Begin Again Series

The Start of a New Life

"You shouldn't wear that, it makes you look ugly. So change and put some make-up on. I don't want my girlfriend going out, looking like trash."
Ciara tried holding back tears as she thought of what her boyfriend, Theo told her before she left the house she shared with him this morning.
How can someone who claims to love you be so cruel?
"Excuse me, Miss, I don't mean to intrude, but I just have to say that a woman as pretty as you shouldn't be crying."
"Huh?" Ciara asked confused for a minute and then realized tears were spilling from her eyes "Oh, I'm sorry." She grabbed a napkin and wiped at them, looking at the guy standing in front of her.
"There's no need to be sorry. Mind if I sit?" He gestured to the other chair at the table.
"Sure," she said, "Go ahead."
"I'm Ben." The guy introduced himself.
"Hi Ben, I'm Ciara. It's nice to meet you." She held out her hand for him to shake.
"He laughed while shaking her hand.
"Can I get you another doughnut or drink?" Ben offered.
"No, I'm fine, thank you."
"Well, this is none of my business and I don't mean to pry, but you don't seem fine."
Ciara took a deep breath. What could she say? She couldn't tell a stranger her problems, could she? Oh, what the heck, she thought. People do say it's better to talk to strangers rather than someone you know, sometimes.
"I'm in a relationship that I don't want to be in anymore. It's no because I don't love him, I do, but he just doesn't treat me the same as he did when we first started dating."
Ben could see Ciara was trying to not let the tears spill once more as she talked, and this caused him to want to get up and hug her, however, he decided against it because he didn't know how she felt about hugs, also not to mention, he was a stranger after all.
"Again, I'm not meaning to pry, but does he hit you?"
"No, no, he doesn't. He just..." Ciara paused, looked down, playing with her hands. "He doesn't talk to me like a boyfriend should talk to their girlfriend."
Hearing this made Ben mad. He knows he's done some unthinkable things to women, but he's a changed man now, and he couldn't imagine doing anything mean to anyone else, much less to someone as beautiful as Ciara.
"I maybe speaking out of turn, but if he loves you... he says he loves you right?"
"Yes," she answered, finally looking at Ben.
"Well, if I loved you, I wouldn't treat you like that." He winked at her.
She blushed, smiling, looking down again. She didn't know what to say.
"Hey look if you're not happy, don't make yourself miserable by staying. Here's my number, call or text if you need anything." He pulled a pen from his pocket and wrote his number down. "Well, I've got to go, I hope to hear from you soon, Ciara."
I'm going to go, too, but you will."
They said goodbye to each other as they walked out of the coffee shop.