Reel Love

Chapter 7

"Hello Greg," I mumble. I advert my eyes. I realize my stomach flutters of fear. I could not be happier to have Ana standing with me.

"Well, I'm looking for someone, nice to see you Marie." He shrugs me off and moves away quickly. He was never uncomfortable and we briefly spoke as if old acquaintances.

I mean nothing to him. Every way he loved me and hurt me must've never meant anything to him. My life once revolved around him, I used to think his revolved around me. I guess it never did.

This new sense of pain, turns to anger. Who ever he's meeting must be better than me. I turn to Ana who is beyond confused. I tell her to come outside. And she follows. We go on our walk and I tell her about Greg.

"I was 16, just finished high school. I had met him and soon we were together. I was Irish Dancing and that earned a good pay, so I moved in with him. I really loved him."

As I reflect, I don't think about the brutal end, but the beginning. He would talk to me everyday. And always was honest. We agreed about so many things and I fell for him. All the things he told me, every time he said he loved me. We fell in love. It was beautiful.

I look over at Ana and she's smiling. So I continue to talk.

"He was never harsh towards me, always caring and open. He hardly got mad, and it was never at me. His dad on the other hand had been in and out of jail. He had a horrible drug problem. And Greg never wanted to be a part of his dad's life, or his problem. He hated drugs, he hated alcohol. Anything that had caused problems in his childhood. He dealt with his problems by ignoring them. Greg started to lie. His father had been released from jail, and he tried to contact Greg. I had no idea about his father at this point in our relationship. Greg never talked about him.

It was one day in the summer, Greg and I just bought this beautiful house in the country. Greg worked as a bank teller so he went to work as usual, my dancing career had just started, but my tour group never worked in summer.

I was home alone, and it was nothing new. I remember it so clearly now. I was making my breakfast with the radio on. Then the doorbell rang. At first I thought it was odd. But shrugged that off. When I pull open the door, I see an older man. His grey hair thinning and he looks like he had suffered. His loose jeans barely held by a belt. And his plaid shirt also loose. But he's holding a bouquet of flowers.

'Hello sir, is there anything I can help you with?' I ask kindly.

'This must be the wrong house, I'm terrible sorry for bothering you.' He tells me as he turns to walk away.

I don't know what it is, but I want to help him. Maybe it's the flowers.

'Well, I can help you. Ive been living in this town my whole life. I know my way around' I tell him standing in the doorway.

He smiles and says 'That would be great'

I offer him a seat on the bench on our porch and he accepts.

' I am looking for a Greg Whaters' His voice so clear in my mind even today."

Ana reaches for my arm and she rubs my back. We stop walking for a second. I look at Ana. And finish my story.

" Greg was so mad, he was furious. He asked me how I let the devil in our house. That's when we started fighting. He expected me to know. He thought I could just know about his past. " I pause and the look at Ana "It's really funny, how you think you now someone, you think you can predict how they're going to act. What they'll say. But it only takes enough distance to create a whole other person behind them."

Ana nods and we walk back towards the pub.

Ana whispers something we reach the door.

" It's not your fault Marie. You only see what people choose to show you"

We walked into the pub and Lucas came over then he and Ana drifted away, she gave me an apologetic smile. I sat at the bar and my eyes searched for Brandon.

That's when I saw him, Greg. He was talking to a girl. She was really pretty, she had short blonde hair and laughed so lightly. She stood out but was comfortable. They looked happy.

' You only see what people choose to show you'

He was broken when I loved him, and I think a piece of him always will be. I never wanted to hurt him, and it turns out I never did.