Love can Overcome Anything
Chapter Ten: Home Sweet Home
It was 5 in the morning and Bridget was doing her last minute packing. She looked inside her 2 bags. One of them contained dirty laundry and the other contained clothes that Bridget hadn't worn yet or they were just clean. Bridget dug around her "clean" bag and pulled out something near the bottom. It was her white halter dress. She took it out and looked at it real hard. This dress was the one she wore to her graduating party and the one she wore when Eric told her he loved her and explained everything. Sighing, Bridget put it back into her bag. She had brought this dress because she intended to wear it if anything special happened. Nothing did.
Diana poked her head into Bridget's cabin and said "Come on Bee, we've got to say bye to the Kickers"
Bridget looked up at Diana hopefully, and said "Only the Kickers?"
Diana laughed and replied "no, Bee, you're going to have to say goodbye to Eric and Jolene."
Bridget laughed and joked "yes mother"
Together, both Diana and Bridget walked out of their cabin and headed to the entrance and exit of the camp. There was a humongous bus waiting for the Kickers. The Kickers were lined up and saying goodbye to their new friends they made at the camp. Jolene was no where in sight. Eric was saying goodbye also. Bridget just froze in her tracks. She didn't want to say goodbye. In fact, she didn't want to ever see Eric again. Determined to not say goodbye and good luck to Eric, Bridget set off walking towards the end of the line and saying goodbye to every one of the Kickers.
"Bye, Good luck!" Bridget said to one of the Kickers
"So long, good luck!" Bridget said to another. On and on Bridget went until she was at the last Kicker. It was Tyler, the goalie who Bridget scored 8 goals against.
"Hi" Tyler greeted
"Hi, and good luck on your championship game! Bridget replied.
Tyler laughed. He said "I hope there aren't any players on the opponent team that are good as you are."
Bridget laughed with him and said "I hope so too."
"It was nice meeting someone who could score over 2 goals on me"
Bridget laughed and waved goodbye. She walked to Diana, who was staying silent. Diana turned to Bridget and said "did you say goodbye to EVERYONE?"
Bridget replied "maybe"
Diana laughed, and said "I really don't care if you don't say goodbye to Eric. Personally, I think you should, but it's your choice. I got to go do some paperwork now. See you later" Diana walked to her office.
By now, the Kickers were piling in their humongous bus. Eric didn't follow them. Instead, he walked towards Bridget and asked "No goodbye for me?"
Bridget remained silent. She shifted her feet and looked at the ground. She was still wounded that he had kissed her then introduced her to his girlfriend.
"Bee, come on, what's wrong?"
"Nothing"
'Then how come you won't say goodbye?"
"Why do I need to say goodbye to you?"
"Why won't you say goodbye to me?"
"Fine" Bridget gave in and in a voice so flat and with no feelings, she said "Bye Eric. I hope you have a good time in Italy." She looked around, but avoiding Eric's gaze.
Eric looked dissatisfied. "That's it? No hug, no nothing?"
Bridget shot back "What makes you so special?"
This time, Bridget felt bad. Eric looked worried and partially upset. He stepped forward and gave Bridget a hug even if she didn't want him to. Bridget pulled away. "You've got to go" she said, hoping that he'll leave her alone
Eric looked at his watch. "5 more minutes" He then attempted to give her another hug. This time, she didn't pull away. "Keep in touch okay?" Eric said
"Okay" Bridget replied even though she wanted to get Eric out of her life. She broke apart and said "good bye"
Eric nodded and jumped into the bus. The bus then drove away. Slowly, Bridget trudged back into her cabin and pulled her bags out into the entrance/exit of the camp. Diana got the car and once again told Bridget to say good bye to everyone. Bridget dropped her bags and said goodbye to every person on her team and all the coaches excluding Billy because she didn't know where he was.
Billy was waiting for her in front. Bridget looked at Billy and said "Well, goodbye" Billy nodded and said "Keep in touch" he then opened the door for Bridget to get in. Bridget hopped in the car and told Diana, "Let's go" Diana nodded and drove Bridget to the airport.
Once at the airport, Bridget looked at Diana and said "bye Di. I'll miss you so much" Bridget gave Diana a hug.
Diana then said "Thanks for the help, and I'll miss you too. Keep in touch"
Bridget nodded and headed off to her airplane. Once inside the airplane, Bridget fell immediately to sleep. She woke up 2 seconds after the airplane landed. Bridget was extremely excited. She would finally get to see Tibby, Carmen and Lena again after a long time. Bridget hopped of the airplane, grabbed her bags, and went searching for her best friends. Looking around, she spotted three girls. One had dark, olive skin and blackish brownish hair, another had a beautiful body and gorgeous dark brown hair, and the last one was shorter than the two and wore baggy clothes. Yes, it was Lena, Carmen and Tibby.
Bridget dropped her bags to the side and ran towards the three of them. She jumped on top of Lena, Tibby and Carmen, giving them a big hug.
"Bee!" Carmen and Lena squealed in delight
"Bumble Bee!" Tibby greeted giving Bridget a bug hug.
"Wow guys, it's been so long since I've seen you guys" Bridget said.
