The Trials of Loving Her

Welcome Home Chapter 5

As time went on, I learnt a lot about life; about myself mostly. I learned how to fix anything that had an engine. I learned how to cook, which was not by choice, I must admit. I even taught myself to occasionally sew which was a must; since there was always someone willing to defend their wives from the way I tended to gaze upon them after a few drinks in. I’m not looking to excuse my poor behaviour, but countless beers could be partly blamed. It’s not my fault when I set my eyes upon a fine looking woman and she looks back with a hint that says to follow her as she slips into the women’s restroom. I was twenty and committing to someone for a few pleasurable moments was good enough for me. They were also many not so good times when I would be ratted on by Lucille; she’s owns Nightingale, the best bar in town. Sometimes after the boyfriend is tipped off, I would leave the bar with a sprained wrist or a black eye, nothing too major. And most times when the husband learned the truth, I would leave with a broken nose. In rare times it would be a rib or two. For some reason the husband always tends to hit much harder. I reckon it’s the ring upon his finger. I’ve learned to stop sleeping with people such as Lucille who tend to get really high on weed and then catch feelings after a one-nighter. She once believed we were a couple made in heaven. That was one hell of a spliff she smoked. I learned to stop doing a lot of things; no more married women, and no more sex with strangers, without protection of course. 

   It was an early Saturday morning. I did what I normally do when I first wake up on a weekend. I gently removed my arms from whichever lucky gal I let take me home after a couple shots of whiskey. I grabbed my clothes from off the ground and ran as quickly and stealthy as I could to not draw attention to myself. In some circumstances, I normally leave a note behind with all my needed information before exiting the apartment, but in the events that transpired last night, I would not be calling her nor giving her the obvious reasons why. You can learn a lot about someone by the things they do when being intimate. Her favourite position was lying there giving me instructions as if it were my first rodeo; luckily I was so drunk that I fell asleep in the middle of it. Thank God for beers and booze. I showed myself out the door, taking four flights of stairs to get out of a place I hoped to never see again. I grabbed my red Ducati bike where it remained parked inside the building, near the entrance door. I took my time rolling it out. As I got out into the street, I placed my helmet on and started it up. After a fifteen minute ride, I stopped and parked by Radiancy, a nearby café that sat only a block away from my home. As I walked in, I stood frozen for a couple of seconds. For a moment, I was dumbfounded as I looked towards the far left corner of the room. Even the blind could notice such elegancy.

  It’s funny how life works in such mysterious ways. When I just began questioning everything I was, wondering what my place was in this vast universe, she came back home. It was the late half of June in two thousand- fourteen. The last I heard of Sera was a few years back. She started medical school right after college and remained in an on-and-off relationship with some bozo she picked up in Esterron. I’ve never met the guy but I knew he was an upgrade to the last one she dated. Hell anyone else would’ve been an upgrade compared to Stephen with his tights. 

   She sat there amongst two new faces I hadn’t seen before; minding her own. She smiled as she listened to her friends speak. By the conversations she was having, she seemed to surround herself with other intelligent women. Though they were both easy on the eye, it was her that stole my attention. She no longer wore her brown hair long, but short, near the height of her neck; dyed black. I looked away after some time when I found myself staring for too long. Not one of them noticed I was there; so I ordered my usual, black decaf coffee along with a blueberry muffin that I ordered to be bagged. As I collected my drink and baked good, I began walking towards her. I remembered my heart beating twice as fast as it ever did. I was nervous, excited, and speechless. I’ve never felt that way before, but this time I knew it was different. I stood beside her while she carried a conversation of her own. She was talking about the things she was too afraid to do. She had this fear of Bungee jumping; it was on the top of her list of things of what not to do, as well as skydiving or being near any form of heights. She glanced at me for just a second, and as she did I felt I was being noticed for the first time in years.