You're Haunting Every Memory
(1/1)
2008
Ashley sighed, as she slid the ring off her finger. Her bags were packed, her part of the rent for the next six months in an envelope on the fridge. All that was left was to write the note and tell Jaime she was leaving.
She taped the ring to a piece of paper and wrote a quick note. ‘Jaime, I’m sorry. I love you, but I’m not ready. This ring belongs to someone else.’ She paused, fighting the tears back, then wrote the next line, ‘Your heart belongs to someone else.’
She loved him. Truly, she did. But she knew, in her heart, she’d never be what he needed. When Ashley moved to San Diego in ‘04, it wasn’t supposed to be a permanent move. Spend some time in San Diego, get that college degree her parents wanted her to, then drive off into the sunset, looking for the next great adventure.
Then...Jaime Alberto Preciado happened. She just fell for him, him and his jokes, him and his anime hair, him and his everything. She hadn’t been able to stop herself, though she regretted it now.
What he wanted, what he needed, was a girl who’d stay at home, work a normal job and be there for him when he got back from tour. Ashley was not that girl. Ever since she had been a little girl, the world had been so big...And she wanted to see every last bit of it. She wanted to walk the streets of the City of Love. She wanted to go skiing in the Alps. Eat chocolate in Germany. Ride a double decker bus in England. She wanted to do it all.
She was only twenty-two, so was he. They weren’t ready for marriage, anyway. A broke college student and a broke touring musician. He wanted to dive in headfirst and so had she, for a while. Then she saw that old road map in her jewelry box and she knew. She knew she wasn’t ready, she knew she couldn’t stay.
Sighing, Ashley wiped the tears from her eyes, then she picked the note up. Carefully she pressed her lips to the piece of paper, hard enough that her lipstick left a mark. This was her last goodbye to Jaime. Better make it good.
\*/
Jaime walked back into the apartment. He had been out with Tony, Mike and Vic, talking about their next tour.
The minute he stepped into the main room, he knew something was wrong. It was too quiet and all the lights were off. A few picture frames were missing from the walls and shelves, as were her favourite stuffed animals from the couch.
He ran into the bedroom, silently thinking an apology to whoever lived below them, and shoved open the door, making it hit the wall with a loud ‘Bang!’. The first thing he noticed was that she wasn’t in the bed. Then he noticed her dresser drawers. Perfectly shut with none of her things spilling out. That never happened. Ever.
The young man opened all the drawers, looking for some sign that this wasn’t happening. Something to tell him this was just a cruel joke or a nightmare or something. A sign that Ashley hadn’t left, that she was still in their apartment.
He threw open the closet doors and rifled through the clothes in there, before coming to the horrified realization that all of the clothes were his. He took a few slow steps backwards, until he hit the edge of the bed and sunk down, with his head in his hands. “No, no, no...” The words came out as a pained whisper.
Jaime had known the whole time that Ashley wasn’t content to stay in San Diego her whole life. He had thought, naively, that proposing to her would keep her there, keep her with him. He knew about the road map in the bottom of her jewelry box, about her dreams of traveling the world.
After a few seconds, he got up and grabbed his pillow and a blanket off the bed, then he walked out of the room, closing the door quietly behind him. There was no way he could stomach sleeping in there that night, so soon after discovering that Ashley, the love of his life, was gone.
2011
Ashley sat crossed legged on a hotel bed, enjoying a livestream with her and her fans. She was a published authoress now, with five books under her belt and another due to be published before the year was out.
Her specialty was young adult fantasy, and those readers were the ones online with her. Her book series, Evernight, wasn’t as popular as Harry Potter or Twilight, but they were popular enough that she could make a living off of them and no longer needed to hold a boring nine to five job. Because of that, she treated her fans well.
She would do livestreams with them every week, and post pictures and videos of her journeys. Ashley would go to bookstores or coffee shops or ice cream parlours and announce it on her Twitter, then stay there and talk to her readers until the last one left or the store closed. She would tease them with snippets of her books and she’d look at any fanart and watch any fan videos or listen to any fan songs they sent her. Sometimes she got letters, telling her about what her books meant to some of her readers and she loved getting them.
“Hey, Ashley, where did you get the inspiration for Selene’s romance with Albin? It’s so heartbreaking, the way they’re obviously meant to be together, but she left...Also, will they ever get back together?”
She could feel her heart stop at that question and she swallowed, wondering how much she should tell them, before she decided to just tell them the whole story. “Uhm...When I was eighteen, I moved out to San Diego to get my college degree and to just explore the world outside of Texas...”
2012
Ashley sat at yet another book signing, scribbling her signature on yet another title page. She withheld a sigh as she closed the book and passed it to the eager reader. It wasn’t that she hated her job. Oh, no, it was the opposite, she absolutely adored her job. The problem was that all book signings were exactly the same in every store in every town in every state. It just became a little repetitive after awhile.
