A New Life,
~*Rosie Scrivello, DDS
Dedicated again to Luis, who I will slowly and painfully kill (yes, I'll use a glass wall!) if this ever happens.
A new life. What I wouldn't give to have a new life! One thing I have learned as I go through life: nothing is for free along the way.
Picking a smaller version of their wedding picture, Lori sighed at the way things used to be. They were so in love… now… she was lucky if he even stopped in to say 'hello'. His work had finally taken over his life. She walked around the lonely beach house, wondering what happened, where their love went. She made dinners for herself, and lit candles to maybe get him to fall in love if he came home. She always wore the clothes he loved on her, did things he used to love, left little gifts on his pillow. They disappeared during the night, so she supposed he came up, took them, slept, and then left. Lori liked to pretend that he loved them, and he appreciated them so much; but he never had time to tell her. That was the only comfort she had.
A new start, that's the thing I need to give me new heart. Half a chance in life to find a new part. Just a simple role that I can play.
Sitting down to another lonely candlelight dinner, the phone rang.
"Hello?" she answered.
"Hey! Babe! How is you?" it was Diana, her best friend of MANY years.
"Oh hey, yeah. I'm in the middle of dinner, can I call you back?"
"Sure! Is Rob there?" Diana knew about the whole Rob deal and how he was slowly removing himself from her life.
There was a silence from Lori's side, and Diana didn't say anything either; there was an awkward silence for a few minutes afterwards.
"Yeah, okay. See ya lata babe."
"Bye," Lori hung up the white phone and walked absently mindedly to the table.
A new hope, something to convince me to renew hope. A new day bright enough to help me find my way. A new chance, one that has a touch of romance. Where can it be? The chance for me?
Lori poked the chicken she tenderly made in case Rob came home; chicken was his favourite food. The door creaked open, and she jumped up so fast, she knocked over the chair. It fell onto the wall, but denting the wall was the least of her concerns right now.
Getting her feet out from the table, and nearly leaping over the chair, she ran downstairs and to the door with a huge smile on her face. Screaming "ROB!" as she raced down the stairs, her heart was broken when she got to the door. It was Jerry.
"Um.. Hey, Lori… this is your locket that you wanted me to fix?" Jerry handed her a small box that contained a locket "LORI AND ROB" engraved on the front and a picture of them laughing in the inside.
"Oh yeah thanks," she took the box, and closed the door.
A new dream, I have one. I know that very few dream. I would like to see that overdue dream even though it never may come true.
Lori put the box on the steps as she went upstairs and closed the kitchen doors once she got there. The chicken was cold. She wasn't going to eat it anyway. Leaving it there, she left the kitchen and went up a small flight of stairs to the small 3rd floor which contained a hallway with a computer at the end, and a bedroom to the right. It was "her" floor. The door was always locked when Rob was home. She claimed it was a storage closet for all her childhood stuff; he fully trusted her, so he never went in there.
She only used the computer to find out about stuff that she did not want Rob to know about, and went online under a different alias and personality and flirted with guys and girls alike - another thing Rob did not know about. The bedroom was used now more often. It was not their bed, it was hers, so there were no memories.
A new love, though I know there's no such thing as true love. Even so, although I never knew love, still I feel that one dream is my due!
Lori walked back down the small flight of stairs and nearly fell over. She wasn't doing so well. Her complexion was fine, but her skin was turn more pale with each passing day; the bags showed evidence of little sleep. The glow in her eyes had died a while ago, and she sometimes forgot to eat. All in all, she was in horrible condition. If not for friends, and the hope that Rob would return, she would have died of a broken heart long ago.
With sudden inspiration, she grabbed the box, and her long tan legs brought her running through the house; Lori ventured out into the backyard and down the private boardwalk to the beach. Once at the end, she undid the chain, and ran onto the beach. The warm sand felt great between her toes. Smiling, she ran out knee deep in the ocean. Opening the box, she took out the chain, and opened it one last time.
"Goodbye Rob!" she yelled, and proudly flung the chain into the ocean; forever to be preserved as a memory of the love she once had to many generations to come.
A new world, this is one thing I want to ask of you, world. Once - before it's time to say adieu, world. One sweet chance to prove the cynics wrong!
Once back in the house, she started renovating. The door was locked once more, but the key was spared. That was now her permanent bedroom. Some of the rooms were changed to bedrooms, upstairs and down. The basement was changed to a lair to chill out with buds and newcomers. The kitchen was re-organized to a more homely look and feel. Life came pouring back to Lori, and she called her friends to tell them to come over and hear about her new ambitious project.
A new life, more and more I'm sure, as I go through life, just to play the and to pursue life, just to share its pleasures and belong. That's what I've been here for all along!
Soon enough, the large beach house was turned into Lori's Bed and Breakfast. Rob never returned, and Lori soon forgot all she could. The pool and the private boardwalk was a great seller that a lot of people enjoyed. She played piano weekly to entertain the guests, and helped to watch the kids. Everyone thought of her as a great women who loved her life and herself, and they wondered why she wasn't married. She smiled a smile of the past and tried not to laugh at all the times she dreamed that Rob would return.
There was a knock at the door during lunch, which caused Lori to leave the fun and run downstairs. The kids peered down the stairs with protests from their parents. Once they heard though, it was not long until the whole Bed and Breakfast knew.
Each day's a brand new life!
"Do you, Jerry Sanford, take Lori Dendary, to be your lawfully wedded wife?" the elderly priest said, in a large church not far from a rather successful Bed and Breakfast. His voice echoed forever in her mind.