Believe it or not, there was a time when Greta Abney had it all figured out. Marriage, a family, and a thriving career all by the age of 30 was her plan. But plans change, and now she's drinking alone at her best friend's baby announcement party.
A...
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♫ wanna be by betty who♫
She found her way back home without the urge for an Uber ride, hoping to fully comprehend her own jumbled up thoughts as she walked. But there were only more added to the messy pile as she spotted the most unexpected sight of all.
Him, sitting on her front steps.
With a sigh, she gave into the grimace ready to be exposed upon her face before standing over him in disbelief. "How did you find out where I lived?"
And from the pocket of his hoodie, Eli slipped out the sticky note Cora had given him. "Your sister was hella persistent in getting me to come up here." He explained. "Fancy-ass building you're livin' in, though. Thought I had to pay money just to sit up here."
As if to ease things a little bit better for him, Greta then took a seat at his side. And with the shame already riddled in her features, a part of her had to hope that he couldn't sense the faint essence of sex and weed seeping from her skin.
"I didn't think I'd see you again."
"Believe me, I didn't want you to."
With an even bigger frown, she looked up at him. "I'm sor- I feel bad, y'know, if I ever made you feel like shit the day I left."
Scoffing, Eli side-eyed her for only a moment as he detected his consistent trouble with an actual apology. But with very little a mood, he decided not to dwell on it any further.
And so, she continued. "I don't want to hurt you. If you had met me in high school or somewhere around then, then I would've been the girl of your dreams, but I can't even begin to explain the kind of girl I am now. And I get it, I get that you were probably expecting something a lot healthier and put together, but that's not me. It hasn't been in a long time."
"I didn't ask for that," He told her. "You got shit goin' on, I was just hoping that there was room in there for me to be somethin' for you. I didn't come all the way up here just to change your life or nothin'. That ain't what I'm looking for."
"Then what were you looking for?"
Then, he finally fixed his black eyes on her face. The intricate beauty strewn across her well-developed sadness had a way of hooking onto him. And unlike his urge to save himself and pull apart earlier that day, Eli gave into the human nature of his vices.
It was with a slow, careful stroke that his thumb reached itself across the edge of her forehead. Gently, he moved a thin strand of her blonde tresses from the corner of her eyes and pushed it aside.