Another book was placed in her field of vision and she slid it closer to herself as she looked up and gave the young man a smile. “What’s your name?” She asked, paying him her undivided attention. It never failed to earn her a smile and it got her another one that day. He stuttered out an answer and she told him that she liked his name as she scribbled another signature in the book.
After she signed the last book and she was ushered to the staff room, Ashley sat down on the couch and pulled her locket out from her shirt. Carefully she rubbed a thumb across the front cover, then she opened it.
It revealed a picture of Jaime, where he was smiling and giving the camera a thumbs up. He was wearing that smile, the smile he reserved only for her, and just looked so happy that it made her want to cry. Was there another girl in his life now? Another girl he would hug and caress and give that smile?
She closed the locket and stuck it back down the front of her shirt. It laid right on top of her heart and she placed her hand over top of it, with her eyes closed. Jaime would always be in her heart, even if he wasn’t in her life anymore.
\*/
Jaime sat on the tourbus, looking at pictures on his phone. There was that time they went to DisneyLand and Ashley was so excited to meet Minnie Mouse. There was that time at the photobooth in the mall. There was that time when she fell asleep doing homework on their bed and she just looked so peaceful. There was that time when she stole one of his shirts and never gave it back.
He tightened his jaw as he remembered that she really had never given him his shirt back. It hadn’t been with the rest of his things after she left. She had left a lot of things, two pairs of shoes, four shirts, a skirt and a pair of jeans mixed in with his clothes in the washing machine, her keys, the ring, but she had taken the three shirts she had ‘stolen’ from him over the years. His striped v-neck, his blue ‘We are Dead’ shirt, and his one tan, long sleeved shirt had all gone with her.
He had asked her once why she kept taking his shirts. They were too big for her, they didn’t fit in with the rest of her wardrobe at all and she only wore them at home, usually as pajama shirts.
Ashley had been sitting on their bed, wearing his ‘We are Dead’ shirt and her favourite pair of pajama pants and doing homework. When he asked the question, she put down her pencil and looked up at him. “They remind me of you, they smell and feel like you,” she answered. “So I can have more than pictures when I’m missing you.”
Then she looked down and started playing with the strings of her pants. “If you want me to stop wearing them, I will.” He had told it that it was fine and had given her a hug, making her smile and kiss him.
Thinking back on that, Jaime wondered why she took the shirts when she left. Was it because they had all been mixed in with her other clothes? Or because she wanted to have more than pictures?
With a low, sad sigh, he stopped looking at her pictures and put his phone back in his pocket. Guess he’d never know.
Ashley sighed, as she slid the ring off her finger. Her bags were packed, her part of the rent for the next six months in an envelope on the fridge. All that was left was to write the note and tell Jaime she was leaving.
She taped the ring to a piece of paper and wrote a quick note. ‘Jaime, I’m sorry. I love you, but I’m not ready. This ring belongs to someone else.’ She paused, fighting the tears back, then wrote the next line, ‘Your heart belongs to someone else.’
She loved him. Truly, she did. But she knew, in her heart, she’d never be what he needed. When Ashley moved to San Diego in ‘04, it wasn’t supposed to be a permanent move. Spend some time in San Diego, get that college degree her parents wanted her to, then drive off into the sunset, looking for the next great adventure.
Then...Jaime Alberto Preciado happened. She just fell for him, him and his jokes, him and his anime hair, him and his everything. She hadn’t been able to stop herself, though she regretted it now.
What he wanted, what he needed, was a girl who’d stay at home, work a normal job and be there for him when he got back from tour. Ashley was not that girl. Ever since she had been a little girl, the world had been so big...And she wanted to see every last bit of it. She wanted to walk the streets of the City of Love. She wanted to go skiing in the Alps. Eat chocolate in Germany. Ride a double decker bus in England. She wanted to do it all.
She was only twenty-two, so was he. They weren’t ready for marriage, anyway. A broke college student and a broke touring musician. He wanted to dive in headfirst and so had she, for a while. Then she saw that old road map in her jewelry box and she knew. She knew she wasn’t ready, she knew she couldn’t stay.
Sighing, Ashley wiped the tears from her eyes, then she picked the note up. Carefully she pressed her lips to the piece of paper, hard enough that her lipstick left a mark. This was her last goodbye to Jaime. Better make it good.
\*/
Jaime walked back into the apartment. He had been out with Tony, Mike and Vic, talking about their next tour.
The minute he stepped into the main room, he knew something was wrong. It was too quiet and all the lights were off. A few picture frames were missing from the walls and shelves, as were her favourite stuffed animals from the couch.
He ran into the bedroom, silently thinking an apology to whoever lived below them, and shoved open the door, making it hit the wall with a loud ‘Bang!’. The first thing he noticed was that she wasn’t in the bed. Then he noticed her dresser drawers. Perfectly shut with none of her things spilling out. That never happened. Ever.
The young man opened all the drawers, looking for some sign that this wasn’t happening. Something to tell him this was just a cruel joke or a nightmare or something. A sign that Ashley hadn’t left, that she was still in their apartment.
