A Midsummer Night's Dream

22

DIANA

I zipped the last of my suitcases shut and placed it by the door to my bedroom. I sighed and sat down on the bed. My room was still a mess, floors covered with clothes I was trying to sort through, trying to figure out if they were mine or my aunt's designer clothes.

On the floor beside my bed, a pink cotton shirt lay. It was a light pink colour with little detailed flowers embroidered around the colour and cuffs. It was Theodore's shirt. I had seen him wearing this shirt several times before and I loved it on him. I picked up the shirt and smelled it. It smelled exactly like him; lavender, citrus fruit and a sliver of suntan lotion. I felt tears form in my eyes as I smelled his shirt. I missed him already.

It had been less than 5 hours since the last time we were together. Us in the glass house. Hugging all night and crying in each other's arms. Crying for the time we had lost, crying for the death of the summer, crying for each other. Then we made love at dawn and Theodore ran back to his house before his mother realized he had been out all night when she awoke in the morning.

I heard a knock on my bedroom door and quickly placed the billowy shirt in my carry on pack. I quickly wiped away my tears and called, "come in!"

My aunt came into my room with a small smile.
She was wearing a ruby red robe but her hair and makeup were already done to perfection.

"I see you've packed. Julia's made you an extra special breakfast." She said as she observed the suitcases by the door.

"I'm not very hungry." I mumbled from the edge of the bed.

Marilyn picked up a pair of navy blue swimming trunks which belonged to Theodore.

"You loved the boy, didn't you?" She asked as she placed the shorts in my laundry basket.

I stayed silent. I didn't realize that she knew.
"When did you know?" I asked.

"A long time ago. I first saw it when you would purposefully save a place at the table for him and say it was for your sister when you knew she wasn't eating with us that day and then you would act surprised when she didn't show up and that was the last place left for Theo to sit so you would let him sit beside you and then you both held hands under the table."

"I- I thought we were being more... private." I gawked.

"You were. You didn't do a bad job at all. No one noticed except me. It's part of my job to notice people, see what they're wearing, what people like in fashion." Marilyn explained.

I chuckled slightly, shaking my head.

"You love him. Don't you?"

I nodded. "More than anything in the world."

"A tragedy. What lies ahead is going to be difficult." She started to say, altering her voice. Her tone said: We don't have to speak about it, but let's not pretend we don't know what I'm speaking of.
Speaking abstractly was the only way to speak the truth, it made it slightly less scary and bold in a sense.
"Once you're alone you'll be hit with it. The pain of loss. Nature has cunning ways of finding our weakest spot. Just remember: I am here and if you ever need some one to talk to, you can always dial the phone from New York and I'd be happy to fly over. Right now you may or may not want to feel anything. Perhaps you never wished to feel anything. It's not our faults that we fall in love."

I looked at her. She seemed slightly smaller to me, less alien and more like me. She nearly never talked about emotion or feelings before.

"Let me say one more thing. It will clear the air. I had once come close to what you two had. How you live your life is your business, Diana. Remember, our hearts and our bodies are given to us only once. And before you know it, you're heart is worn out and the pain is too much to handle. Right now there's sorrow. Pain. Don't kill it and with it the joy you've felt." She exacted, looking at me seriously.