Ninety miles outside Chicago
Can't stop driving
I don't know why...
He glanced down at the speedometer and realized he was going too slowly for the highway he was traveling. "Okay, so I don't want to go where I'm going and is there anything wrong with that? No, there isn't. Why would I want to go to a damn wedding? Me, Eli Sammler, attend a wedding willingly? Never." He sighed. The wedding he was attending wasn't just any wedding. It was Grace's wedding. She was getting married and he had to stop her. Eli always thought they would end up together. Their future had now become his future alone and it wasn't filled with happiness or love or anything he had imagined he'd have with Grace. "I am an idiot." He sped up and glanced at the seat beside him. He saw a white envelope with a stamp and her writing and felt a tear fall slowly down his cheek. "Damn love stamps. They need to be outlawed...especially on wedding invitations."
"Almost there. Great. Like I want to actually get there this early in the day. Not even noon yet. Forget the fact that I don't even want to be at home this weekend, now I'm going to be there 3 days early with almost an entire day to kill when I get there. Things should pick up tomorrow. What am I going to do today?" Eli's mind began to wander, trying to decide what he could do to occupy his time. "Can't think about any of this until I get there. No sense in trying to figure it out before I see Lily and Dad. She'll come up with something for me to do I'm sure. Maybe I'll go to Mom's...no, Lily said she may need my help with wedding stuff and I promised her I would. Idiot." He let his mind drift. It drifted in the wrong direction as it took him to the day he got the wedding invitation in the mail.
6 weeks earlier
"Hello? Yeah, I'm on my way. I know I know...it was the alarm. No, its not broken, I forgot to set it. I know. Coop, I'll be there. No there isn't anyone here. I'm leaving now. See ya." Eli hung up the phone, grabbed his jacket, and walked out the door. He turned to lock his door when he saw a note taped to it. "Mr. Sammler, please come to the office to pick up your mail." Eli laughed. He always forgot to check his mailbox so it must be full and the landlord was annoyed...again. He knocked on the door and when it opened he began, "I know, I'm sorry. I swear I'll remember to check my box every day. Honest. I'll remember." "That's okay, there is a package this time so I just took all your mail out of your box. Here you go." "Thanks. And I will remember to get it from now on." With a smile, Eli left for the studio without looking at his mail.
"Lets take a break okay? Coop, go outside, calm down, and then we'll work this part out. Come on, take a breather." They'd all been grating on each other's nerves. Yesterday it was Eli who had to escape. "Fine. I'll be back." Eli sat down and began to read his mail. "Junk. Bill. Bill. Junk. Junk. Another bill. Wait, packages should always be opened first. Mom. Mmmm, she must have sent cookies." Eli opened the box and found a letter, his mom's favorite cookies they still share, and some vitamins. Eli sighed and decided he would start taking the vitamins. "Since she sends me a bottle with every package. Gotta love the care packages though. Now back to my bills. Oh, an actual letter. From Grace. Dammit." He sighed as he opened it. "A wedding? Grace's wedding. They're getting married? No...no..." Eli stood, picked up his mail, and left. He blew past Coop outside and never said a word to anyone. He had to get away. He went to his apartment and hid. He hid for 4 days before he would answer the phone or let anyone in. He wrote three songs in that time. No one would hear those songs.
Back in the car
"Songs. Those three miserable songs." Eli sighed. Flipping through countless radio stations he couldn't find a song to listen to. They were all love songs. He found the least annoying station and listened because he couldn't stand the silence and his CDs were in the back of the car. Eli knew he couldn't stop and get them because once he stopped he would turn around and completely avoid the wedding. "The love in these songs doesn't exist. It's difficult and you slowly, painfully lose your mind. You get your heart shattered into a million pieces. It never works out in the end." He sighed again as he thought back to so many chances with Grace lost to stupidity. "I didn't kiss her the first time there was a wedding. Chicken. Who cares if we were interrupted? I'm the rebel...the bad one she was supposed to avoid. Why not kiss Grace? Coward. The day I left, I kissed her cheek. Her soft silky cheek. I missed my target by a good two inches. Wimp. I never wrote her. Okay, I wrote, I just never wrote anything in those letters but how great it was to be living my dream. Told her how happy I was. Told her how the guys and I were gonna get a deal. Never told her I loved her. Never told her I wanted her there with me to share in all of it. Never told Grace I was an emotional wreck and if it weren't for my music, I would go insane. Never told her every word I wrote was meant for her. I made up some mystery woman I was madly in love with that I wrote it all for. She was blonde and had pale blue eyes and was the complete opposite of Grace Manning. It wont be Manning much longer though will it? Eli saw the sign for the exit he needed. He wondered if he should take the exit and get right back on the highway and back to his life of loneliness. For some reason he turned and headed for home and it would forever change his life.
He pulled in front of the house and felt as though he would throw up. "I need a joint. I need a drink. Why did I have to go clean and sober? It is so much easier seeing Grace when its all a little fuzzy. Here goes nothing Sammler. Oh god, there she is." He lost his breath, his stomach did a weird flip, his hands gripped the steering wheel, and he couldn't move. It was all because Grace walked out the front door with a smile on her face. A smile he used to hate and tried to avoid when they were first thrown together. A smile that he now misses more than anything from this town and a smile he'll never wake up to like he so desperately wants to do. I should have turned around.
