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~Leap~
Playing the coward, I brainstormed options that would deliver the message in my absence. Letter with a red rose:
frighteningly romantic
. Email:
too stalker
. Via friend:
too yellow-bellied
. The exercise only served to make plain the fact that I would have to break the ice face to face.
I procrastinated all week. On Friday, Alyssa declared that she wanted a salad at Hurly-Burly for dinner. I decided that tonight was the night. But I managed to rationalize avoiding the conversation through dinner on the basis that an unfavorable outcome would be inconvenient in public.
It was a brisk October night, not long after dusk and campus was quiet as Alyssa and I walked home from the restaurant. A storm was gathering in my gut. It was time. I struggled to muster my strength. I'd gone over the conversation a hundred times a dozen different ways, but my rationality slipped away from me now. How was I going to do this? We strolled on, passing block after block of silence as the tension mounted.
"Are you okay, sweetie? You're awfully quiet tonight."
"No, I'm good. I just have a lot on my mind."
Finally we were just across from the dorm. My window was about to close. I took Alyssa by the arm and stopped her at a bench. My heart pounding nearly out of my chest, I said, "I need to talk to you about something." We sat down together.
She waited a moment, then when I was mute, she spoke first, "Okay. What's up?"
I took a deep breath, but it didn't ease my anxiety. Instead, I could feel the emotion welling up inside me like a boiling cauldron. I looked away from her to help hold myself together, but when I finally spoke, my voice was wobbly, "I have a problem." She listened intently, becoming truly concerned. "I've met someone, you see, someone wonderful." I glanced at her briefly as I said this, eyes beginning to tear up. "This person has changed everything I thought I knew about love and passion. I've never met anyone like..." Another peek at her. "But I'm afraid to say anything,... because..." My words failed. I wiped the tear running down my face, again sheepishly peered at Alyssa.
Empathizing, but beaming genuine happiness at the news, she put her arms around me and drew close in comfort. "I can't believe you haven't told me before now!" She shook her head. "No wonder you've been acting so strangely."
"I just didn't know how to..." The words choked in my throat.
"Hey, I know it's hard to take that risk. I've been there! But you know me. I think you should go for it!"
A wave of clarity fell over me. Dr. Riggs' words echoing on Alyssa's lips confirmed everything.
When an opportunity presents itself, grab hold and don't let go.
I had my omen. My every muscle relaxed. The tears stopped.
In a moment I cupped her angelic face in my hands and stared into her captivating eyes. I whispered, "Alyssa, it's you." I kissed her delicately on the lips and did not cease, holding her softly in my grasp. Time stopped, and the world fell away from us. My face flushed. Every tension dissipated. All was ethereal and Heavenly. I don't know how long the kiss lasted, but suddenly it was over. I opened my eyes to find that she had stood up. She was staring across the yard, seemingly in shock.
Blinking, her gaze migrated to meet mine, then averted, and she spoke in a confused stutter. "I ... don't ... know what to say." She stood there a moment longer, then broke stride for the dorm.
I held my hands to my chest as my heart seized inside.
That was it. The end. I'd made my move and missed the mark. I was a pariah now. Anguish filled me. I stood up and followed her twenty paces behind. Neither of us said anything. She entered the dorm alone, and the door closed behind her. I put my hand on the handle, but didn't open it. Instead, I dismissed my legs under me and they crumpled. I collapsed on the cold cement, the steam from my breath rolling down my chest. I allowed the tears engulf me.
How could I have been so stupid to think this was going to work out somehow? That this beautiful woman would every return my affections? I'd never even made sure that she'd be open to sharing with another woman. I was a fool and a dreamer and I deserved this. It would have been better to keep it all a secret forever, to just adore her from afar. But that was not real happiness either. I guess there was no good option for me. It was hopeless.
I don't know how long I laid there in the cold, but eventually the sobs slowed. I picked myself up from the ground and weakly climbed the staircase inside. Now for the aftermath. Would she speak to me? Was there a shred of hope for our friendship? No, she would probably ask me to move out, or just move out herself. My gut tightened. On to the next chapter of my life.
Live and learn,
I encouraged myself. It didn't help much. I thought of her radiant smile, sobbed again.
I arrived at the door. I put my hand on the knob, but couldn't bear to open it. For the first time since I'd met her, I dreaded the sight of Alyssa. It was a horrible thought. But I had to go in. I just hoped she wouldn't want to talk tonight. I couldn't bear it. I was scarcely holding myself together as it was.
Just then a door opened down the hall. I glanced to see Courtney enter the hallway and a boy sneak out behind her, a clear violation of dorm curfew. I didn't care. I didn't want them to see what a terrible mess I was, and so I choked down my tears and entered the room.
Alyssa lay on her bed. She had taken off her coat, but uncharacteristically still had her suit on. She was on her side facing the wall, silent.
I turned away, still trying to hold myself together. I desperately wanted to escape. I got undressed, skipped my pajamas and climbed as quietly as possible into bed. I too rolled onto my side completely covering myself except for my face, trying my best to become nonexistent. Once in place, I allowed a few tears to escape, dripping down without a sound. I concentrated on thinking of something, anything else besides Alyssa and tonight's events, but it was impossible. A sniffle betrayed me.
I heard Alyssa stir. "Paige?"