Almost Lover

I walked into my bedroom as I tied my hair back and sighed at the two empty boxes I still have yet to pack. I grabbed a box, headed to the back of my closet and began digging through the things I hadn’t seen in years until my eyes landed on a fairly dusty shoebox hidden in the corner. I grabbed it and opened it to see a various objects that represented a memory filled with happiness.

“Why do you want my shoebox?” John asked with a goofy smile on his face. “Because, I want to cherish our moments with little knick-knacks… and you have bigger feet than me. That means I get to fit more things,” I answered him as I threw his new shoes on the floor before giving him a kiss on the lips. “I love you, you know that?” he said. “I love you too, John,” I replied. “What’s the first thing you’re going to put in here?” he asked. I dug in my purse and found a month old fortune card I bought at the fair with him. “Really? That’s going to be the first thing you put in?” he laughed. “Well, I didn’t really think it through. What do you suggest I put in?” I retorted. He quickly got up from the floor, leaving me momentarily to grab something in his room and came back. I furrowed my eyebrows at the object in his hand. It was a business card. “Read the business card,” he told me, rolling his eyes. I took the business card in his hands and read it. Harlow’s Café. “Our first date!” I grinned as I quickly grabbed a pen, jotted down the date of our first date on the back of the card and placed it in the box. “You are a genius, O’Callaghan,” I stated before giving him a passionate kiss on the lips.

I placed the business card back into the box, only to see a Polaroid picture of us with another date scribbled on the bottom of the photo.

“Are you excited?” he asked as we drove down an almost deserted highway heading towards Vegas. “Why would I not be? I’m going to Vegas for the first time ever.” I answered with a grin, basically jumping on my seat. He rolled his eyes and began stroking my knuckles with his thumb. “John,” I called as I saw the sun slowly disappearing into the desert horizon. “Hmm?” I heard from him. “Can we stop and watch the sunset?” I pleaded. “But, we’re so close to Vegas!” he whined. “Even better! I’ll drive there, if you tell me the way, obviously. Please?!” I begged. He sighed and pulled over. “Thank you,” I grinned and kissed his cheek before exiting the car. “Linds, where ar—“ “Watching the sunset!” I answered him mid-sentence as I hopped onto the bunk of his truck. He soon joined me with a blanket and his polaroid camera snapping a couple of pictures of me. He sat next to me and turned the camera on us. “Smile.” He said before snapping a picture and letting it develop before placing it by my thigh. “One more.” I told him before giving him a kiss on the cheek as he took the picture.

I smiled at the reminder of the beautiful mixture of the purple, pink and blue sky that was behind us in the picture. I decided to dug deeper into the small pile of different type of paper and random objects I had collected whenever we went somewhere. I spotted a skeleton key necklace and picked it up slowly as tears were forming in my eyes.

“No peeking!” John warned me when I attempted to look through the cracks of his fingers that were placed on top of my eyes. He guided me around his house; it was starting to feel an obstacle course. “Are we training for the Olympics, because I’m pretty sure your house isn’t this big,” I commented on all the turns we’ve made. “I’ve been making you go in circles on purpose.” He snorted. I quickly turned around and lightly slapped his chest. “You’re an ass!” I laughed. “Turn around.” He told me with a grin on his face. I did as he told, and saw one of the most beautiful set ups. The backyard had lanterns create a little walkway to the small dinner table for two; on the table, there was one candle, a vase filled with a mixture of deep red roses and white calla lilies, dinnerware, and a small card placed on one of the plates. “It’s so beautiful, John.” I gasped as he grabbed my hand, led me to the table and pulled a chair out for me. “I’m really mad at you, you know,” I said gaping at our surroundings. “Why?” he laughed. “Because! You said we weren’t going to do anything and you did all of this and I didn’t even dress nice or get you anything. I look like an ass for our two-year anniversary. Thanks!” I told him as I crossed my arms and sat back into my seat. “I wanted to do something for a change, you always do the cuter and bigger gestures,” he defended as he pulled out a very familiar blue box, with a white ribbon bow on top; the box that every girl long for. My eyes widened as he held it out for me. “John, no!” I told him sternly. “You shouldn’t have gotten me anything!” I gushed as he opened the box to reveal a necklace with a skeleton key on it, making my heart melt. “It’s beautiful,” I gasped. “Happy two years, Lindsay.” He grinned. I got up and sat on his lap. “Happy anniversary, John,” I replied before giving him the best kiss I could muster up.

I played with the silver necklace as drops of tears were falling into the box. Alas, I found the one thing I had dreaded most: the note.

“John?” I called as I entered my apartment. He was supposed to meet me at my apartment before he went on the European tour, so we can arrange plans to meet up in some of the places and spend some time together in Europe. “John,” I called out once more before my eyes landed on a pair of keys placed on top of a piece of paper on the kitchen counter. I walked over to the counter, and picked it up.

I read the sentence over and over trying to process it in my head, but it wasn’t seem to be working. I didn’t understand what he was trying to say—I couldn’t. What was he ‘doing’? What couldn’t he ‘do’? Had I done something wrong? There were questions forming in my head and I had no way of getting the answers. He was on his way to Europe for months and I had no way to reach him for an explanation. Tears fell down my face as my world seem to have been getting smaller and smaller by the second. I slid down to the floor, pulling my legs closer and crying into them. Just like that, my whole world was over.

I placed the note back down into the box and put lid back on. I wiped the tears from my face, grabbed my coat and the box before getting into my car to drive on the not-so-familiar path that I once drove down every single day. I parked outside the not-so-familiar house and made my way to the front door; shoebox in hand. I raised my hand to knock on the door, but changed my mind and turned around before walking away.

“Hey, what can I do for you?” I heard behind me shortly after the front door swung open. My eyes widened a bit. Silence took over us for a few seconds until I turned around to see the face I hadn’t seen in a little over two years. “Lindsay,” he said with a shock tone in his voice. “Hi,” I said softly and looked back down at the box; his eyes followed mine to the box and he looked back up at me. “I-I found this, and I just figured that… that you would like it back or something. I don’t know.” I said nervously as I handed him the box. He hesitated for a bit. “You kept it?” he asked me. I shrugged and offered him the box again by extending my arm further. His hand touched mine as he got a hold of the box, causing the butterflies to come back once again. His eyes wandered to my left ring finger, making me feel a little self conscious. “You’re engaged?” he asked as if he was hurt. I slightly nodded. “I’m moving in with him today,” I replied. “Congratulations. On both occasions.” He told me with a small smile. I thanked him and awkwardly repositioned my feet. None of us spoke a word for a minute or two. “I-I should get going.” I stated pointing to my car. He nodded and gave me a warm, comforting hug. The kind that made me melt instantly. “It was nice seeing you again,” he said. I nodded with a slight smile. “Bye,” I waved as I walked back into my car and drove away from his house for one last time.