Free Tear Stained Beaches by Courtney Giardina Page B

it was time to call it a night. I wiped the tears that had unknowingly fallen upon my face, took one last look at the moonlit sky, and headed inside. It was the first night I could remember that I actually slept soundly. Thankful for the miracle a bottle of wine could bestow, I was free of thoughts until the morning.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

     

Chapter 16
    The next morning I had trouble getting out of bed. My head was spinning, and when I lifted it from the pillow it seemed to weigh a hundred pounds. I was never a fan of the consequences of a night of drinking, and it was even more pathetic that it was a night of drinking alone. As I’d learned from the few nights in college that I had partied too hard, the best cure for me was to sweat it out. After procrastinating for a half hour, I dragged myself out of bed, dressed in my running gear, and hit the beach.
    It was the most painful workout I had endured in a long time. Not because I had worked myself past my comfort zone, but because it took everything I had not to stop and throw up. I kept telling myself it’d be better once all the toxins were sweated out of me, so I continued to run. I was far into my run, and was about to turn around, when I saw Meghan waving at me from what must have been her beach bungalow. I jogged up to her, hoping she wouldn’t notice the fragile state I was in, but no such luck.
    “You look like shit.”
    “Ha! Gee, thanks.”
    “A little too much partying last night?”
    “You know it. Me, a big blue chair on the deck, and a bottle of wine.”
    “Pity party for one, huh?”
    I nodded. She placed her hand on my shoulder, and then disappeared inside for a minute. She returned with a bottle of water and handed it to me. After guzzling almost the entire bottle in one breath, I sat down on the wood bench on her deck, as she leaned against the railing staring out towards the water.
    “I’ve been there you know.”
    “Been where?”
    “Where you are right now. I mean, I was never married, never had a ring on my finger, but I was expecting one at any minute.”
    “Do tell.”
    “I started dating this guy, Rick, in high school. Four years after graduation we were still together. I thought he was the one. My family did too.  Everyone talked about us getting married all the time. The two of us included. Just a few months before we finished college we were talking about the best time of year for a wedding. He even took me to look for engagement rings. Told me he didn’t want to put something on my finger for the rest of my life without me having some sort of say in it.” Her eyes looked to the ground.
    “Sounds like it was pretty serious.”
    “Leading up to Christmas of that year that’s all my mom could talk about. She even took me to the nail salon a few days before Christmas Eve just to make sure my nails were prepped and ready to show off the ring.”  We both laughed at how crazy that sounded. “Christmas came and went, and still no ring. He cancelled our plans for New Year’s and a few days later asked me to meet him in town.  He ended it right then and there with no explanation at all. He kissed my forehead as I cried in the street, got in his car and drove away.”
    I could feel the tears welling in my eyes. “That is the saddest thing I’ve ever heard. Did you ever hear from him after that?”
     
    “Not a word. I cried for days wondering what it was I did wrong. A few weeks later I saw him walking out of a restaurant on the other side of town, hand in hand with another girl. They looked like they knew each other pretty well.”
    “What a jerk. Seriously,” I placed my hand upon hers and tried to blink back my unshed tears.
    “That’s not even the last of it. A few months after I saw him with that girl, he called me and asked to meet for dinner. Trying to stay strong, I told him I already had plans. That excuse only worked for so long though. Eventually I gave in. He begged for me to take him back and