A Twist of Fate

My last class for the day had just let out and I was glad to be heading home. My class was on the third floor and I took the elevator down to the first floor. As it stopped to pick up other people on the second floor my heart froze. Standing in front of me was Josh looking back at me in similar shock. I moved over to one side of the elevator while he took the other side. Slowly we felt the elevator move then I heard a strange noise. The lights flickered off and then back on, but the elevator had completely stopped. Josh pressed all the buttons and tried to get it to move but it was completely still.

“Well it looks like we’re stuck in here.” He said.

Those six words were the worse yet most wonderful words I had ever heard. They were wonderful because I was with Josh in the elevator. They were the worse because being in there I wanted to cry. I sat on the floor and tried to fight the tears that wanted to escape. As glad as I was to see Josh I couldn’t stop the pain that tore through me whenever I saw him.

It seemed like hours had passed as the silence continued. I sat on the floor and he was still standing. Finally I couldn’t hold it in as tears started to flow from my eyes, but I wouldn’t let my sobs escape as well. I could feel his eyes on me as I was crying. I ignored him and hoped he would do the same. After all he didn’t care about me anymore so why should it matter if I was crying.

“Elena what’s wrong? The elevators will be fixed soon don’t worry.” He said sitting right next to me. It seemed I never really could get my wish when I wanted things to go a certain way.

“I don’t care about the elevators. Just leave me alone ok.” I said through the few sobs that I let out.

“No, I won’t leave you alone. Something’s bothering you, and I want to know what.” He asked. His eyes seemed so concerned and that only made me angry.

“What the hell does it matter to you if something’s bothering me? Why should you fucking care at all Josh?” I said trying to control my voice.

His was completely stunned by my words, but he still told me, “Elena, I do care. I know you might hate me and I don’t blame you. I love you though. I still love you.”

“How can you say you love me when you broke my heart? Why should you care if I cry because you’re the one making me cry? You can’t choose to leave me and still love me.” I said thinking I made no sense.

“I’m sorry Elena. I didn’t want to break your heart. I do love you so much. I didn’t want to break up with you, but I didn’t know what else to do. I never wanted to make you cry.” He whispered. I could see that his eyes begged me to believe his words were true.

“Why? Why did you leave me if you didn’t want to? I needed you Josh. We both needed you.” I replied.

“I wanted to be there for you and the baby. I was thinking about it and what I had to do so we could take care of it. Then I started to think what if I couldn’t do enough for the both of you. What if I was a terrible father? I didn’t want to let you down, but I thought that maybe if I left you could find someone better than me.

It was almost like part of that song With arms wide open by Creed. You know where he says ‘If I had just one wish Only one demand I hope he's not like me I hope he understands That he can take this life And hold it by the hand’. That was almost exactly like how I felt. I thought I could deal with all the pain and sadness of loosing you as long as you found someone better. I wanted you and the baby to be better off than you would be if you stayed with me.” He said to me. By the look on his face I could tell he felt awkward for saying it the way he did.

“Josh, do you think any of that matter to me. Do you think I care if we struggle with things? I couldn’t care less about anything like that because I want you. I love you. I want the baby to be raised with her true father, and not anyone else.

As for me finding someone else you can forget that thought. Josh, can’t you see the biggest problem I would have trying to find someone else? I don’t care if I found someone who’s smarter than you, handsomer than you, nicer than you, or treats me better than you do. What would any of that matter when I can’t stop loving you? I only want you Josh.” I confessed to him.

I waited for him to say something, but instead I felt his hand under my chin. As he leaned in I finally felt his lips. I hadn’t realized how much I had truly missed him till the moment when he was finally kissing me again. With him I felt whole and I never wanted this feeling to fade.

“I’m sorry for what I did Elena. I was a fool to leave you, but I always knew you were the only one I wanted too. If you can forgive a fool will you take me back?” he asked.

“Do you really need to ask?” I smiled.

Twenty minutes later the elevators were working again and we left the building hand in hand. For the first time in nearly two months things felt completely perfect.