Rough Draft

Glass Heart

Dear diary, Tina began, I had another dream about Jimmy Jr. I think its because I was stood up again last night... I'm beginning to wonder if maybe I'm cursed to write beautiful love stories and steamy, sensual scenes but never be a part of them?

She sighed, leaning back in her chair. The sky was overcast and grey. The snow had been piling up worse than it did the year before. It created a melancholy atmosphere in her stories; all five works seemed to be in some state of tragedy. It seemed to be affecting her as well.

She'd dreamed of the last month she'd spent at home. It had been easy to work at the restaurant and a couple of jobs around the neighborhood to afford the tuition that the scholarship hadn't covered. The fact was the summer Tina had been 20 was the best summer of her life to date. Jimmy Jr had dropped the visiting ballet lead. With Zeke gone to college on a full-ride athletic scholarship right out of high school Jimmy Jr didn't have a choice but to spend his time with her.

It had been everything Tina dreamed. They'd kissed and ridden the ferris wheel. Gone to the movies and swimming. Every waking moment they weren't at work they were with one another. Tina had even managed to get to second base. And then...

Her hand clenched at the memory. She frowned into a particular snow drift as though it had offended her family. Her brown eyes clouded in anger. Her last day at Wonder Wharf. She had waited as long as she could. Jimmy Jr never showed. He sent her a text two days later just saying 'sorry have fun in RI'. No explanation, no excuse. Just... Tina dropped her head, sighing. She was old enough to know the kind of person Jimmy Jr was; self-centered, immature, egocentric.

But she had genuinely thought that they had connected, really connected. Slowly she stood, stretching out tall then twisting her back. Her spine popped pleasantly. With a satisfied sigh she grabbed her suitcase and moved downstairs. Double checking the locks on the doors and windows she climbed into her warmed up Nissan and pulled out onto the road.

For the first time in a year and a half she'd be visiting home. For the first time in her life she hoped she wouldn't see Jimmy Jr when she got there.

~*~*~

"There's my Tina!" Linda stopped short, watching her daughter climb out of the car and trudge around to the restaurant door through the snow.

"Whoa, Tina!" Louise laughed through the service window. "You weren't kidding about getting in shape! Check out those guns-"

"Oooh arm guns." Gene added from behind the bar, "who are you getting ready to shoot?"

Tina smiled at her siblings as she entered the eatery, letting Linda sweep her into a crushing hug.

"Oh my baby!" She cried, smothering Tina. "You've gotten so big! Oh, and sexy!" Linda added, watching her eldest pull off her winter coat. "Look at that waist! It's tiny!"

Tina sighed, "Mom I haven't lost that much weight."

"No. She hasn't." Bob added from over the grill, peeking around Louise. "S-she still looks like my 13 year old." The crack in his voice belied the emotion he was covering.

"He cried for a week after you left." Linda draped a hand softly over Tina's forearm, her other hand pressed to her chest. "It was the sweetest thing."

"I'm not crying!" He shouted back from the grill.

"Oh, Dad." Louise muttered, "You really are. Like, a lot. Don't get boogers all over the customer's food, Dad!"

"I-I'm not getting boogers on your food." Bob called out to the restaraunt.

Tina couldn't help her smile. She had forgotten how boisterous and lively her family was. She had never been as eccentric as the others and being on her own had only highlighted how dull and normal she was. She spun on her bar stool, taking in the mini-Christmas tree on the bar, the garland draped over the walls. The smell of burgers enveloped her. She closed her eyes. This felt like Christmas.