He threw open the closet doors and rifled through the clothes in there, before coming to the horrified realization that all of the clothes were his. He took a few slow steps backwards, until he hit the edge of the bed and sunk down, with his head in his hands. “No, no, no...” The words came out as a pained whisper.
Jaime had known the whole time that Ashley wasn’t content to stay in San Diego her whole life. He had thought, naively, that proposing to her would keep her there, keep her with him. He knew about the road map in the bottom of her jewelry box, about her dreams of traveling the world.
After a few seconds, he got up and grabbed his pillow and a blanket off the bed, then he walked out of the room, closing the door quietly behind him. There was no way he could stomach sleeping in there that night, so soon after discovering that Ashley, the love of his life, was gone.
2011
Ashley sat crossed legged on a hotel bed, enjoying a livestream with her and her fans. She was a published authoress now, with five books under her belt and another due to be published before the year was out.
Her specialty was young adult fantasy, and those readers were the ones online with her. Her book series, Evernight, wasn’t as popular as Harry Potter or Twilight, but they were popular enough that she could make a living off of them and no longer needed to hold a boring nine to five job. Because of that, she treated her fans well.
She would do livestreams with them every week, and post pictures and videos of her journeys. Ashley would go to bookstores or coffee shops or ice cream parlours and announce it on her Twitter, then stay there and talk to her readers until the last one left or the store closed. She would tease them with snippets of her books and she’d look at any fanart and watch any fan videos or listen to any fan songs they sent her. Sometimes she got letters, telling her about what her books meant to some of her readers and she loved getting them.
“Hey, Ashley, where did you get the inspiration for Selene’s romance with Albin? It’s so heartbreaking, the way they’re obviously meant to be together, but she left...Also, will they ever get back together?”
She could feel her heart stop at that question and she swallowed, wondering how much she should tell them, before she decided to just tell them the whole story. “Uhm...When I was eighteen, I moved out to San Diego to get my college degree and to just explore the world outside of Texas...”
2012
Ashley sat at yet another book signing, scribbling her signature on yet another title page. She withheld a sigh as she closed the book and passed it to the eager reader. It wasn’t that she hated her job. Oh, no, it was the opposite, she absolutely adored her job. The problem was that all book signings were exactly the same in every store in every town in every state. It just became a little repetitive after awhile.
Another book was placed in her field of vision and she slid it closer to herself as she looked up and gave the young man a smile. “What’s your name?” She asked, paying him her undivided attention. It never failed to earn her a smile and it got her another one that day. He stuttered out an answer and she told him that she liked his name as she scribbled another signature in the book.
After she signed the last book and she was ushered to the staff room, Ashley sat down on the couch and pulled her locket out from her shirt. Carefully she rubbed a thumb across the front cover, then she opened it.
It revealed a picture of Jaime, where he was smiling and giving the camera a thumbs up. He was wearing that smile, the smile he reserved only for her, and just looked so happy that it made her want to cry. Was there another girl in his life now? Another girl he would hug and caress and give that smile?
She closed the locket and stuck it back down the front of her shirt. It laid right on top of her heart and she placed her hand over top of it, with her eyes closed. Jaime would always be in her heart, even if he wasn’t in her life anymore.
\*/
Jaime sat on the tourbus, looking at pictures on his phone. There was that time they went to DisneyLand and Ashley was so excited to meet Minnie Mouse. There was that time at the photobooth in the mall. There was that time when she fell asleep doing homework on their bed and she just looked so peaceful. There was that time when she stole one of his shirts and never gave it back.
He tightened his jaw as he remembered that she really had never given him his shirt back. It hadn’t been with the rest of his things after she left. She had left a lot of things, two pairs of shoes, four shirts, a skirt and a pair of jeans mixed in with his clothes in the washing machine, her keys, the ring, but she had taken the three shirts she had ‘stolen’ from him over the years. His striped v-neck, his blue ‘We are Dead’ shirt, and his one tan, long sleeved shirt had all gone with her.
He had asked her once why she kept taking his shirts. They were too big for her, they didn’t fit in with the rest of her wardrobe at all and she only wore them at home, usually as pajama shirts.
Ashley had been sitting on their bed, wearing his ‘We are Dead’ shirt and her favourite pair of pajama pants and doing homework. When he asked the question, she put down her pencil and looked up at him. “They remind me of you, they smell and feel like you,” she answered. “So I can have more than pictures when I’m missing you.”
Then she looked down and started playing with the strings of her pants. “If you want me to stop wearing them, I will.” He had told it that it was fine and had given her a hug, making her smile and kiss him.
Thinking back on that, Jaime wondered why she took the shirts when she left. Was it because they had all been mixed in with her other clothes? Or because she wanted to have more than pictures?
With a low, sad sigh, he stopped looking at her pictures and put his phone back in his pocket. Guess he’d never know.