Love and Conspiracy
Another Turning Point.
The following morning, Mike slowly pulled up to the house. He took a deep breath before shutting the ignition and getting out of the car. As he carefully walked to the house, the bad feeling in his gut began to grow. Step by step, he finally approached the front door. Before he could knock, however, a note taped to the mailbox caught his eye. He immediately knew that she wasn’t coming along.
As his stomach dropped, he gently opened the piece of paper, as if it were going to rip if he pulled too hard. He took another deep breath before reading the small words.
“I’m sorry.”
He closed his eyes, shaking his head, before placing a hard fist against the door. Dammit, Lucy, he thought to himself. He probably shouldn’t have gotten his hopes too high up, since it was no surprise that she decided to not go along. There was no way he was letting the rest of the group know, though. They didn’t need to be put through the disappointment again, especially Billie.
Walking back to the car, he actually felt tears welling up in his eyes as he realized that he had just lost one of his good friends. Once he got back in the car, however, he quickly wiped them away. You can’t dwell on this anymore, Mike.
He stared at the note one last time, memorizing every little detail about her writing, before he crumpled it up and threw it in the back seat. Starting up the car, he prepared to finally leave this part of his life behind. At least he got some sort of closure.
Without looking out the front windshield, he slowly started to pull forward before he heard a thud on the hood and slammed on the breaks. His heart skipped a beat as he stared wide-eyed outside the window.
~~~
I woke up that next morning, having a strange sort of refreshed feeling washed over my body. However, that still couldn’t beat the extra twenty pounds of emotion I got from the night before. I glanced over at my clock and saw that it read 8:32. Mike never told me what time he was planning on stopping by again. Not that it mattered anyway, though, because I was still fixed on the idea of not going back. There was no way that I could go back and put Billie through that same pain that I’ve been putting myself through. I laid in bed thinking for a good hour before I even thought of actually getting up.
I walked over to the mirror in my room that I had avoided for so long and took a good look at myself. I was utterly horrified of my appearance. How could I let myself get this bad? At that moment, I realized that there was no way that I was ever going to become the person I used to be; at least not by staying in that hell hole. I needed to go with Mike. That was my life that I was getting ready to throw away if I let him leave.
Happiness began to fill my heart as I gathered up the things that I thought I would need, which turned out to not be all that much. I just decided that I would get a job and make some money when I got there in order to get the stuff that I needed. So I packed a small bag of clothes and grabbed any other miscellaneous items I thought I might need.
After taking a quick shower, I threw on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt before skimming around my room to see if there was anything else that I had missed. Nothing. I just needed my small backpack and I was pretty much ready. Practically hopping down the stairs in excitement, I sat my stuff by the door and got a small piece of paper.
Taping it to the mailbox was the only idea that I could think of where I knew that Greg would find it easily. Seeing no sign of Mike, I went back inside to do one more check to see if I had left anything that I might need. As I came back down the stairs, I glanced over at the couch that seemed, oh-so inviting at that moment. Plopping down on the couch, I figured that I would just keep an eye through the window for him. Little did I know that I would fall asleep so easily.
~~~
I was slowly awoken by a thud on the front door. Forgetting where I was for a moment, I looked around the room having no idea where I was. That’s when I realized that the person at the door must’ve been Mike. Happier than ever, I jumped up from the couch and ran to the door.
He was walking back to the car, so I automatically assumed that he was just going to get the car started while I quickly got my stuff ready. After locking the door behind me, a large smile grew on my face as I started to head towards the car myself. Once I heard him turn the ignition on as he wiped his face, that’s when I realized that he wasn’t waiting; he was leaving.
As fear grew inside of me, I bolted towards the front of the car in the attempts to stop him. Even though I waved my arms to get his attention, he still didn’t look until he started to pull forward. That’s when I knew I only had a second before he actually hit me, so I slammed my hands down on the hood, hoping to get his attention. Luckily, he hit the breaks in time, so it only gently hit me causing me to fall backwards.
