Only you, just you

Pizza and Wedding Rings

For women who are tied to the moon, love alone is not enough.
We insist each day wrap its knuckles through our heart strings and pull.
  The lows, the joys, the poetry.
We dance at the edge of a cliff. You have fallen off.
So it goes. You will climb up again.        Letter from Anaiis Nin to Clementine Von 

A/N  I took the liberty of playing around with major characters names. If you can guess who they are ,I will feature your name in the following chapter.

Ten years later.......

 
    The students in Rey's  classroom sat politely listening to Rey teach about one of her favorite topics.

Rey,  now at twenty two had became a literature and poetry teacher at a Jr. High parochial school. She was a favorite with the students and the nuns. She always made the lessons interesting and thought provoking. Who knew Keats and Byron could so fascinating?
She stood in front of a black board and drew in her elegant writing:

   "Destino'" she said in her best teacher voice. Rey held a large book open and read a paragraph. "From the Latin root 'Destiari'.
Meaning , to have a destination , to journey, to take a trip where the events are totally predetermined."

Oh dear, she thought as she saw the blank look in her students eyes. She had to quickly think of something to engage them again.

" Can you imagine that! Your destiny, or your fate is predetermined. Whatever happens you will end up where you belong. Everything in your life will be as it should.The motion of like attracting like, The motion of a divine pre ordination."

A 'I don't get it' expression in some of the boys prompted Rey to try something new.

"Okay," she held one hand in the air , " one hand ... two hands..put them together and what do they make?" She interlaced her fingered together and looked around the room expectantly.

Finally a bright young girl raised her hand and answered, "One!"

"Right ," Rey's enthusiasm was contagious and all the girls smiled and giggled.

She walked up to her board and drew a large circle. "Plato tell us that we began as a circle and we strived to be like the Gods. But we angered them and were punished by a thunder bolt that struck us and cut us down the center. Right in half.
We were scattered to the ends of the earth searching and searching for our other half. So was Plato saying we should just stop and go with the flow , and follow our destiny? Yes, It will lead us back to each other."

Suddenly the bell rang for the class to end. Everyone stood to leave and Rey had to yell over all the loud teenage voices,
"Okay, following through on this...read from your green book . One Wordsworth, one Keats or one Shelly. Have a good holiday .

    Rey breathed a deep sigh as she saw her students leave her classroom. They were excited about the three days of freedom.  Everyone needed a nice long three day weekend, especially her.

She had some big news to tell her friends tonight.

  She looked around her classroom at the murals she painted herself. There was one in the corner of  two lovers , their hands clasped together , shooting stars flying over their heads.

A quote by Rumi, a 13th century poet and Islamic scholar, graced another wall.
" There is a candle in your heart , ready to be kindled. There is a void in your soul, ready to be filled. You feel it, don't you?"
Rey had painted a lit candle with ivy entwined around it.  Rumi was one of her favorite poets.

Later that night...

     "So what's the big news?" Rey's friend Michelle asked, bouncing up and down like a child on Rey's couch.

She was taking her time lighting floating candles in a bowl of water. The glow from the flames cast long shadows on the wall behind her.

     Rey's other life long friend and now sister in law looked at Rey and could see she was making this a big production. She loved keeping them in suspense.
"Come on Rey, what is it? Candles , pizza. This is something big, I can tell just by looking at you." Poppy thumped Rey on the shoulder in  friendly but frustrated fashion.

"He proposed!"

The women both gasped and cheered. They knew that Rey had been dating Duke Roadrunner off and on for two years. Poppy couldn't see the attraction but she wasn't going to hurt Rey's feelings.

"Where's the engagement ring?" Michelle curiously asked . "Your not wearing it?"

Poppy's eyes zeroed in on Rey's left hand. "What's going on Rey?" She sensed there was something wrong and the mood in the room changed dramatically from celebration to concern. "What are you waiting for?" She knew that this has been what Rey has been waiting for her entire life. To get married.

"Nothings wrong." She tried to placate her sister in law. "We just haven't set a date yet." She reached in her purse and pulled out a small box, and opened it.

"Ow, ow! My eyes ! I can't see!" Michelle pretended to be blinded by the shiny rock in the tiny box.

Rey slipped the ring on her finger and admired the half carat diamond as it sparkled.

Mrs. Rey Roadrunner....

Honestly, it would take time to get used to that last name. She looked at her bewildered friends and tried to put them at ease.

"For gosh sakes, I told my parents I'm engaged!"

"Oh good," Poppy sighed with relief. But there was still something off. She knew Rey since they were girls and she was too subdued, too restrained. Not the bubbly , effervescent ray of sunshine she should have been.

Like a true and supportive friend , she had to say something. "What wrong Rey, why are you hesitating?"

"I'm not, I'm just wanting to be absolutely sure. Its a monumental decision that will effect me for the rest of my life and I'm never going to get divorced."
She already saw what one divorce did to her friend. Poppy may have married Rey's brother but her first husband was jerk.

Michelle took a bite of her pizza and with a full mouth said, " Duke's such a great guy. He's so good at coaching. He's won so many games!"
"You don't have to sell him on me , I said yes to him didn't I? He's as good as gold."

Poppy frowned again, not liking her sister in laws tone. Like she was trying to convince herself he was the one for her.

As a matter of fact, Rey hated sports and so of course her fiancé was the head coach of the community college basketball team. He was talented at what he did. He had played in his own college years and it was all he could think about.
She did give him high marks for winning almost all his games, but he was so obsessed with every aspect of the game he would never talk about anything else.
   He got bored when she tried to engage him in a conversation about her current favorite author or what poet she was teaching in her class.
  He had a great body from practicing with his athletes , but unfortunately he was on the short side.
She gave up and let him dictate every aspect of their relationship. Somewhere in her deeply repressed subconscious , she had given up on her girlhood dream. She had to settle for what was in front of her and stop fantasizing about a man that didn't exist.

Duke kept pressuring her for sex but she was still a virgin and wanted to wait for her wedding night.
  She knew she had old fashioned values but she wanted that special time to be perfect.
    He would accept that but told her it would be a priority to set a wedding date as soon as possible.

   A ring from Rey's land line wall phone broke the three girls out of the surreal moment.  She jumped up to answer it.

    "Oh Hi Quinn, yeah she's here. Just a sec...". 

  Rey looked around the corner at her sister in law, "Poppy, it's Quinn." 
"Oh , oh." Michelle mumbled under her breath.   Poppy scowled down at her. "Shut up and don't eat my pizza crust."

   Poppy stood up awkwardly from the floor and ran to take the phone from Rey.  She had a bad feeling about this....