Let's Play Pretend

Kindling

The story I am about to tell you takes place in a town called... Well, it doesn't matter, really. Nothing of significance to the world has ever happened there, and nothing ever will. But for the sake of the story, let's just call it Hill. Hill was a cold place... Well, except for when it was warm, of course. But this particular story begins in December, with snow in the air and on the ground. And on roofs, trees, roads, and... well, you get the picture. It was cold.

In Hill lived a young woman named Jenna.Jenna was, by all accounts, exactly the type of person one would expect to meet in Hill. Jenna was not exceptionally slender. Or strong. She didn't have long flowing locks of auburn, but instead a tangled mess of dishwater blonde. Her eyes were a rather nice blue that nevertheless, as far as she could tell, had at no point inspired any poetic comparison to anything at all.

Jenna had until quite recently been engaged to Eddie, a handsome enough fellow with the unfortunate habit of forgetting his relationship status whenever he saw an interesting enough cleavage. This habit had in no small part contributed to the end of the relationship, although there had been plenty of other personality traits of his that had not helped. About three days after finding him merrily thrusting away on top of some woman she'd never seen before, Jenna finally acknowledged that he had simply been taking her for granted.

Of course, as soon as she had accepted this fact, that she probably had been a convenience at best for the bigger part of their relationship... He started calling her.E-mailing her. Sending her roses, and in short, just trying to win her back as best he could. In the beginning, she had been directly cold, telling him "too little, to late" while tossing a dozen red roses into the garbage. But this only seemed to spur him on. 

The colder she got, the more intensely he worked to win her over. And the harder it was to remember why accepting his apologies would be an absolutely horrible idea. All she could do was to avoid him as best she could and hope he would eventually move on.

And this is why Jenna found herself seated in a dark corner booth at the local bar, starting very intensely at the marbled red paint finish of the little round table in front of her. Hoping intensely that if she just concentrated enough on it, she would become one with her surroundings. 

Eddie had just entered the room, his slightly too long dark hair had been topped with a cap of snow, and she knew that if she looked up now,she'd see soft curls forming at the increasingly wet tips. She would see the back of the ridiculously expensive leather jacket she had begged him not to get, but that he had refused to give up. Eddie took more pride in his appearance than he did in paying bills on time, and she had always hated it. She had to remind herself of those fights as she glanced up. 

Because he did look good. And that was just not fair when she had barely made any effort herself today. There should have been some sort of law, she though bitterly to herself, that exes are not to meet unless both are dressed according to the same code.

She wondered if she perhaps should pop open her little nest egg herself and go shopping with the money earmarked their wedding. Get some new shoes, some sexy dresses... Maybe lingerie? But why would she want to impress him? She wanted him to go away! Did she not?

Some time during the confusing ball of thoughts that she could not really make sense of, someone had apparently sat down next to her. Because suddenly there was someone clearing their throat right by her left ear. Nervously she looked up, begging any deity of any religion she could think of right then and there to please, please not let it be him.