As the day drew to a close, Mark stood on the street curb, filming anything and everything he could. He would always have his camera with him and whip it out whenever he saw something that caught his eye. People started to get annoyed by his constant filming, especially Roger, his best friend. All Roger wanted was some peace and quiet to work on his music and hang out with Mimi. But with Mark always shoving the camera into his face, Roger could get none of that.
The whispers started long before Maureen broke up with Mark, but they became more true later.
"Mark has got his work."
"Mark lives for his work."
"Mark is in love with his work."
The sad thing is that most of it was true. His filming was the only thing he could get lost in. When he went outside to film, he lost track of the time of day. He forgot his lonely life and became immersed in the lives of others.
'One day,' he vowed silently to himself as the whispers got louder and louder the longer he walked down the street. 'I will make a famous movie and they all will regret whispering about me.' But as he continued to film, he realised that his dream was getting farther and farther away. It was slowly slipping through his hands the more he filmed.
He needed this release. He was the scapegoat of the group, the one that everyone could laugh at. He not only was always filming but he got dumped by a lesbian. Yeah, he had it rough.
The worst part about it was that he still had feelings for Maureen. He could never get her out of his head. He would be filming something and he would hear her laugh in the distance. He would quickly turn to see her but she would not be there. Soon he stopped looking because he knew she would never be there.
As he was filming a homeless man on the sidewalk begging for money, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around and stopped his camera. It was Maureen. She smiled widely and hugged him tightly. He felt awkward as he returned the hug.
"Mark!" she said excitedly.
"Maureen," he said.
"Aren't you excited to see me?" she asked, tilting her head to the side. Mark quickly averted his eyes since he thought it was an adorable habit of hers.
"Ecstatic!" he said with false enthusiasm. She smiled widely as she took his hand in hers as if they had never broken up. It killed Mark on the inside. He tried to wiggle his hand out of hers but she held on tighter.
"We haven't seen each other in months but you don't want to hang out with me," she said, pouting her lips a little bit. This was another habit that Mark found irresistible.
"It's not that I don't want to hang out with you, it's just that I have a lot of work that I have to do," he said, saying the first excuse that came to his mind. He wanted to be near her but he knew he would fall harder if he hung around her.
"Ah yes Mark's work. You see, this is exactly why I broke up with you! You were too invested in your work and not in me."
"I was invested in you! Every Saturday we would sneak into the movie theater and watch four movies all for free! Remember? And I would always be there at every performance of yours. If anyone was not invested, it would be you." She pulled her hand out of his. For a second he missed the feeling of her hand in his.
"This is about something else, isn't it?" One of Maureen's many talents was seeing that something was wrong with others. So much was wrong with Mark at that moment.
"Come on Mark! You can tell me anything," she said, quoting exactly what he said when she refused to come to the movies one day with him. That was the day she broke off their relationship.
He decided to come right out and say it:
"I still have feelings for you Maureen." She was silent for what seemed like a long time. He felt awkward just standing there and hurried to fill the silence,
"I tried not to feel this way because you are with Joanne, but I can't hide feelings like these. I have kept this bottled up for so long… The only thing that I could do was drown myself in my work. I couldn't find any other outlet for my feelings," he had nothing else to say so he stood there and waited for Maureen to reply.
"This is an interesting turn of events," she said slowly, still processing what he told her. "I never would have guessed that you have these feelings."
"People usually can't guess this," he agreed with her.
"Mark, I'm sorry but I just do not return your feelings," she said. "I have a happy life with Joanne and I don't want to lose it. You need to get over your schoolgirl crush."
"That's the thing Maureen. It's not a crush. I think I love you." The wait for her reply was unbearable. She stood in her place, looking shocked at Mark's face, trying to see if he was lying. He wasn't.
"I'm sorry Mark," she said. She turned and ran.
Mark and Maureen never saw each other again. Mark knew he loved her, but he slowly began to realise that she destroys a person's heart and once she is done she never looks back no matter how much the other person loved her. She rips their heart into pieces and throws the pieces to the wind. She leaves a path of destruction behind her. Mark was just another person she mowed down.
As the years dragged on, he slowly lost the love he had for Maureen. He never found the "perfect someone", but he did learn an important thing about love: never put so much in that you can't get out easily. He was lost so deep in his love for Maureen that he gave and gave until there was nothing left to give. When he had poured everything into their relationship, he was in so deep that he couldn't come back up until much later. Maureen could pull up her roots any time she pleased because she contributed nothing to the relationship. Mark learned his lesson.
But he never fell in love again.