Can't stop driving
I don't know why...
He glanced down at the speedometer and realized he was going too slowly for the highway he was traveling. "Okay, so I don't want to go where I'm going and is there anything wrong with that? No, there isn't. Why would I want to go to a damn wedding? Me, Eli Sammler, attend a wedding willingly? Never." He sighed. The wedding he was attending wasn't just any wedding. It was Grace's wedding. She was getting married and he had to stop her. Eli always thought they would end up together. Their future had now become his future alone and it wasn't filled with happiness or love or anything he had imagined he'd have with Grace. "I am an idiot." He sped up and glanced at the seat beside him. He saw a white envelope with a stamp and her writing and felt a tear fall slowly down his cheek. "Damn love stamps. They need to be outlawed...especially on wedding invitations."
"Almost there. Great. Like I want to actually get there this early in the day. Not even noon yet. Forget the fact that I don't even want to be at home this weekend, now I'm going to be there 3 days early with almost an entire day to kill when I get there. Things should pick up tomorrow. What am I going to do today?" Eli's mind began to wander, trying to decide what he could do to occupy his time. "Can't think about any of this until I get there. No sense in trying to figure it out before I see Lily and Dad. She'll come up with something for me to do I'm sure. Maybe I'll go to Mom's...no, Lily said she may need my help with wedding stuff and I promised her I would. Idiot." He let his mind drift. It drifted in the wrong direction as it took him to the day he got the wedding invitation in the mail.
6 weeks earlier
"Hello? Yeah, I'm on my way. I know I know...it was the alarm. No, its not broken, I forgot to set it. I know. Coop, I'll be there. No there isn't anyone here. I'm leaving now. See ya." Eli hung up the phone, grabbed his jacket, and walked out the door. He turned to lock his door when he saw a note taped to it. "Mr. Sammler, please come to the office to pick up your mail." Eli laughed. He always forgot to check his mailbox so it must be full and the landlord was annoyed...again. He knocked on the door and when it opened he began, "I know, I'm sorry. I swear I'll remember to check my box every day. Honest. I'll remember." "That's okay, there is a package this time so I just took all your mail out of your box. Here you go." "Thanks. And I will remember to get it from now on." With a smile, Eli left for the studio without looking at his mail.
"Lets take a break okay? Coop, go outside, calm down, and then we'll work this part out. Come on, take a breather." They'd all been grating on each other's nerves. Yesterday it was Eli who had to escape. "Fine. I'll be back." Eli sat down and began to read his mail. "Junk. Bill. Bill. Junk. Junk. Another bill. Wait, packages should always be opened first. Mom. Mmmm, she must have sent cookies." Eli opened the box and found a letter, his mom's favorite cookies they still share, and some vitamins. Eli sighed and decided he would start taking the vitamins. "Since she sends me a bottle with every package. Gotta love the care packages though. Now back to my bills. Oh, an actual letter. From Grace. Dammit." He sighed as he opened it. "A wedding? Grace's wedding. They're getting married? No...no..." Eli stood, picked up his mail, and left. He blew past Coop outside and never said a word to anyone. He had to get away. He went to his apartment and hid. He hid for 4 days before he would answer the phone or let anyone in. He wrote three songs in that time. No one would hear those songs.
Back in the car
"Songs. Those three miserable songs." Eli sighed. Flipping through countless radio stations he couldn't find a song to listen to. They were all love songs. He found the least annoying station and listened because he couldn't stand the silence and his CDs were in the back of the car. Eli knew he couldn't stop and get them because once he stopped he would turn around and completely avoid the wedding. "The love in these songs doesn't exist. It's difficult and you slowly, painfully lose your mind. You get your heart shattered into a million pieces. It never works out in the end." He sighed again as he thought back to so many chances with Grace lost to stupidity. "I didn't kiss her the first time there was a wedding. Chicken. Who cares if we were interrupted? I'm the rebel...the bad one she was supposed to avoid. Why not kiss Grace? Coward. The day I left, I kissed her cheek. Her soft silky cheek. I missed my target by a good two inches. Wimp. I never wrote her. Okay, I wrote, I just never wrote anything in those letters but how great it was to be living my dream. Told her how happy I was. Told her how the guys and I were gonna get a deal. Never told her I loved her. Never told her I wanted her there with me to share in all of it. Never told Grace I was an emotional wreck and if it weren't for my music, I would go insane. Never told her every word I wrote was meant for her. I made up some mystery woman I was madly in love with that I wrote it all for. She was blonde and had pale blue eyes and was the complete opposite of Grace Manning. It wont be Manning much longer though will it? Eli saw the sign for the exit he needed. He wondered if he should take the exit and get right back on the highway and back to his life of loneliness. For some reason he turned and headed for home and it would forever change his life.
He pulled in front of the house and felt as though he would throw up. "I need a joint. I need a drink. Why did I have to go clean and sober? It is so much easier seeing Grace when its all a little fuzzy. Here goes nothing Sammler. Oh god, there she is." He lost his breath, his stomach did a weird flip, his hands gripped the steering wheel, and he couldn't move. It was all because Grace walked out the front door with a smile on her face. A smile he used to hate and tried to avoid when they were first thrown together. A smile that he now misses more than anything from this town and a smile he'll never wake up to like he so desperately wants to do. I should have turned around.