Oblivious

Finally after what seemed like the longest two weeks ever, Derek was more than ready to surprise Jess with what he hoped to be the biggest surprise in her life. The clock struck five o'clock and Derek was ready to go home. Today was the day. Three years ago, today, Derek asked Jess to be his first girlfriend.  He never thought that they would last as long as they did but he was ecstatic that they stuck by each other's side all this time. Today was the day. Today was the day he asked Jess out, today is the day he will propose, and if Jess agreed today would be the day they get married. Once Derek arrived home, he rushed to the front door, rushing to his girlfriend.

After a long day at work Derek expected to come home to the smell of dinner cooking and the sound of Jess singing along to her music. Instead he arrived to no sound at all and the air wasn't filled with the smell of divine dinner like it normally would have been. Jess was always home before Derek and he began to worry.

Maybe Jess had to run a few errands, she could possibly be on her way home at this very moment.

Derek's assumption of everything being okay was ruined when he turned the corner going into the bedroom he share with Jess. The first thing Derek saw when going into the room  was Jess sitting on their bed, and next to her sat a suitcase stuffed to capacity. Jess dreaded this moment. Not because she would have to face Derek but because she hated the fact that all of their history would have gone to waste. A thought that they would live on forever with the indefinite love that used to be shared shattered within minutes.

"What's all this?" Derek asked with a hint of unease in his voice.

"I can't keep doing this anymore I'm sorry."

"What do you mean, can't keep doing this? What exactly is this?"

"I'm not happy and for some reason, you don't see that. I think it'll be best if we go our separate ways."

With those last words rolling off her tongue, Derek became panicked. "No babe. Don't say that. We can fix this. I'm in love -"

"No, please. Don't say it. It brings pain to my heart every time you say it without true meaning."

Jess couldn't do this anymore. Jess hoped that once she said what she had to, she could slip away. Once again she felt trapped under Derek's hopes of not ending their relationship. Yet again he was oblivious to her inner pain. This had been going on for too long but he insisted that they work it out and every time she obliged. He kept her imprisoned in their loveless partnership. She didn't want to be in this relationship anymore. This relationship no longer filled with love. This relationship no longer filled with hope. She no longer felt the sparks that she longed for.

"Jess, please don't do this. Please." Derek whispered.

"I don't want this anymore. I'm sorry. We're no longer a loving couple. I'm sure you can agree."

"We definitely won't be if you go now. We don't stand a chance if you give up. I don't know where this is coming from, but it's not like you. What happened to staying together forever?"

In that instant, Derek dropped down to one knee, held out the engagement ring, and allowed the tears he had been holding back this entire time to be released. He had a feeling this would happen eventually - possibly 20 years from now -  but he didn't think it would happen so soon. Had he done something wrong to cause their relationship to progress to this point? It was true, he didn't feel the love that once lingered in the air. But unlike his partner he was willing to try and save what once was. It seemed, to him, that she was oblivious to his pain as he was to hers. Years ago, they both would have swore that this day would never come. They would have believed they would stay together until the day they died. Eventually, though, they drifted apart shattering each others hearts in the process.

Jess couldn't believe what she was seeing. Derek was on one knee desperately holding out the most beautiful ring. She had always wanted to get married. She wanted the endless love that a husband would give his wife. But it seemed to Jess that her and Derek weren't meant to be. As much as she wanted to accept the proposal, Jess wouldn't allow herself to be dragged into what she knew would be an unhappy marriage. Jess looked down to avoid the look of hurt on Derek's face and pushed the engagement ring away from her.

Derek looked down at the ring for a few seconds in silence and looked back up at Jess to ask "Is there someone else?" Derek asked this hoping that he wouldn't become even more hurt. He prayed that no one else had taken Jess's heart from him.

As tempting as it was to go along with Derek's assumption Jess didn't want to crush him anymore than he already was.

"No. There's no one else but I just feel we have separated. We have found our fork in the road. There's no point in trying to fix something that's no longer here. I will always love you but I'm not in love with you anymore." With nothing left to say, Jess headed to the front door with Derek following behind. He begged and pleaded for her to stay but the damage was already done.

"Every girl has a guy that she won't stop loving -" Derek shouted a poem that was shared between the two years ago in attempt to get her to see the worth in their relationship one last time. He hoped that she would finish the poem for him like she used to. Whether they were separating from each other temporarily or  permanently, Derek at least wanted Jess to carry their most loving memory with her as she walked away  from him.

Jess turned around and finished the poem. "- and every guy has a girl that he won't stop fighting for." She then began walking again. Walking away from a man who will forever be in her heart as her first lover, Jess shedded tears that she had been holding back. Her sad tears mixed with the emotion of happiness as this loving memory trailed after her.