Along the Shore – Part 3: Rainfall
He stood there shivering in the middle of my living room. His white shirt was completely see-through, revealing his toned body that I had previously witnessed. It was hard to tell the difference between the water that was dripping from his drenched hair and tears that were coming out of his hazel eyes. His head was down, creating a small puddle on my wood floor while he tried to wipe away the tear and rain mixture from his face. I was unsure of what to say to him so I walked to the bathroom and grabbed a towel for him to sit on the couch. I gestured him to the couch and he cautiously sat on the soft emerald towel. We sat there for a few minutes; unable to speak we both took in the situation at hand.
"I don't even know what I'm doing here," he whispered softly. He began to rise of the couch my I quickly put my hand on his shoulder and eased him back down.
"No it's good that you came", I say. " If you don't mind me asking, what happened with you two?"
The tears started well up in his eyes but he tried to choke them back to explain his story. "It just started as a little thing," he said. "I forgot to turn up the windows in Ryan's car when I got back home and the rain came...obviously." He smirked after saying this, as if he was rebuffing his own forgetfulness.
"Ryan came home during the downpour and lost it," he said quickly. It was clear that he was trying to forget the memory. "The rest is a blur to me, I just had to leave him." He really had erased the confrontation with the man.
I listened to his recollection, trying to stave off my own desires. The thunder seemed to die down and for a while the only sound was steady rain that tapped on my home. I looked into his pale green eyes and tried to find the right words for the situation.
"I'm sorry for everything that happened to you...I've been through a vaguely similar situation with my partner," I said softly. "Former partner I should say." I confessed my own pain and he seemed slightly taken aback.
"Do you mind elaborating?" he asked. I looked over to the wall across the room to the picture of Mark and I. It was when we first bought the cottage; we were standing in front of the shore, arm in arm. We were happy back then and it made the troubles that we were experiencing even bitterer. I walked over to the picture, took it off the wall and stared at it for a few moments. I then walked back to the couch, still reminiscing about the days when I truly loved him.
"We were together for quite awhile," I said. "We made it through med school and his residency.... I followed him everywhere he went." I could start to feel the pain that these memories presented and it began to boil inside.