know what to do," she breathed, pulling the bag away from her mouth. "Things were fine and then everything went wrong, one thing after another. We get married in two days and we don't have food or a reception location, what are we going to do? I just don't know."
"Maybe we should postpone the wedding for awhile and re-plan everything, take time to make sure everything is settled before going through with it," he breathed, cracking his knuckles, something Joey hated more than anything. She looked at him with a bittersweet look on her face. He didn't have the heart to tell her that he overheard her talking to her sister a few days ago, confiding her fears that there was really something else out there for her, a great love she had not met yet. Paul always thought he was enough for her, but no matter how much she loved him, she would always wonder what else was out there unless he did something about it.
"Are you sure?" she breathed, almost relieved.
"Yes and I think you should take our honeymoon trip to Hawaii now, take that time to be by yourself and figure some stuff out on your own," he said sadly. "Then when you come back, we'll get started on our plans again." Joey looked at him with a weak smile and nodded.
"We'll take a break and then begin the rest of our life together when I get back," she whispered, moving closer to him and letting him hold her close against his chest.
Dawson Leery sat at his usual table at Mattie's diner waiting for his girlfriend Sara. She was running her usual twenty minutes late for their regular Friday night date and he was getting tired of waiting. He checked his watch for the last time and was about to get up and leave when she came flying in the diner door, rushing over to his table and collapsing in the chair with a big smile. He looked at her with an annoyed look on his face, folding his arms across his chest.
"Hi honey I'm sorry I'm late," she sighed, paging through the diner menu.
"You're twenty minutes late Sara, I was about to leave," he said curtly, finishing the rest of this second soda.
"I promise once we get married honey I'll be more punctual, I promise," she said, watching Dawson's reaction to her comment. He nearly choked on his soda, coughing loudly and clearing his throat. Struggling to take a deep breath, he could feel her eyes on him. This was not the first time Sara had dropped subtle hints about what their life would be once they were married, the only problem being that they weren't even engaged!
"Sara." he started, trying to talk normally.
"Dawson we've been dating for a year and half now and I really think we need to talk about where this is going," she said coldly, putting the menu down and staring angrily at him, which did a lot recently. "I want to know if you see marriage in our future or if I'm just wasting my time."
"Sara we've only been together for a year and half!" he said defensively. "Why do we suddenly have to decide the rest of our relationship now. Things are going really well now, but I don't know if I see us married or not and your not so subtle hints don't really help." She sighed and sank down in her chair. A moment of silence passed between them and neither one really knew what to say.
"Fine then, I have an idea," she sighed, fidgeting in her purse. "Take our vacation to Hawaii by yourself and think this over, our future, our relationship. Go and relax for a few weeks and then come back with a decision about all this. I want to get married Dawson, but if you're still unsure or having doubts then I think we should just walk away from this." She pulled out a plane ticket and put it in front of him. "This is your time to decide what you want Dawson. It's now or never." He stared at the ticket for a minute and believed what she was saying. He could use the time away from work and from Sara, who recently had begun to wear on his last nerve. She was only his second very serious girlfriend. He dated many women before her, but none of those relationships lasted more than a month or two. They were all lovely women, but he kept feeling like there was something else out there for him, someone he was supposed to meet and spend the rest of his life with and he never had that feeling with any of these women, even Sara. So now he had a few weeks to himself to process everything and decide if Sara was it for him or if he could get rid of the nagging feeling in the back of his head that his soul mate was still out there, waiting to find him too.
Joey Potter sat on a bench in Carlisle Park, breathing heavily into a brown paper bag. She was having another anxiety attack, her second one today and fourth one this week. In two days she was getting married to her long-time boyfriend Paul, whom she met while studying in France. They had been dating for three years and now they were about to get married. She never used to suffer from panic attacks, but as the wedding drew closer and closer, she became an insomniac, her mind racing and heart feeling like it was about to pop out of her chest. She knew that she loved Paul, she loved him the first moment they met in Montemarte at a small sidewalk café, but recently she began to wonder if this is what she really wanted. Yes she loved him, but there was this nagging feeling in the back of her head that he wasn't "the one" for her, that there was someone else waiting for her out there. She dismissed those thoughts as "cold feet" for awhile, but then things started happening, her dress was torn while being hemmed, the caterer and the dance hall cancelled at the last minute and now she began to wonder if they were signs that this wasn't supposed to happen.