It took a minute before I heard the car door open and I saw him look down at me. He had a look spread across his face as if he had just seen a ghost.
“Are you okay?!” he asked frantically, kneeling beside me.
“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just a minor fall is all.”
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t even see you there! What the hell are you doing jumping in front of cars, anyways?!”
“I wasn’t jumping in front of the car! I thought you were waiting for me, asshole,” I said, offended at his question.
“Waiting? Your note made it pretty clear that you weren’t coming along. Did you change your mind?” he asked, hope evident in his voice.
“My note?” I asked, confused, “My note that was on the mailbox? That was for Greg, not you.” His face relaxed as he realized the mistake he had made.
“Fuck, I’m so sorry,” he repeated before helping me up, “So you decided that you are coming along, then?”
“Well, I don’t know now, if you’re going to be hitting me with cars whenever you feel like it,” I said sarcastically. He smiled as he pulled me into a hug.
“Thank you. I’m so glad that you’re giving us another chance,” he answered. I felt that warmth of comfort, once again.
“Are you sure that I’m not going to impose on anyone?” I vulnerably asked. He let go of me before looking me in the eyes.
“Of course not! Come on; let’s get your stuff in the car. We’ll talk along the way.”
~~~
Once we were in the car and on the road again, he began to fill me in on everything that I had been missing out on.
“Tre’s been with three different girlfriends since you’ve been gone,” he said with a laugh.
“That is no surprise to hear,” I laughed along with him.
“Yeah, he actually doesn’t have one at the moment. He has been planning on being single for the wedding, so he can hit on as many girls as he wants. It’s kept him away from any relationships for the past two weeks!”
“Wow, really? That sounds just like Tre, though,” I agreed, “When is the wedding, anyways?”
“Tomorrow,” he answered, nonchalantly.
“What?!” I exclaimed, causing him to chuckle.
“Don’t worry; they have it all set up. Plus, knowing Jess, she’ll get everything all planned out for you within the first hour we get there,” he replied. I felt a little relieved, knowing how true that was.
“Does she know that you were coming to see me?”
“No. No one did, actually. I figured that if you decided to come, it would be a nice surprise for everyone; if you didn’t, well then I would have to be the only one to know,” he said solemnly.
“I’m sorry,” I said, quietly.
“It’s okay. It’s all in the past now. Now all you have to worry about is hearing everyone’s stories for the next week or two!” he joked. I laughed along with him.
“That’s alright with me,” I answered.
~~~
The hours seemed to really fly as he filled me in on everything. In fact, it wasn’t until we were down the street from Jess’ house when I realized that we were finally there. A nervous feeling filled my body as we slowly pulled in front of her house.
“I don’t know if I can do this, Mike,” I told him, not wanting to get out of the car. He gently rubbed my hand.
“It’ll be just fine. I’m more than positive that Billie isn’t here; I don’t see his car anywhere.”
After realizing that, I let myself calm down a bit before willingly getting out of the car, too. I carefully walked a couple steps behind him until we reached the door.
“Stay in the doorway for a minute,” he said, walking inside. I could hear them all greet him from the kitchen. “Hey Jess, come here for a sec, I got you an early wedding gift,” he said as he motioned me to walk inside. As she entered the room, she looked around, most likely for a literal “present”.
Once she realized that I was standing there, she gave me a wary look, not recognizing me. Right before she was about to question who I was, her eyes widened, looking at me in disbelief.
“Lucy?!” she exclaimed. My eyes welled with tears as I smiled and nodded at her. In one quick moment, she ran towards me and suffocated me in a bear hug. “Oh my god! I can’t believe it’s you!” she said, taking a step back to look at me and then hugging me again, “You’re actually here!”
All I could manage to do was nod against her and cry as she continued to hug me. It felt so good to be in her presence again; to be in that house that brought so many memories back.
“Please tell me that you’re here to stay!” she said, not letting go of me. I sniffled back my tears.
“Yup. And I plan to stay for good, if you don’t mind.”
