Romantic One Shots & Imagines

One Shot #34: Long Time, No See

     I look up at the tall, sleek building in all of its 30 story glory. Unsure of how to proceed, I just convince myself to breathe as I walk into the lobby. My mind starts racing in the slow elevator. Why didn't I do my hair? I could have put something better on today.

     I start to walk slowly toward his door. I haven't even prepared what to say! When I heard what happened, I knew that I had to see him. It was time to leave the past in the past and act like adults. If anything, I was the reason why we didn't talk anymore. The sound of me knocking on his door was nothing compared to the sound of my heart pounding. I barely had anytime to take another deep breath before the door opened in front of me.

          His eyes widened. "Lauryn." It'd been too long since I heard him say my name.

          I wave awkwardly. "Hi, Henry." We stare at each other for a long moment.

          "Is it really you?" He whispers, more to himself than to me. "How do I know you're not a hallucination?"

          "Well, have you taken any drugs lately?" I ask teasingly.

          "No." He shakes his head seriously. I stare back at him, not knowing what else to say. "How...how have you been?" He holds the door open for me to walk in.

          "Good. Good. How are you?" I quickly regret asking him the same. "I'm sorry, that's a stupid question. I'm sorry...about everything. I can't imagine what you went through."

          "Is that why you came back? You feel sorry for me? You left me out of nowhere almost a year ago!

          I roll my eyes. "It wasn't out of nowhere."

          "I looked for you! I thought you were hurt." His voice breaks for a second.

     Deciding to not be rash, I say "I'm sorry." He looks at me surprised. "I'm sorry that I left the way I did, but honestly, could you blame me? How could you have hid something like that from me?" I ask rhetorically, already knowing the answer. "Henry, you hurt me, you know. I didn't come back because I felt sorry for you. We were in love and you don't just throw that away. If anything, I'll always be your friend and this is what friends do when the other is in need."

          "Is that how you feel? Do you think we'll always be friends?"

          "Of course." He doesn't respond. His sad eyes become fixated with the spotted pattern on the rug. "How is your leg? Have you been doing physical therapy?" He shakes his head. "You have to do that, Henry. You don't want to walk with a limp for the rest of your life, do you? You're team will miss you if you have to permanently leave them because your leg didn't fully heal."

          "It doesn't matter anymore. I lost my job, I lost the ability to do the only thing I was good at, I lost my wife..."

           "We weren't married yet."

          "We may as well have been. Do you remember how people would always say we acted like an old married couple?" I nod as we laughed lightly at the memories.

          "You know, you are more than your leg. You have a great head on your shoulders. Remember when you helped the team win championships last year because you saw everyone's strengths and put them into good use. You were always a better coach to them than Costanza ever was. And if that doesn't work out, you still have many other talents. You can cook, play the guitar, fix...any and everything."

          He looks solemnly at me. "I could fix everything but us".

          I help him to sit down with me. "I couldn't stay. I felt...betrayed. But I thought about you; I thought about you everyday. I was able to busy myself with a job and school work but none of it could completely tear you away from my thoughts. I missed you and knowing that I hurt you too broke my heart."

           A glimpse of a smile falls on his face. "I missed you too."

     After a while, I suggest that I make him a home cooked meal. Going through his kitchen, I could tell that he wasn't eating well. I scolded him for having a strictly ramen noodle diet as I took out whatever vegetable I could find in his fridge. We got into a comfortable silence. The slice of the knife hitting the cutting board was the only sound between us for a while.

          "Where did you go after you left? I was afraid you were going to get snatched sleeping on a bench."

          "I stayed in a motel for as long as my savings could allow. Luckily, I was able to find a room for rent. This family leased it out."

          "Family?"

          "They were two sisters and a brother."

          "A brother?" He pauses to think. "What did he look like?"

          "You care?" I ask.

          "Yes! I want to know if you were shacking up with a Bradley Cooper or whoever women voted sexiest man alive this year".

          "He was sexiest man alive a few years ago actually" I correct him teasingly. That didn't seem to go over too well as he glared back at me seriously. "He was tall, blonde, had bright blue eyes and a friendly smile". Silence fell again, but it did not have the same feel as before.

          "...Did anything..."

          "Did anything happen between me and him?" I was astonished yet excited about Henry's jealousy. The only one who was ever jealous when we were together, was me. He nods. "Of course not. How can I be with someone else when I was already in love with someone else". I tighten my grip on the bell pepper.

          "You still love me? How can you?"

          "You're not a monster, no matter what you believe. Even though you did what you did, you had good intentions. It took me a while to realize that, but I know now. So yes, I still love you. I can't imagine a world where I don't love you". He smiles. "I'm glad I found you."

          "You're glad you found me?" He responds with a sigh. "I was trying to find you!"

     Unable to hold it back any longer, I walk over to him and throw my arms around him for the first time in months. He maneuvers to do the same. I held my head close to his chest as his cheek rested on top of me.

                                                                                       The End