An Unusual Love Story
Her voice was emotionless. “I don’t want to see you again, pack your stuff and go!” she shrieked. I obeyed her command and left the room. I was wandering and getting away from the conference room. Thoughts surrounded me, and there was nothing to stop my tears. While I was crying, I didn’t see the man who was standing in front of me and I bumped into him. I murmured an apology and went on my way.
Let me introduce myself, I’m Lucy Fields, the queen of Clumsyland. All of this happened because of my clumsiness. This appointment was so important for my career and I ruined everything. It was going so great… Then, boom! I was giving my presentation about the new product, Minitist Cherry Juice - I’m working for an advertising agency – I held the juice, I talked about it special design, taste etc. and I think I shook it too much and when I opened it, it was all over the papers and the table. I wanted to die at that moment but I couldn’t. Everything was covered in red cherry juice. Now I’m unemployed, I don’t have enough money and I’m abandoned. All the bad things are happening to me in one week. My boyfriend left me for not-so-my-best-friend-anymore. Maybe I should call my parents and borrow some money from them. I’ll pay them later. This is the best thing to do for now.
When I arrived home, I saw that I have four voicemails. The first one was from my bank manager. He was telling me that my debt was 748.43 $ and if I didn’t pay it in two weeks, I would be given an execution. Oh God, how can I find that money in two weeks? I’ll ask my brother, I’m sure he’ll help. Delete. Second message. It was from my mom, she was asking how I felt, what I did today, and blah blah blah. She was saying so but I knew that she was asking how I feel after my break-up. Delete this one too, I’ll call her later. The third message was from someone foreign. Her accent showed that she was Italian. She was babbling about an accident she had but she was calling a Miranda. Wrong number, I guess. And the last message, from my high school friend, Cammie. Her nervous and loud voice scared the hell out of me. I had never heard her worried or nervous before. She was always pretty optimistic about everything, just like Pollyanna. I called her immediately and the thing she said was ridiculous. She was telling me to wear my most gorgeous dress and make-up. “Okay, this is weird. You always told me that you were a fan of natural beauty. Where did this gorgeous dress and make-up thing come from?” She hesitated for a second and said, “Well, this is for my friend’s fashion night. She wanted me to come and I can’t go there alone, so I decided to take you with me.” There was something wrong with her words. Wait a minute; does she have a fashion designer friend? If she did, I would certainly know it but I didn’t say anything. “Alright, I’ll be there. Should I come to you first or go there directly?” She was yelling now, “No, no, NO. Come to my house and we’ll go there together.” “Done. See ya.”
After a couple of minutes worrying about why she overreacted, I made a coffee for myself to relax a bit. While I was sipping my coffee, I was thinking about what I could wear. The pink-flowered dress that my mom bought me last spring? No, it is so informal and it is not gorgeous at all. Maybe the red dress with laces? No, that would be inappropriate for a night like that. I’d found it! Of course I should wear the emerald green dress with my black high-heeled shoes. I didn’t have the right time to wear it but this must be the time. I put it on carefully and put on a green and black make-up and some perfume – I love the sweet scent of this perfume. I blow-dried my hair and I was ready to go out. I took a taxi to go to Cammie’s place. I really love her home. When I look from outside, I see the powder pink of the walls and pink flowers. All kinds of pink flowers; pink geraniums, pink roses, pink tulips, pink hyacinths and pink violets. You can easily understand that she is a pink lover. Inside, the first thing you can see is her living room. In her living room, the zebra-patterned wallpaper and our resting corner were in sync. The bright sun or lazy moonlight always came in from a big window. In front of the window, there were two pink armchairs and an end table with a pink orchid on it. I rang the bell. Inside, there was a crackling sound, and then an empty silence. This was weird; I knew that Cammie was punctual. I rang the bell again with insistence. I heard some foorsteps and then Cammie opened