Enantiodromia

Ⓞne Ⓨear Ⓛater

"Are you ready for dinner, yet?" Rupert said coming in the room. I looked down at my dress. It was a sleeveless, floor-length velvet dress with a sweetheart neckline. I added a black choker and some black gloves. My hair was pulled up in a french twist and my makeup was done lightly.  Looking back in the mirror, I couldn't help but marvel at my progress.

One year ago, my son was killed. One year ago, I was a completely different person. I was broken, beaten, and bloody. I was damaged beyond repair, emotionally and physically. After five years of having an abusive boyfriend, I thought it was over for me. I couldn't picture a tomorrow, let alone another year.

But he changed that.

Rupert changed me. After only knowing him for two months, he swooped in and began taking care of me. I moved in with him and I began going to therapy. I only went for him. He was the only person who wanted me to get better. And I love him for it.

A knock at the door disturbed my thoughts. I looked towards the door just in time to see Rupert open the door. He walked in and I was knocked speechless. Just like I always was.

The year hadn't just changed me; it changed him too. He grew his hair out and he no longer shaved off all of his stubble. He had also began going on morning jogs, of course always begging me to go with him. But his appearance wasn't the only thing about him that changed. He still worked at Sweet Cheeks- well he owns it now.

Sweet Cheeks has began expanding to more than one location and has quickly become a popular spot. To put it lightly, Rupert has become rich. I'm still without a job, but he insists that I should continue to take some time off.

"Wow." is the only thing he says. His brown eyes shine and he strides over to me quickly. Taking my hand in his, he spins me around. My dress flares out before wrapping around my legs slightly. I look up at him and see him smiling brightly at me. I felt myself blushing at the attention he gave me.

"You look absolutely breathtaking." he said, his eyes still trained on mine. I giggled and took his hand in mine, pulling him out of the room. A high-pitched yipe stopped me in my tracks. I crouched down and picked up my baby puppy. It seemed like just yesterday.

It was a rainy day and Rupert was working. I had therapy, so I had to go by myself. I usually had no problem going by myself but I remember that day. That day, had been particularly hard for me to get out of bed. There was no particular reason why (I had days like this quite often) but I forced myself to go anyways. Dr. Marian had been brief, not taking up half of the time I was scheduled to be there.

But she encouraged me to go out to grab some coffee with her. I don't drink coffee, but I agreed to go with her anyways. While we were drinking our coffee, Rupert showed up. I was surprised; he wasn't supposed to be home for another five hours. The three of us sat and chatted for over two hours. When I got in the car, I drove home and was once again alone.

Assuming Rupert went back to work, I curled up on the couch and cut on a movie. Sometime during the movie, I fell asleep. I woke up not very long after and looked over to see Rupert. He was sitting on the other side of the couch half asleep. So I crawled over beside him and snuggled against him. He sat up, wrapped his arm around me, and presented me a box. When I asked what it was for, he reminded me that my birthday was next week.

I opened the box and out popped a Belgian Tervuren puppy. Rupert picked him up from the animal shelter after he left the coffee shop. He told me how his name was Nemo. When he was just a few weeks old he was attacked by his mother and lost most of his left ear. Rupert explained how he didn't want me staying at home by myself all of the time, so he got someone to keep me company. Ever since then, Nemo hasn't left my sight.