Free It's Got A Ring To It by Desconhecido(a) Page B

rob me of my faith in
love. You see , I was in love with a man, who I wanted
to spend my life with. Eight years of my life was dedicated to him,
wholeheartedly. We were engaged, but he left me. My heart was broken when he
told me that he was leaving me. What’s worse, he left me for someone he’d been
with for years during our
relationship.”
    The dam that was holding back my tears broke. I let them fall and
continued telling my story to the familiar stranger. Oddly, I think th
e
fact that
he didn’t know me and had no basis from which to judge me, gave me the strength to finally let it all out.
    Larry reached for my hands and took them in his. “I won’t judge you.
Go on,” he squeezed, empathetically encouraging me to continue.
    “He only asked me to marry him, when he thought he was losing her
.
”
T
he words blurted out of my mouth like verbal
vomit and I couldn’t get the taste out fast enough. “I was just a stand-in,
while he waited for her to realize she wanted him, too. And when she did, I was
thrown out like trash. I found out on that day that I had an expiration date. I
was no longer useful to him. I was expendable.” Larry reached to wipe a falling
tear and my body responded to his comforting touch. “I’ve been hiding ever since
that day. Only recently have I realized that I’ve only been hurting myself.”
    “ Laila , that’s nothing to be ashamed of.
You did nothing wrong. He was the unfaithful one. To me, that just means that he wasn’t the man for you .”
    “That may be so, but it doesn’t make it hurt any less. I’m still the
one who is scarred and damaged. I’m the one having trouble dating.”
    “What do you mean? You’re out here, looking gorgeous. We’re about to
have dinner at one of the best restaurants in the world. You’re dating now . Forget everything in the past
and live in the now.”
    “Oh my gosh, Larry. That sounds so great. Really, it does. I want to,
but you just don’t understand…” Before I could say anything more, he swiped
another tear from my face, caressed my cheek and did what felt natural to him.
H
e leaned in and kissed me
deeply. I surprised myself when I returned the gesture. Suddenly, it felt like
the kiss from the dream.
I
reached for his face and allowed my fingers to venture through his thick
mane—letting him temporarily bandage the gaping hole in my heart. I
couldn’t open my eyes.
It
wasn’t the dream kiss. We were still in a restaurant surrounded by people
probably gleaming with disdain at our taste of affection.
    Cautiously, my eyes opened only to be confronted by the whole truth
that I’d failed to share with Larry. The face attached to mine bore an uncanny
resemblance. Instances from my past replayed in my mind. Snapshots of our life
together flashed like a slideshow. Us, at the chamber
meeting, desperately and unsuccessfully trying to stifle our inappropriate
laughter. Kissing in the middle of Times Square. The tingles on my skin
as he whispered that he loved me and would one day make me his wife as we
looked on at our friends making the same vows before God and their loved ones.
I knew Larry reminded me of him. No wonder I didn’t know whether his familiar
voice made me feel uneasy or comforted. It was the same voice that relayed the
worst news of my life. Those chestnut eyes. That deep chin. The thick curly hair. Larry could have been a clone of the man who had been the bane of my existence
for the past two years
—
no
ten years. If it weren’t for the truth in his eyes, I would’ve sworn that he
was Ethan.

 
 
 
 
 
 
    NINE

 
 
    In the
middle of the grocery store, the
“
Bad
Mamma Jamma
” ringtone sounded off loudly. I
figured, either Mom had heard about my date or she wanted to discuss wedding
plans. Neither of which I care
d
to talk about among the produce pickers sifting through bruised apples, but it
was either that or have them glare at me for not answering to stop the
ringtone.
    “ Hi ,
Mom