JENNIE

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Tae was in my dorm room when I returned that night. He cried and admitted to sleeping with Cat as well as two other girls. He blamed it on being lost without me and acting out in pain. He begged me to forgive him.

I let him say all he had to say, then told him the truth. I didn't love him anymore. From the moment I opened my eyes, things had been different. We couldn't go back because we had both changed. I could forgive him for the girls, but I'd never forget it. My heart was closed to him now. I wanted him happy, but not with me.

He had cried more and blamed himself for not staying with me. For listening to his mother and leaving when it was time. I let him talk and listened, although I was aware that he had to work through this on his own.

When I watched him finally leave, he asked me if there was a chance for us one day. I told him the truth. No. We were the past and our story was a big part of both of us. But it was over now. Our futures held different things.

Not once did I cry—or even feel like crying. Seeing his tears didn't make me feel vindicated. It was just sad that this was how it all ended. All our plans for the future were no longer important. They were the dreams of children. Children who were growing up.

After he was gone, I called JK and told him I had ended things. I left out the girls because JK wouldn't forgive him for that. He'd go after him and they'd both end up in jail or the hospital. I needed my brother and my family to understand that I wanted more. I wanted a life that I got to plan.

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Over the next month, I focused on work and school. I didn't go out. I was alone most of the time, but I was content. JK forced me to eat with him some and I went home twice for family dinners so everyone could see I was smiling. I was happy. I wasn't lost and sad.

It was almost November when I looked up from the coffeemaker at work to see Lisa walk in. She hadn't been by since the night she picked me up on the road. She hadn't texted and she hadn't called. I had seen her only three times from a distance, and each time she didn't see me and had been alone, too.

I was getting off work in five minutes. It was a Sunday and tomorrow was Halloween. We had been busy all week with the specialty coffee drinks that were about to change for Thanksgiving.

"Hey," I said, feeling my face flush from excitement. Just seeing her this close and being able to smell her made me happy.

"Hey," she replied as a smile curled up one corner of her mouth.

"How … how are you?" I asked nervously.

"Missing you," she replied.

My chest tightened and my heart soared. She had missed me. I had lain in bed many nights telling myself I didn't need someone to make me happy. I would find happiness inside me. However, it never made me not miss her. Wonder about her.

"Good," I replied, untying my apron.

"Good?" she asked, still smiling.

I nodded and tossed my apron in the dirty linen basket. "I'm gone, Jake," I called out to the new guy we'd hired last month. I was training him, but he had this. And if not, what better day than today to let him figure it out?

"Shift over?" Lisa asked as I walked around the counter toward her.

"Yes," I replied.

"Do you have plans?"

I nodded. "Yes."

She looked deflated. "Oh."

Then I stepped closer to her and put my palms on her chest as I stood on my tiptoes and covered her mouth with mine. This was what I had been dreaming about. Being near her. Being able to kiss her. Being able to know that she was there and life was going to be full of excitement and new things.

Her hands found my face and she held it gently as she deepened the kiss. I slid my hands up her chest and wrapped them around her neck as her mint-flavored breath mingled with mine. I don't know how much time passed before I finally pulled back and inhaled deeply to catch my breath.

"This. This is my plan," I told her breathlessly.

She grinned. "Then I'm the luckiest fucker on the planet."

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THE END

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