When Time Stops | Completed

page 8: the seventh time.

now i know i've said you, ethan, were the only person to give me the feeling of time standing still, but at the time you were. now, well, now that's a lie, cause i had my moment with aaron.

the moment i wanted with aaron was meant to be perfect. our first time. i had wanted to wait. i felt like it was the right thing for me to do, and he was patient and respected my wishes. that i was grateful for. my moment with aaron would be amazing and i'd hope it would never stop. but hope is ironically a hopeless word. you see, in my lifetime i'd always said "i hope..." wishing that what i hoped for would come true. it never did. hope was just another empty word, another disappointment.

it was a few nights later after that morning at the cafe, ethan. i hadn't seen you and was doing just fine without you. i had aaron and that's what made me happy. but that night, i came home earlier than i said i'd be from my study group. i didn't tell aaron. maybe that was my mistake. no, no. i can't be to blame. it wasn't my fault. was it?

i walked through that front door setting my keys and backpack down making my way to the refrigerator for a quick snack, but then I heard it and my heart dropped and then time stopped. this wasn't the moment i was waiting for but yet i was having it. i heard the noises coming from the bedroom. the moans and groans. i felt like i was about to throw up. i couldn't do anything but stand there in the kitchen to scared to actually go see what was going on, but i knew what was going on.

i just stood there. staring at the ground, watching my tears hit the floor. i couldn't stay there. i couldn't walk in there - my mind, my body, wouldn't let me. so i broke out of the moment i was in and turned around grabbing my backpack and heading out to the cafe in tears.

when i walked into that cafe i didn't know what i was doing exactly, i just followed instinct. i went to the barista and ordered a caramel latte and grabbed it and looked around until i saw you, ethan thomas sitting in the corner booth with your laptop in front of you chewing on a pencil focused on whatever was on your computer screen. i don't know what made me do it, but my feet carried me to where you were sitting there staring at your laptop and i went and sat right down next to you.

you looked so confused, so worried, so happy? your eyes had to many emotions it was hard to tell just what they were.

"genevieve? what are you doing here? are you okay?" you slowly closed your laptop and turned your body to face me.

"oh god. i shouldn't be here," i said realizing what i was doing. "i remember you ethan and we weren't even friends then, so why am i here? oh, i don't know!" i threw my hands up into the air. "i'm just some stupid girl, with stupid thoughts, stupid hopes and dreams, with a stupid boyfriend." i paused remembering the scene i could have walked in on. a felt a tear run down my cheek. "i'm just stupid." i concluded throwing my head in my hands.

you blinked at me, your mouth open in a small 'o'. you cleared your throat, "so i'm going to guess that you aren't okay..."

"no i'm not okay!" i gasped, "i just caught my boyfriend cheating on me!" i realized my yelling and looked around to see the few people in the cafe staring. i coughed, "well now that that's out. i'll just...leave."

i turned and got up out of my seat. but you grabbed my wrist, "wait, you want to talk about it? or we could just chat?"

i looked at you quickly deciding. it had been a while since we actually talked. i always liked talking with you. "chatting would be nice," i said taking a shaky breath and sat back down.

"awesome," you sighed then you're eyes grew a bit wider, "not that your situation is awesome--it's terrible, just that i, uh--um, talking to you is awesome, yeah."

I couldn't help but laugh at your awkwardness, "thank you I guess?"

that night was the worst night of my life. finding the man you tried so hard to love, to cherish, and he turns his back on you for another. it hurt. a lot. that's a moment frozen in time that i can never forget, though i'd want to.

but you, ethan thomas, made that night better by just listening to my rant about how cabbage is the worst vegetable in the world and that dogs were better than people and your small, yet snarky comments made everything better and i didn't know why.

now ethan, time didn't stop for us this time but that moment--that memory--in that cafe made me realize why I was drawn to you in the first place.

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