I answered the phone on the third ring.
"Hi John," my beautiful girlfriend Kelly said, "it's me."
"Hi sweetheart," I replied.
"We need to talk, " she led off coldly.
I knew immediately where this was going. She was feeling guilty and was crawling back in to her shell once again. I prayed this would not happen, but knew it was inevitable.
"What's on your mind?" I asked, trying to keep a positive tone in my voice.
"John, it's over. I can't have any men in my life," she stated.
I knew this was coming. Kelly has been the most difficult woman in my entire life to get to know, but she has also been the most worthwhile. She had an elaborate defensive mechanism built up around her because of her past and now I had penetrated that defense system and found out what a gem she was. Now she was running scared again after everything we shared. We've spent a lot of time talking about it and I was well prepared for this moment.
"I figured that was what you were going to say," I said, as sadly as I could without crying.
"I know, but it is for the best," Kelly continued.
"I'll make you a deal," I said.
"What?" she inquired.
"If you can tell me to my face that it is over, I will believe this is what you really want. Right now I know you're scared and I know you have some friends around you at school that are influencing you, but if you can say the words to my face and mean it, I'll never bother you again," I offered.
"You're 1,200 miles away! How am I supposed to do that?" She laughed, as if it were the craziest idea she's ever heard.
"I'll start driving tonight. I'll see you tomorrow evening." I stated.
"Yeah right!" She said.
"I'm serious!" I said to reinforce my point.
"I'll call you when I check in to the hotel across from campus," I said.
Right after High School graduation, Kelly's boyfriend tried to rape her one night. The romantic side of their relationship was not progressing as fast as he wanted. She was still a virgin and he had not even gotten to third base yet. One night he decided he had enough. He told her the moment he picked her up that night that she was going to get fucked that night. She spent the entire date in terror waiting for him to make his move. When he did, she protested, but he continued to force himself upon her anyway. Fortunately, he gave up in frustration and she was able to get away without being raped, but this incident fueled her distrust of men. I was the first person she ever confided in about the full details of the story.
She was raised in a religious environment at home. Kelly never told her father, who was a police officer, about the incident for fear of the sermon that would follow from her mother about being promiscuous. Instead, she went in to her shell and decided to attend a religious college in the Midwest to put it behind her. She spent the first two years in college hating men while her friends actively looked for male companionship. Kelly was well known in her college dormitory for her hatred of all men.
Six months ago, Kelly returned home to see her parents for Winter break. She had not been home in almost two and a half years. We ran in to each other on her first day back home by complete chance. We had not seen each other in over four years. After an hour of catching up, we exchanged phone numbers and agreed to catch up more the next day.
Kelly was sort of the "goth" girl of our school before it was known as "goth". She dyed her hair different colors and dressed in dark conservative clothes. She did not have any piercings other than her ears and she didn't have any tattoos that were visible. She was shy, quiet and had few friends.
She sat behind me in Freshman English class and I got to know her during that class. I found she had a great sense of humor. Throughout the rest of our High School career, I'd always stop and talk to her when I saw her seated alone in the library or in the lunchroom. We never dated, but we were friendly.