"A love like the love that we have can never die. I will love him my whole life, Whitney. Don't tell me that we will never be together. If you do, I just know that my heart will break."
"He's married, Theresa. He has a child already, and a second one on the way. I only want you to be happy, and I don't want you to try to interfere with the marriage and get yourself hurt all over again."
"Whitney, you know I would never wish any harm on Ethan or Gwen. I only want him to be happy, but I'm telling you Whitney. It was fate that brought us together before, and it will be fate that brings us together again. We are fated to be together."
Whitney sighed and shook her head. Impulsively, she hugged Theresa, wanting only for her best friend to be happy, wishing that she could find someone else to love with and live with. She thought of her own fiancee, Chad, and the happy life she dreamed that she would live with him. Fate. There's no such thing as fate. There is only life, as hard as it is, and love, something that you commit yourself to and make happen. Love is like a tennis victory, hard earned by commitment, devotion, intensity and years of readying your mind to the final victory.
She gazed at Theresa again.
"You have to try to find another man. Choose another man, who is worthy of you and loves you, then just devote yourself to him and let him devote himself to you."
Theresa began to sob.
"I don't want another man. I will never have with any other man the bond that I have with Ethan. I love him, and we are fated to love each other..."
Theresa's voice trailed off as she watched her best friend, who was watching her, next to the mahagony chair that had toppled over when she jumped. Whitney was standing and shaking her head violently, her hair spilling out of her bun and wildly hitting her face and eyes.
"Why do you always say "fate"? What is it with fate? I can't believe you sometimes, Theresa. There is no such thing! You are not fated to be with Ethan, to wreck his marriage, cause his two children to grow up in a broken home. Stop it Theresa, you scare me."
Whitney took a deep breath, shook her head again, and then she was still. She slowly pulled her long curly black hair back into a ponytail, righted the chair, and sat down again, almost crying.
"I just don't like to see you this way, Theresa. I remember when we used to spy on Ethan, and the fishtail guts dumped right on his head, covering him, and we had to run because he thought you were a stalker and how young we used to be, how much we loved life. Where are you, Theresa? Where is the Theresa that I used to know?"
Theresa began to cry. Her heart had been stomped on, crushed like grapes being trampled to wine. It had been wrung dry, so that she sometimes felt that she was unable to feel at all, as if she was frozen in ice.
"Whitney, I'm here. I've just grown up. I'm not a child anymore."
"Then grow out of this, please."
"I love him, and I will love him until the day I die."
"How do you know it is "fate"?" Whitney spit out. The word sent a cold clampy feeling through Whitney's spine, traveling up her body, making her feel as if she had a brain freeze. The word, as sweet to Theresa as choolate cookie dough ice cream, gave Whitney the chills caused by an ice cream headache, an almost sharp severe pain. She had started to hate it so much.
"I can feel it. I know that he is the only man that I can ever love. Just like I knew that you and Chad were fate. You two have a special bond between you, a closeness that you don't and can't ever have with anyone else."
Whitney smiled wryly.
"And Fox and his mystery woman are fate. If Fox can continue loving that woman after all these years, I can continue to love Ethan."
Whitney threw her hands up in the air.
"Ok, I have two delusional friends. I know this. Whatever."
Theresa laughed, hugging her arms around herself. Her somber expression brightened and she smiled, a million miles away. Whitney opened her mouth, about to say something harsh, then she closed it, bit her lip and looked away, her eyes glistening with tears.
"He's married, Theresa. He has a child already, and a second one on the way. I only want you to be happy, and I don't want you to try to interfere with the marriage and get yourself hurt all over again."
"Whitney, you know I would never wish any harm on Ethan or Gwen. I only want him to be happy, but I'm telling you Whitney. It was fate that brought us together before, and it will be fate that brings us together again. We are fated to be together."
Whitney sighed and shook her head. Impulsively, she hugged Theresa, wanting only for her best friend to be happy, wishing that she could find someone else to love with and live with. She thought of her own fiancee, Chad, and the happy life she dreamed that she would live with him. Fate. There's no such thing as fate. There is only life, as hard as it is, and love, something that you commit yourself to and make happen. Love is like a tennis victory, hard earned by commitment, devotion, intensity and years of readying your mind to the final victory.
She gazed at Theresa again.
"You have to try to find another man. Choose another man, who is worthy of you and loves you, then just devote yourself to him and let him devote himself to you."
Theresa began to sob.
"I don't want another man. I will never have with any other man the bond that I have with Ethan. I love him, and we are fated to love each other..."
Theresa's voice trailed off as she watched her best friend, who was watching her, next to the mahagony chair that had toppled over when she jumped. Whitney was standing and shaking her head violently, her hair spilling out of her bun and wildly hitting her face and eyes.
"Why do you always say "fate"? What is it with fate? I can't believe you sometimes, Theresa. There is no such thing! You are not fated to be with Ethan, to wreck his marriage, cause his two children to grow up in a broken home. Stop it Theresa, you scare me."
Whitney took a deep breath, shook her head again, and then she was still. She slowly pulled her long curly black hair back into a ponytail, righted the chair, and sat down again, almost crying.
"I just don't like to see you this way, Theresa. I remember when we used to spy on Ethan, and the fishtail guts dumped right on his head, covering him, and we had to run because he thought you were a stalker and how young we used to be, how much we loved life. Where are you, Theresa? Where is the Theresa that I used to know?"
Theresa began to cry. Her heart had been stomped on, crushed like grapes being trampled to wine. It had been wrung dry, so that she sometimes felt that she was unable to feel at all, as if she was frozen in ice.
"Whitney, I'm here. I've just grown up. I'm not a child anymore."
"Then grow out of this, please."
"I love him, and I will love him until the day I die."
"How do you know it is "fate"?" Whitney spit out. The word sent a cold clampy feeling through Whitney's spine, traveling up her body, making her feel as if she had a brain freeze. The word, as sweet to Theresa as choolate cookie dough ice cream, gave Whitney the chills caused by an ice cream headache, an almost sharp severe pain. She had started to hate it so much.
"I can feel it. I know that he is the only man that I can ever love. Just like I knew that you and Chad were fate. You two have a special bond between you, a closeness that you don't and can't ever have with anyone else."
Whitney smiled wryly.
"And Fox and his mystery woman are fate. If Fox can continue loving that woman after all these years, I can continue to love Ethan."
Whitney threw her hands up in the air.
"Ok, I have two delusional friends. I know this. Whatever."
Theresa laughed, hugging her arms around herself. Her somber expression brightened and she smiled, a million miles away. Whitney opened her mouth, about to say something harsh, then she closed it, bit her lip and looked away, her eyes glistening with tears.