Bridget hooked arms with Tibby and Lena while Lena hooked arms Carmen. Now, they were all in a line. The jumped back and forth towards the car, giggling and laughing like they were little kids again. Neither of them paid any attention to the stares that they got. Once in the car, Bridget exclaimed "oops! I forgot my bags!"
Tibby laughed and said "Bee, if you haven't noticed, Paul, Brian and Win are here. They were trailing behind us. I saw Win pick up your bags."
"What? They came along? Where?" Bridget looked around then spotted Win, Paul and Brian in the car behind them. She leaned against the window and waved hello.
Lena, who was in the driver's seat, said "Let's go"
In the car, Bridget asked everyone about their life and learned that:
Carmen was getting rich with her job as a wedding planner. She was also engaged to Win and her wedding was scheduled tomorrow. Win was a hospital nurse, and he specializes with little kids. They have their own house.
Tibby and Brian had stopped fighting. They remarried when Bridget was at camp. Tibby and Brian live in an apartment. Tibby works as a producer of channel 10. Brian has his own comic book.
Lena and Paul have their own house, they are already married and they are talking about a child of their own. Lena has a part time job as an artist. Paul is an architect, so their house is big and expensive.
When hearing all this, Bridget felt left out. Every one of her sisters had a husband or fiancée, owned a house and had a successful job. Bridget however, didn't even have a boyfriend. She has a house, but her dad paid for it, so it belongs to him and she has to share it with her dad and Perry, her brother. She doesn't even have a proper job. Lost deep in her thoughts, she didn't even notice that they arrived at her house.
"Hello? Earth to Bee! Are you there?" Tibby asked, waving her hands over Bridget's face.
Bridget snapped out of her trance, laughed and got out of the car. She walked over to the men's car and got her bags. Bridget then said goodbye to her friends and walked into her house. Everything stayed the same. The eerie silence, the messy living room, the unwashed dishes, yes, it was her house. Bridget yelled out "I'm home!" her voice echoed throughout the house. She trudged up the stairway and went into her room. It was cold and there was practically an inch of dust everywhere. Coughing, Bridget went inside and dropped her bags. No one came into her room while she was gone. It stayed there, untouched. Bridget went into her closet and got out a duster. She dusted everything until not a speck of dust could be seen. She poured out all her dirty laundry into the washer then decided to pour all her clean laundry into the washer too because she didn't want to hang them up.
Finished, Bridget jumped on her bed, and looked at her bedside. On it, was a picture of Eric and her. She was leaning on his shoulder, and his arms were wrapped around her waist. Eric and Bridget had broken up when she was still in college. Bridget looked at the picture frame and then purposely dropping it, hoping that is would shatter into two. Instead of breaking directly into two, like all the movies, it had a slight crack on Eric head. Bridget sighed. She took the frame and put it deep in her closet.
Bridget decided to look around the house. She came to Perry's room. She carefully opened his door a little bit and peeked inside. There was still the stinky odor and the messy room. Perry was asleep on his bed. Bridget carefully went inside and looked around. Everything looked the same except one thing. There was a picture. She looked at it. There was Perry and a girl. Bridget slowly flipped the picture over. It read "Dear Perry, I'll always love you and I hope you feel the same way to me. I want to live my life with you. You make me happy. Love always and forever, Rebecca"
Bridget gasped and dropped the picture. This woke Perry up. He peeked around and looked at Bridget. "You're home" he said.
"I know I am" Bridget replied. She then knelt down and picked up the picture. She gave it to Perry and asked, "Is she your girlfriend?"
Perry brightened up a little bit and nodded, slightly blushing. Bridget said "Aw, you have a girlfriend. How long? Do I get to meet her?"
Perry replied in a very quiet voice "it's been 3 years. You can meet her if you want"
Bridget smiled, went over to Perry and gave him a hug. She then left the room. Bridget was feeling happy for Perry. Rebecca changed him a lot. He seemed a lot brighter and happier ever since Marly died. Bridget was also feeling sad because now Perry had a girlfriend and she did not have a boyfriend. It was always her having a boyfriend and Perry not having a girlfriend at all.
Bridget sighed. The doorbell rang. She ran to answer it. It was Lena and Paul.
"Hi Lena and Paul" Bridget greeted
"Bee, do you want to come over to our house?" Paul asked
"Sure, I'd love too" Bridget said in reply. She followed Paul and Lena to the car and got in. They all were silent during the car ride. The car stopped in front of a beautiful and big white house. Bridget gasped and said, "Whoa. What a gorgeous home"
Bridget followed Lena and Paul into their house and was greeted with a beautiful and soft white carpet beneath her feet. She looked around. The detail was spectacular. Lena, who was always clean and organized, had her house in tip-top shape. The living room had 2 stone fireplaces and a comfy beige couch with a bear rug underneath. The living room had a sun window (the really high windows) and gorgeous Greek pillars to support the high ceiling. Lena had a gourmet kitchen, the theme was white and light colors. The kitchen had a tile floor. Upstairs, there were 4 rooms. One was a small guest room. Another was a room for Paul's designing and Lena's drawing. The third room was a den, with a flat screen computer, 2 comfy chairs and bookcases of books. The last room was Paul's and Lena's room. They had a two door entrance for their room with fancy knobs. Inside, there was a queen sized mattress, with a light pink and white covers. There were matching bedside tables and lamps on each side. Towards the right, there was a beautiful washroom. This washroom was blue with beautiful painted fish on it. Bridget silently, but sarcastically wondered who did the fish. Bridget turned towards Lena and Paul and said "I'm speechless. What a wonderful home"
Both Lena and Paul thanked Bridget. Bridget's cell rang. She answered it. "Hello?"