“Of course not, honey! You are staying right here with me! I need to fill you in about everything! Oh, and the wedding! Oh my god, we need to get you ready for that! We need to go get your dress right away! Come, come!” she said, ecstatically, pulling me out the door towards her car.
I was glad to be home.
As his stomach dropped, he gently opened the piece of paper, as if it were going to rip if he pulled too hard. He took another deep breath before reading the small words.
“I’m sorry.”
He closed his eyes, shaking his head, before placing a hard fist against the door. Dammit, Lucy, he thought to himself. He probably shouldn’t have gotten his hopes too high up, since it was no surprise that she decided to not go along. There was no way he was letting the rest of the group know, though. They didn’t need to be put through the disappointment again, especially Billie.
Walking back to the car, he actually felt tears welling up in his eyes as he realized that he had just lost one of his good friends. Once he got back in the car, however, he quickly wiped them away. You can’t dwell on this anymore, Mike.
He stared at the note one last time, memorizing every little detail about her writing, before he crumpled it up and threw it in the back seat. Starting up the car, he prepared to finally leave this part of his life behind. At least he got some sort of closure.
Without looking out the front windshield, he slowly started to pull forward before he heard a thud on the hood and slammed on the breaks. His heart skipped a beat as he stared wide-eyed outside the window.
~~~
I woke up that next morning, having a strange sort of refreshed feeling washed over my body. However, that still couldn’t beat the extra twenty pounds of emotion I got from the night before. I glanced over at my clock and saw that it read 8:32. Mike never told me what time he was planning on stopping by again. Not that it mattered anyway, though, because I was still fixed on the idea of not going back. There was no way that I could go back and put Billie through that same pain that I’ve been putting myself through. I laid in bed thinking for a good hour before I even thought of actually getting up.
I walked over to the mirror in my room that I had avoided for so long and took a good look at myself. I was utterly horrified of my appearance. How could I let myself get this bad? At that moment, I realized that there was no way that I was ever going to become the person I used to be; at least not by staying in that hell hole. I needed to go with Mike. That was my life that I was getting ready to throw away if I let him leave.
Happiness began to fill my heart as I gathered up the things that I thought I would need, which turned out to not be all that much. I just decided that I would get a job and make some money when I got there in order to get the stuff that I needed. So I packed a small bag of clothes and grabbed any other miscellaneous items I thought I might need.
After taking a quick shower, I threw on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt before skimming around my room to see if there was anything else that I had missed. Nothing. I just needed my small backpack and I was pretty much ready. Practically hopping down the stairs in excitement, I sat my stuff by the door and got a small piece of paper.
Taping it to the mailbox was the only idea that I could think of where I knew that Greg would find it easily. Seeing no sign of Mike, I went back inside to do one more check to see if I had left anything that I might need. As I came back down the stairs, I glanced over at the couch that seemed, oh-so inviting at that moment. Plopping down on the couch, I figured that I would just keep an eye through the window for him. Little did I know that I would fall asleep so easily.
~~~
I was slowly awoken by a thud on the front door. Forgetting where I was for a moment, I looked around the room having no idea where I was. That’s when I realized that the person at the door must’ve been Mike. Happier than ever, I jumped up from the couch and ran to the door.
He was walking back to the car, so I automatically assumed that he was just going to get the car started while I quickly got my stuff ready. After locking the door behind me, a large smile grew on my face as I started to head towards the car myself. Once I heard him turn the ignition on as he wiped his face, that’s when I realized that he wasn’t waiting; he was leaving.
As fear grew inside of me, I bolted towards the front of the car in the attempts to stop him. Even though I waved my arms to get his attention, he still didn’t look until he started to pull forward. That’s when I knew I only had a second before he actually hit me, so I slammed my hands down on the hood, hoping to get his attention. Luckily, he hit the breaks in time, so it only gently hit me causing me to fall backwards.
It took a minute before I heard the car door open and I saw him look down at me. He had a look spread across his face as if he had just seen a ghost.
“Are you okay?!” he asked frantically, kneeling beside me.
“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just a minor fall is all.”
