Engaged At The Moment ✔️

37: Broken jars and relationships

I drew out a sigh – my thousandth one in the past minute. What can I say? It turns out a disheartened spirit and drawn out sighs go hand in hand. Well, at least, I still had my sweet gummy bears to help me through.

And with that thought, I reached into the pack of…nothing. Yeah, I’d emptied the pack without even realizing it.

Needless to say, another sigh followed. This time though, a voice followed alongside it. “Aria.”

I traced the source to the man in front of me – the driver, or well Logan as he’d said earlier. 

Now, though, he was saying, “sorry, about calling your name like that. But I couldn’t help but notice that you’ve seemed quite down since I picked you up. And there’s also the fact that you cried – a lot.” 

“Oh,” I said simply, before finally giving in to how I really felt. “god, this is so embarrassing. I’m sorry, that must have been awkward for you. I don’t usually do stuff like that, you know – crying in rides, or in front of people. I just had a bit of a…situation,” I explained in a mortified breath. 

“No, don’t worry about it,” he mused. “It wasn’t awkward at all. You can’t imagine how many times I cry in a week. Heck, once I get off work later, I’m going home to cry.”

I was in the middle of chuckling when I caught the serious look on his face. 

Wait, he wasn’t joking? Well, this was awkward.

Thankfully though, I didn’t have to worry about what to say following that, ‘cause he was already adding, “my wife left me…on our wedding night.”

Ok, this got intense quickly.

“I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s fine,” came his response. And then: “although I can’t say it’s fine that she took my dog with her when she moved in with my best man. But then at least she left the goldfish, so that’s good, right?”

“Yeah,” I voiced in hopes that he’d find some solace in his…situation.

“Well, the goldfish died last week.” 

Wow! What was one supposed to say to that? 

“I’m sorry.”

“Oh no, it’s good,” he mused, smiling lightly. “Although after its death, I still kept the jar to remind me of it. You know what happened?”

“The jar broke?” I offered.

“That’s right! The jar broke.” He banged his hand on the steering wheel as he spoke. “Whenever I think of it, I get so mad. I get mad at myself for letting the jar slip, and I get angry at my wife as well for leaving me alone with the goldfish. It makes me so mad, I just want to let go of everything.”

Um…

Being on the freeway and having your driver talk about wanting to let go of everything while holding on to the steering wheel? What could possibly go wrong?

And so, as I did not wish to meet my end just yet, I had to resort to placation. “Hey, I’m sure you didn’t mean to break the jar,” I mused soothingly. 

“I really didn’t mean to,” he chimed, to which I gave a small nod.

“Well, see? That’s good. So, don’t beat yourself up by being angry. And don’t think of letting go either. Instead, you should hold on tight – really tight. Hold on tight for our…I mean, your sake.” 

“You’re right.”

Phew!

“I shouldn’t let what my wife did get to me.”

“Yeah, don’t do that.”

“I won’t. Thank you, Aria.” 

“No, it’s fine,” I mused in response. “I really didn’t do anything.” 

Except saving my life that is.

But of course, I didn’t voice that thought. He, however, seemed content enough with the response I voiced, and it was clear in the smile that stretched across his lips now.

“So,” he was now saying. “How about you? Did your crying also have anything to do with broken jars and relationships?”

“Well, it’s a bit complicated.”

“More complicated than having your wife leave you for your best man on your wedding night, after telling you that she gets angry looking at your face? And then losing your dog to her after, only to lose your goldfish and jar a few weeks later?” 

“Um, no,” I tittered.

Hey, very few things could beat that. He must have realized it too, hence, his chuckle. 

But even then, I doubted I wanted to talk to him about what happened. He was still pretty much a stranger, and regardless, it was just weird. No, I won’t be doing that.

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***15 minutes later***

“…and so, I just had to leave before things got really messy. At least, ending things  now won’t hurt as much as having to do it later when I’m in deep. So, yeah, that’s it,” I finished with a soft sigh. 

By the time I was done, Logan was nodding slowly. “Well, you make a good point.”

“I know, right?” I echoed, leaning back in the seat, all thoughts of how I should have gotten off since we arrived at the airport ten minutes ago, forgotten.

“Yeah,” he chimed. “But then again, have you considered giving Aiden a chance to make his own point? What if he feels differently from what you assume?” 

His questions left me quite stunned – mostly because somewhere in my mind, I knew there was reason in it. 

But still, what left my mouth was: “I don’t think that’s true. He doesn’t even like me in that way.”

“How are you so sure?”

“Because,” I started determinedly, only to realize I didn’t even have an answer to that myself. Hence, my slight floundering now. “Well…that…I don’t know.”

By the time I was done, Logan had something of a smile on his face. “Well, I can tell you what I know though. Look behind you.”

What?

Although I didn’t have the slightest idea as to why he wanted me to do that, I did it anyway only to find…

No way…is that…that is…is it..it is…

Yeah, I know I was not making much sense right now, but in my defense, the sight in front of me seemed more like a figment of my imagination than reality. Because how else would Aiden be here, getting out of his car?

Logan, though, had other thoughts, “so, the guy who doesn’t like you in that way, came all the way down to the airport because…” He trailed off with a knowing smile. “Aria, if there’s one thing I’ve learnt since my wife left me, it’s that you can’t predict how things will turn out. What you can do, is to make the best of the moments you have right now. You know what I mean?”

“Yeah, I think I do.”

“Well, good because I’m calling him.”

It took a minute for his meaning to sink in. But now that it had, my lips were parting in protest. But it was too late, Logan was already horning away, and drawing Aiden’s attention to us. 

Well, shit.