"Hi Bee! Where are you? I want to show you my house!" Carmen said excitedly.
"I'm at Lena's house. I'll ask Lena to drive me to your house okay?"
"Okay"
"Bye" Bridget turned to Lena and asked "Lena, can you drive me to Carmen's house?"
Lena replied "sure"
Bridget followed Lena into the car and Lena drove Bridget to Carmen's house. Bridget looked at the house while Lena drove away. Carmen had a small, but cozy exterior of the house. Bridget rang the door bell. Win answered it. "Hello Bee. Come in" he said. Bridget walked into the house and took a look around. The house was small, but fit for two people. Carmen was in the kitchen, cooking spaghetti. "Hi Bee!" she greeted.
Bridget looked at the dining room. There was a simple couch with a TV in front of it. The carpet was a deep purple; Carmen's favorite color. There was a curving stairway leading upstairs. Bridget walked up and saw that there were only two rooms. One was the master bedroom and the other was an unused room. Bridget looked into Carmen's and Win's bedroom. There was a queen sized bed with purple covers and purple pillows to match. Bridget noted that Win must love Carmen a lot to let her decorate the house as though they were living in a purple marshmallow. This deeply upset Bridget. She didn't have a husband or fiancée and she was far away from getting one. In fact, she didn't even have a boyfriend.
Bridget walked downstairs and complimented Win and Carmen on their house. Carmen flushed in return. Bridget then asked Win if he would drive her to Tibby's apartment. He agreed and told Bridget to get into the car.
Once Win drove Bridget to Tibby's apartment, she thanked him and knocked on the door. Tibby answered it. "Bee! You're here! I was trying to call you but Perry said that you weren't home."
Bridget smiled then asked "so, can I come in now?"
Tibby laughed and replied "sure". Tibby moved to the side and allowed Bridget to come in. Tibby and Brian's apartment was small but cozy for the two of them. The small kitchen and living room was all that could be seen.
"Tibby? This is your apartment? Where do you sleep?" Bridget asked in shock
Tibby merely laughed and said "It's small, but really comfy. Brian and I sleep on the sofa."
"How can you both sleep on a sofa?" Bridget asked
Tibby laughed some more. "Bee, it's a sofa/bed. If you roll out the bottom, it's a normal queen sized bed."
Bridget nodded and looked around. In the kitchen, there were a gazillion magnets on the fridge and dishes were left unwashed. There was a huge pile of newspapers on the floor. In the living room/ bedroom, there was a TV, computer and a small table full of chocolate.
Bridget said "Tibby, what a cozy apartment. Fit for the two of you."
Tibby immediately agreed. She then said to Bridget "Bee, I forgot to tell you this but when I called you and Perry answered, he told me that you should come home ASAP." This made Bridget feel alarmed. She quickly thanked Tibby and asked her if she could drive Bridget home. Tibby agreed.
Once Bridget arrived at home, she looked around. There was nothing odd. She jumped up to her room and looked around. There was a single package lying on her bed. Bridget opened the package. Inside, there was a Kicker's soccer jersey and a note. Bridget looked at the jersey. Then she picked up the note. It read:
Dear Bee,
You must be extremely confused right now so I'm going straight to the point. Early in the morning today, you refused to say bye to me. I was immediately worried. Did I hurt you in some way while we were in Baja? After you said goodbye to me and I went on the bus, I was thinking hard. I finally got the point. That day when Billy, you and I were running, we kissed and the day after, I introduced you to Jolene. That was wrong of me. I should have explained. Here's my explanation: On the bus ride and the airplane ride, I realized, I love you with all my heart. I want to be with you. I ruined your life for the third time. When we broke up many years ago because we couldn't be together for more than one day a year, I never stopped loving you and to this very point, I still do. After I reached Italy, I immediately broke up with Jolene. I guessed that when we broke up, I felt a need for someone, to care for me and to help me forget about you. I found Jolene. She was so…available. Little did I know that Jolene would end up ruining something for both of us. I love you Bee, but I can't bear getting back together and ending up with me making a huge mistake and losing you again. I don't deserve you. You deserve a guy who cares and treats you with love and respect. I'm not the guy. I can't ruin your life again. I love you with all my heart, but you deserve a guy better than me. I enclose this Kicker's jersey for hope that you will forgive me for my huge mistake and perhaps be with me again. If you really do forgive me with all your heart, please meet me at the Summer Café near your old high school at lunch tomorrow wearing this jersey. If you don't forgive me, I don't blame you. Just don't show up but keep this in your mind: Half of my heart will always belong to you.
Love always, Eric