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t even see you there! What the hell are you doing jumping in front of cars, anyways?!”
“I wasn’t jumping in front of the car! I thought you were waiting for me, asshole,” I said, offended at his question.
“Waiting? Your note made it pretty clear that you weren’t coming along. Did you change your mind?” he asked, hope evident in his voice.
“My note?” I asked, confused, “My note that was on the mailbox? That was for Greg, not you.” His face relaxed as he realized the mistake he had made.
“Fuck, I’m so sorry,” he repeated before helping me up, “So you decided that you are coming along, then?”
“Well, I don’t know now, if you’re going to be hitting me with cars whenever you feel like it,” I said sarcastically. He smiled as he pulled me into a hug.
“Thank you. I’m so glad that you’re giving us another chance,” he answered. I felt that warmth of comfort, once again.
“Are you sure that I’m not going to impose on anyone?” I vulnerably asked. He let go of me before looking me in the eyes.
“Of course not! Come on; let’s get your stuff in the car. We’ll talk along the way.”
~~~
Once we were in the car and on the road again, he began to fill me in on everything that I had been missing out on.
“Tre’s been with three different girlfriends since you’ve been gone,” he said with a laugh.
“That is no surprise to hear,” I laughed along with him.
“Yeah, he actually doesn’t have one at the moment. He has been planning on being single for the wedding, so he can hit on as many girls as he wants. It’s kept him away from any relationships for the past two weeks!”
“Wow, really? That sounds just like Tre, though,” I agreed, “When is the wedding, anyways?”
“Tomorrow,” he answered, nonchalantly.
“What?!” I exclaimed, causing him to chuckle.
“Don’t worry; they have it all set up. Plus, knowing Jess, she’ll get everything all planned out for you within the first hour we get there,” he replied. I felt a little relieved, knowing how true that was.
“Does she know that you were coming to see me?”
“No. No one did, actually. I figured that if you decided to come, it would be a nice surprise for everyone; if you didn’t, well then I would have to be the only one to know,” he said solemnly.
“I’m sorry,” I said, quietly.
“It’s okay. It’s all in the past now. Now all you have to worry about is hearing everyone’s stories for the next week or two!” he joked. I laughed along with him.
“That’s alright with me,” I answered.
~~~
The hours seemed to really fly as he filled me in on everything. In fact, it wasn’t until we were down the street from Jess’ house when I realized that we were finally there. A nervous feeling filled my body as we slowly pulled in front of her house.
“I don’t know if I can do this, Mike,” I told him, not wanting to get out of the car. He gently rubbed my hand.
“It’ll be just fine. I’m more than positive that Billie isn’t here; I don’t see his car anywhere.”
After realizing that, I let myself calm down a bit before willingly getting out of the car, too. I carefully walked a couple steps behind him until we reached the door.
“Stay in the doorway for a minute,” he said, walking inside. I could hear them all greet him from the kitchen. “Hey Jess, come here for a sec, I got you an early wedding gift,” he said as he motioned me to walk inside. As she entered the room, she looked around, most likely for a literal “present”.
Once she realized that I was standing there, she gave me a wary look, not recognizing me. Right before she was about to question who I was, her eyes widened, looking at me in disbelief.
“Lucy?!” she exclaimed. My eyes welled with tears as I smiled and nodded at her. In one quick moment, she ran towards me and suffocated me in a bear hug. “Oh my god! I can’t believe it’s you!” she said, taking a step back to look at me and then hugging me again, “You’re actually here!”
All I could manage to do was nod against her and cry as she continued to hug me. It felt so good to be in her presence again; to be in that house that brought so many memories back.
“Please tell me that you’re here to stay!” she said, not letting go of me. I sniffled back my tears.
“Yup. And I plan to stay for good, if you don’t mind.”
“Of course not, honey! You are staying right here with me! I need to fill you in about everything! Oh, and the wedding! Oh my god, we need to get you ready for that! We need to go get your dress right away! Come, come!” she said, ecstatically, pulling me out the door towards her car.
I was glad to be home.