*****
The lights of the city shimmered like stars. The sky was powdered with diamond and dust. The river below the bridge hid its secrets under a slick black sheet. Cars and people, as small as needles, were rushing through the nightlife beating on the roads of downtown.
I felt tears building up again as I stared at Sadie's last gift for me. All of her work had always been beautiful. Each and every painting, a picture of what life is all about. Don't even get me started about the details. She had always been meticulous about everything. She wanted to make sure that each person portrays a story, each scene as accurate as it can be. I loved that about her. When she sits down in front of a canvas, she wouldn't stand up until it becomes a transcending masterpiece.
But that side of her, the side I've always loved, was the side that tore us apart.
I used to think we were both a canvas, blank and clear. Everything we shared was a stroke of the brush, our feelings made bright and vivid colors. When I thought we were close to the bigger picture, I went for the final touch: I proposed. She said yes, and I thought, "This is it. We've made a masterpiece." But as it turns out, I was the only one making it. She was making a masterpiece of her own. Me? I'm another 'reject', a half-painted picture left behind when the artist finds a better scene.
I jumped, startled by the loud ring of the telephone. Quickly, I answered the phone. "Sadie?"
"No, jackass." The tone and the foul language is unmistakable: Fred. "Listen, I know you're crying like a baby right now but-"
"I'm not crying!", I shouted in protest.
"Let me guess, you're staring at Sadie's paintings?"
I sheepishly glanced at the painting hung on the wall, then answered, "No. Why would I do that? That's like, above average creepy."
"Above average creepy, huh? Dillweed. Get your ass down here, and I'll buy you a beer." I've known Fred for 10 years now and I know this is a bad idea.
"I can't --"
"GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE, AND I'LL BUY YOU A BEER. Yeah, you're welcome." He hung up.
Under normal circumstances, I would have ignored his offer, locked down the doors, and went to bed. But I'm so emotionally unstable
right now, I'm actually itching to go.
The clock had just struck 2:00 am. "This is bad," I tell myself. "Bad."
Reluctantly, I grabbed my coat and went outside.
*****
YOU ARE READING
The Spoon
RomanceFIVE MONTHS. Carter and Sadie were five months away from their wedding. Madly in love, they were caught up in the idea of a perfect marriage. But five months before their big day, Sadie is offered a painting job in Germany, a thousand miles away fr...
