𝗝𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗻𝘆 𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘁𝘀

Promise

     Jasmine and Anthony had been going through it lately. They were always arguing and could never seem to agree on anything. They would argue about the stupidest things. They were having another petty argument, when Anthony finally got sick of it. "That's it! I'm done. I'm done with this. I'm done with yelling, and I'm done with you!" he yelled. He grabbed his jacket and his wallet and walked out the door, leaving Jasmine alone. She ran to get her phone and called him. She called him five times. No answer. She started to worry.

"I mean he couldn't possibly be done with me," she thought, "We've been through so much together. He's seen so much of me." The memory of him walking out replayed in her while she thought about this, bringing tears to her eyes.

     Jasmine has always had a hard time opening up to people, but when she met Anthony it was different. There was no hesitation. Something about him made her feel comfortable. She opened up to him immediately. Almost any question he asked, she would answer. Whenever she talked to him, Jasmine knew that he would be helpful and understanding about what she was going through. So knowing that he walked out the way he did, hurt her.

     Jasmine was feeling worse and worse as the day went on, and Anthony still hadn't come home yet. Knowing that she could possibly reason with him when he came back to get his stuff was the only thing keeping her there.

     By the time five o'clock hit, Jasmine knew she couldn't stay in the apartment by herself any longer. She decided to write a note for Anthony, just in case he did end up worrying about her when he did finally get back to the house. She wrote that she was going to Phillipa's house and to call if he wanted to talk. She packed a bag and made her way to the front door. She opened the door and came face-to-face with Anthony. "Where are you going?" he asked.

"Why do you care?" she bit back and continued to try and walk past him.

     Even though she missed him and wanted to talk, she wasn't just going to pretend not to be angry at all. He pulled her back in the house, closed the door, and locked it. "Because I'm your boyfriend, and I deserve to know," Anthony responded. Those words made Jasmine furious.

"Anthony," she said calmly, which scared him.

"You just said that you were done with me, and then you left me here. Alone. For hours!" She said slowly, raising her voice as she talked, "But suddenly, you're the best boyfriend ever, and you need to know where I'm going! No! You do not get to just waltz back in here and pretend like everything that happened, didn't happen! You can't just pretend everything is fine because it's not! If you really want to know where I was going, then I'll tell you. I was going to Pippa's house. I was going to her house because I was sick of being alone! Where were you, huh? As your girlfriend, I deserve to know! Where have you been Anthony?" He looked down at his feet,

"I was out walking. I needed to clear all the stuff you said out of my head." Jasmine stared at him in disbelief. Was he really trying to put him leaving on her?

"Nope. Not Today," she thought.

"You are not gonna flip this on me!" she said through gritted teeth.

"This is not my fault. You left me alone! You left me here for hours! To think the worst. T-to think that you weren't gonna come back. That you hated me. That you were out with someone else, having fun, while I was here suffering because of my own mind. I was here hurting! While you were out having a nice stroll in the park? No Anthony! This is not my fault. That's not what boyfriends do!" she yelled. At this point, they were both very upset.

     When Anthony didn't say anything, Jasmine went to leave, but Anthony stopped her. "Jasmine, wait please don't go," he begged.

"Give me one reason I should stay," she told him.

"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I just, there was so much happening at once. You were yelling, I was yelling, the dogs were barking. The TV was on, and it was just too much. It— It felt like I was suffocating. I couldn't take it an-anymore, so I left. I went to the park thinking I could walk it all off, but I couldn't. So after hours of walking, I finally decided to come home. I swear I wasn't trying to upset you. Please don't go, Jasmine," he explained.

     As much as Jasmine wanted to leave, to make him feel like she felt when he left her (It was the petty thing to do after all), she couldn't. She loved him too much, and she couldn't bear to see or know he was feeling like this any longer. "I'm not leaving. It's okay. I knew you felt bad. I could see it the minute I saw your face. I just... needed to yell. I needed to blow off steam, and I used what you had done to do it. I was being just as bad as you were to me. I'm sorry," she said, hugging him.

"We need to talk. We need to fix this. I hate arguing with you," he said.

"Okay," she mumbled. They sat there, holding each other until they had both calmed down.

     After they had both calmed down, and had something to eat. They sat down to talk. "Okay do you remember when all this started because I don't," Anthony asked.

"It was when you took that job without asking me," she told him.

"Why would we fight about that?" he said.

"Because, Anthony. I don't know if you remember, but you had just gotten back from filming overseas. I wanted to spend time with you, but you took a job that said you had to move across the country, two weeks after you came back. I was hurt. It felt like you didn't value my opinion. That you didn't care about what I felt because as long as you were working and telling me you love me, you were being perfect. That I didn't need your attention as long as you were making money," she explained.

"I wasn't trying to make you feel bad. I know you want to take a big trip this summer, so I was trying to make some extra money to help. We have the money for the trip, but you and I both know that we are gonna want extra stuff for this trip. New clothes, new swimsuits, toiletries, snacks, spending money, and more. I just wanted to try and help out," he told her.

"I get that, but you could've asked me first. I would've been able to tell you that I didn't want you to take the job in the first place. I would take having you around over a vacation any day," Jasmine explained to him.

     Jasmine and Anthony spent the rest of the night going over all their fights, trying to figure out the root of their problems. "I know what the problem is. I've known for hours," Jasmine said, cutting Anthony off before he could start talking ab0ut another fight.

"What is it? Because I'm thoroughly confused," Anthony said.

"I swear men are so slow sometimes. All of these fights started because one of us left the other in the dark about something, and they were hurt because it felt like they weren't cared about," she told him.

"Huh?" He looked at her.

"Long story short, we feel like we don't care about each other," she said.

"Well I care about you. You're on my mind all day everyday," he said.

"I care about you too," she smiled.

"Let's make a promise," she told him, "We promise to always make sure the other feels loved and cared for." Anthony wrapped his pinkie around hers,

"And if we find out that one of us is feeling upset we find out why and fix it." They leaned in and sealed the promise with a kiss. Then they hugged, happy that this rough patch was over.