I woke up to the forces of the world pulling everything back to how things were in the past - but in present day. I was laying in bed holding my phone in my hand waiting for the phone call I usually get on weekday mornings. My phone vibrates; half-asleep, I answer the phone. “Hi baby”, I say. “Good morning baby” a voice replies. Instantaneously, I sit up shocked at the voice on the other end of the line - it wasn’t my boyfriend. It was my ex. Puzzled I look for photographs of my current boyfriend, but none could be found and all were replaced with pictures of my ex. “I’ll be over in a bit”, he says. I shuffle through my things looking for all the things my boyfriend has ever given me: sweaters, t-shirts, v-necks, socks, stuffed animals. I find all the items but the bracelets around my wrists. “Hello?” he says, “Hello baby are you still there? What are you doing?”. “I’m still here,” I reply. “What the hell is going on?” I think to myself. “I’m outside your door,” he says. I pace a little before answering the door. Taking a deep breath, I let him in.
He looked the same. Light brown eyes, side swept hair, fairly dark skin, skinny, and tall. It used to make my heart flutter to see him stand outside my door looking at me with that particular smirk on his face. Instead, my heart wrenched and twisted into feelings of uneasiness and bitterness. Where washe? Where was my real boyfriend? He threw his arms around me, holding me in that familiar way he always did. I let my arms dangle at my sides tears brimming the rims of my eyes because I had missed my real boyfriend and not this person holding onto me. I put his arms on my shoulder wanting to take a look at my face. Sheepishly, I walked into the bedroom to lay back down in bed. He followed along laying beside me. I gripped my phone and stared at my contacts. Why hadn’t he called me? I closed my eyes slipping back into sleep. I wake up with his arms around my arms talking to someone in the room; It was his best friend. I pretended to stay asleep eavesdropping on their conversation. “She’s been acting weird,” he says. “Really? How?” his best friend asks. “She won’t let go of her phone, like she’s waiting for a call. She doesn’t smile at me the way she used to. I think she still loves him”, he says. Loves him? So he knows he exists? He knows about him.
Intense feeling of longing started to cause pangs of pain in my chest. To call myself sad would have been an understatement. I wanted him to be sleeping next to me, not this particular person. I missed him and thought of how he looked like in hopes I hadn’t forgotten. His dark brown chinky eyes, short straight hair, his fairly dark skin, perfect body type of not too fat not too skinny, his pearly white teeth and that smile that made his eyes wrinkle at the sides. I clenched my phone. “Call me! Call me right now!” I demanded in my head. Hopeless, I decided to give in and go with what was going on. I opened my eyes. Boxes of Nerf Guns laid against the wall. “He would love that,” I thought to myself.
“You’re awake,” he says. “I’m awake”, I reply. “Do you want something to eat?” I ask. “Yeah,” he says. I walk past his best friend sitting against the wall assembling a gun. He looks at me skeptically, angry at what predictions he has about what is going on in my head. I smile, and walk away awkwardly. Am I really his girlfriend and not his? Am I cheating?!
I walk back in with a grilled cheese sandwich. My phone rings. My heart jumps as I rush to grab it. He grabs it and holds it in his hand, hurt at my reaction to the phone. “Are you happy?” he asks me. “What do you mean? With who?” I ask. “With me. With him.” He says. I bite my lip and look down at my clenched fists. “I forgot to check if I was happy either.” he says. I look up at him through the hair that has fallen in front of my eyes. “Are you happy with me?” I ask him. In my head I beg him to say no. He fights it. “No. Not really”, he says. “Then let us go. Let me go, please?” I ask. He tightens his grip around my phone, and drops his head. I place my hands on his cheeks to lift up his face “Let us be happy” I said and smiled the same warm smile he was familiar with. He forced a smile, got up, then handed me my phone. I walked him to the door, opening it to find him standing there. “Babe!” I yell. I run to him and squeeze him tightly. His arms perfectly wrap around my body and almost instantly his warmth surrounds me as I lay my head on his shoulder on my tippy toes. I don’t let go and I close my eyes. All the coldness has disappeared and I succumb to a comfort I had longed for. These arms were the arms I wanted to be in. I open my eyes to look at his face looking towards the door. I glance to see my ex taking a look at us, disappointed, then turning to walk down the stairs. I still don’t let go. The door shuts and I am completely at peace.