She & Him pt. 3

The Other She landed in Salt Lake on December 19th - the day that Winter Break began; the day after She said goodbye to Him for the long 9 days ahead. She had never been so anxious or worried in her whole life. She couldn't concentrate, She had a knot in her stomach 24 hours a day, She was consumed with thoughts of losing Him. Her friends and family coached her, saying that this was the time for her to be confident - when He would realize just how much he missed her. Unfortunately, these reassurances only made matters worse. She took nearly a week off work to spend time with Her family to try to pass the time.

He arrived on her doorstep to drop off a Christmas gift, and immediately She started to cry. She hated that she couldn't maintain her composure in front of him, but seeing Him after 4 days of brain-numbing anxiety was all that She could handle. He had bought Her a book - by an author they had discussed. A passage in the book reminded Him of Her, however, he couldn't, for the life of him, remember which passage it was. His charge: to read the book searching for similarities. She did, and though there were many, She didn't find their correlation strong enough to their immediate situation. She completed the book in record time.

She was getting her hair done when She got the text, "Hey do you have some time to get together?" In Her mind, this could only bode badly for her. She pushed and pushed for him to spill his guts (and in His defense, He really wanted to talk in person). "We stayed up until 4 in the morning talking, and after that I had decided that She was the one." (of course, referring to the Other She). She stopped reading at that point. The tears began to fall amidst the crowd of pubescent beauty school students - not many past the age of 21. Fortunately her sister was the one doing her highlights, and tried her best to console Her. "I hate him" her sister said, "you need to make a clean break and move on."

The texting continued through the duration of Her hair treatment. He claimed to have regretted his decision immediately, and, long story short, He wanted to see Her - tomorrow at breakfast. With eyes swollen to the size of grapefruits, She consented to the meeting. They talked in circles for nearly 3 hours, with the consensus being that He needed more time (more than the ten months She had already given Him). She agreed - anything worth anything can be waited for.

He managed to taint Her holiday season with anxiety, even on Christmas, He asked her to a movie. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was the decided, and He even went down to Her families' house so She wouldn't have to drive. They went to the movie, and came out to a winter wonderland. His dad asked Him not to drive home. He was down to stay (at least for the evening). Upon arrival at Her parents' house, they tiptoed in, careful not to disturb its' slumbering inhabitants. They retreated to the basement, where the spare bedroom was located. They quickly reacquainted, as though nothing had transpired between them the last 10 days. She went upstairs and quickly fell asleep on the couch, and no sooner had she fallen, She awoke to the cereal chomping of her younger brother (he eats like a horse out to pasture). She had a small conversation with her mom and dad, and went down to awaken Him.

He was embarrassed to ascend from the basement, worried about the judgment of Her parents and family. She reassured Him, and quickly ushered Him outside. They dug His car out of the snowdrift they parked it in the night before, He gave her a quick kiss, and drove away. For the first time in 10 days She felt markedly reassured.

That day She shopped the after-Christmas sales with her sister. While at her favorite shoe store, She got a phone call from Him. "We need to talk," He said. Feeling Her stomach churn just as She had for the past week, She agreed to call Him back following Her outing. She got home and immediately dialed those familiar 10 digits. His voice had a somber tone he responded to her question, "What's up?"

"I've been thinking about things since I left this morning, and while I value our friendship, I value my relationship with her more." He had finally made a decision. The whole ordeal had finally come to a screeching halt. She was immediately devastated. However reassured She was that morning, She now felt as though she had been repeatedly kicked in the stomach. She didn't think she had ever cried so hard, or felt so much pain because of one person. The next morning, She awoke to find an email from Him, delineating all of Her attractive qualities, and reasons that He had loved her for the past 10 months. She read quietly as the tears streamed down her face. She thought "He really believes I exhibit all these traits, yet He still chose her. What a slap in the face."

It took a little bit of time, but eventually She picked up all the pieces of her broken heart, and managed to forge on. She did emerge a stronger person - just as She had many times before. And She never really figured out what passage in that book He was talking about...