"Joey are you okay?" Paul asked, sitting softly beside her on the bench. She nodded, still gasping for air in the brown bag. He had also noticed his fiancée's recent anxiety and saw her pulling away from him for the first time ever. "What are you thinking about?"
"Paul I don't know what to do," she breathed, pulling the bag away from her mouth. "Things were fine and then everything went wrong, one thing after another. We get married in two days and we don't have food or a reception location, what are we going to do? I just don't know."
"Maybe we should postpone the wedding for awhile and re-plan everything, take time to make sure everything is settled before going through with it," he breathed, cracking his knuckles, something Joey hated more than anything. She looked at him with a bittersweet look on her face. He didn't have the heart to tell her that he overheard her talking to her sister a few days ago, confiding her fears that there was really something else out there for her, a great love she had not met yet. Paul always thought he was enough for her, but no matter how much she loved him, she would always wonder what else was out there unless he did something about it.
"Are you sure?" she breathed, almost relieved.
"Yes and I think you should take our honeymoon trip to Hawaii now, take that time to be by yourself and figure some stuff out on your own," he said sadly. "Then when you come back, we'll get started on our plans again." Joey looked at him with a weak smile and nodded.
"We'll take a break and then begin the rest of our life together when I get back," she whispered, moving closer to him and letting him hold her close against his chest.
Dawson Leery sat at his usual table at Mattie's diner waiting for his girlfriend Sara. She was running her usual twenty minutes late for their regular Friday night date and he was getting tired of waiting. He checked his watch for the last time and was about to get up and leave when she came flying in the diner door, rushing over to his table and collapsing in the chair with a big smile. He looked at her with an annoyed look on his face, folding his arms across his chest.
"Hi honey I'm sorry I'm late," she sighed, paging through the diner menu.
"You're twenty minutes late Sara, I was about to leave," he said curtly, finishing the rest of this second soda.
"I promise once we get married honey I'll be more punctual, I promise," she said, watching Dawson's reaction to her comment. He nearly choked on his soda, coughing loudly and clearing his throat. Struggling to take a deep breath, he could feel her eyes on him. This was not the first time Sara had dropped subtle hints about what their life would be once they were married, the only problem being that they weren't even engaged!
"Sara." he started, trying to talk normally.
"Dawson we've been dating for a year and half now and I really think we need to talk about where this is going," she said coldly, putting the menu down and staring angrily at him, which did a lot recently. "I want to know if you see marriage in our future or if I'm just wasting my time."
"Sara we've only been together for a year and half!" he said defensively. "Why do we suddenly have to decide the rest of our relationship now. Things are going really well now, but I don't know if I see us married or not and your not so subtle hints don't really help." She sighed and sank down in her chair. A moment of silence passed between them and neither one really knew what to say.
"Fine then, I have an idea," she sighed, fidgeting in her purse. "Take our vacation to Hawaii by yourself and think this over, our future, our relationship. Go and relax for a few weeks and then come back with a decision about all this. I want to get married Dawson, but if you're still unsure or having doubts then I think we should just walk away from this." She pulled out a plane ticket and put it in front of him. "This is your time to decide what you want Dawson. It's now or never." He stared at the ticket for a minute and believed what she was saying. He could use the time away from work and from Sara, who recently had begun to wear on his last nerve. She was only his second very serious girlfriend. He dated many women before her, but none of those relationships lasted more than a month or two. They were all lovely women, but he kept feeling like there was something else out there for him, someone he was supposed to meet and spend the rest of his life with and he never had that feeling with any of these women, even Sara. So now he had a few weeks to himself to process everything and decide if Sara was it for him or if he could get rid of the nagging feeling in the back of his head that his soul mate was still out there, waiting to find him too.