the door with a smile on her face. While she was inviting me in, she said “We have some more time, come in please.” I got in and directly went to the living room. When I opened the door, there were screams and singing voices and they were singing the Happy Birthday song. Wait a minute, whose birthday is this? Today is the 29th of November, and that means… today is my birthday! How did I forget it? I was so upset and worried about my ex-boyfriend Ed, then my presentation disaster came and I had forgotten about the day. Oh Cammie, I honestly love you. You’re the most perfect friend I have ever had. An hour later, I was dancing and talking to everybody at the party. I met a girl named Spencer, she is a lawyer. She is nice and talkative, is it the nature of the lawyers? I mean, being talkative? Not that I know a lot lawyers, but all the lawyers I know, they love talking. Whatever, after she left, a hand touched my shoulder. I turned around and saw him. And at that moment, time stopped. There was just me and him. His sparkling eyes met mine and he said “Hi Lucy, I’m Andrew.” I couldn’t talk for a second and I realized I looked so stupid and said “Hi, as I can see, you know my name.” and smiled. This is getting worse; I can’t wipe away that silly smile off my face. I don’t care if somebody says something; I think I’m in love with him. He is my soul mate. The way he talks, laughs, smiles and looks had a great effect on me. This was love at first sight. Then hours flew so fast and it was already 12 o’clock. The guests were leaving and Cammie and I were saying “Goodbye”, “See you”, “Call me later” to all of them. Finally, when the last guest left, I sat on the comfortable-but-noisy couch in her kitchen.
After a couple of minutes, I saw her dashing through the corridor with a funny smile on her face and she exclaimed, “I think he likes you too.” At that moment, my heart stopped and when I saw the note that she is holding, it started beating again. I quickly took the note and read it. “This is really cuteeee.”
Cammie’s meowing voice echoed in the kitchen. I looked at her and said, “I think soooooo.” I looked at the time and gasped. It was close to 01:00 a.m. I packed my stuff up and got into a cab. The next day, the hours didn’t pass until 7 o’clock, and then an hour flew so quickly, one hour wasn’t enough for me to be ready. I wore a sapphire blue blouse and jeans under it; it was suitable for the first meeting, right? Or was it too sloppy? I changed my jeans and wore a coal-black skirt. This skirt is uncomfortable and inappropriate; jeans were better, so I put on my jeans back again and left home. It was already quarter to eight, and fifteen minutes wasn’t enough to reach there. I knew that he had been waiting for at least half an hour but he was so kind and told me that he had just arrived there. A waitress came and I referred to her for my meal selection. She suggested me the Lilly’s pizza, with pepperoni, ground beef, ham, sausage, green pepper, mushrooms and black olives. Fifteen minutes later, my extremely hot pizza showed up. Yummy! Mmm, this is delicious but my eyes are on Andrew’s shrimps. And like a miracle, his phone rang and he went outside. I took one and popped it into my mouth. I looked for him outside and there he was, frustrated, yelling at someone. Was something wrong? He came in, almost bumping into the waitress, and stared at his plate. Then he gazed at me and smiled. “Just a friend” he said. I smiled back at him. After lots of talk and exploring each other’s likes and dislikes, he took me home.
The next morning, I woke up really early. Like hens crowing and crows flying. I did my routine work - washing face, having breakfast, etc. – and dressed up. I am going to visit my brother today, to borrow some money. Ahh, the roads are full of cars, so the traffic is getting worse in proportion to their number. After an hour seeming like a day to me, I arrived at his office. With soft sunlight coming in from the Venetian blinds, his desk was blinking at me with recently tidied piles of paper on it. He is the co-director of a private corporation. I knocked on the door and opened it slowly. He was talking on the phone. I gently sat on the black seat and waited for him to finish his talk. Five minutes passed and he finished his talk. He asked me what I would like to have but I wasn’t going to lengthen this conversation. I directly got in the subject and said, “I need some money, I promise I’ll pay it when I have the chance. I got fired and I am out of cash.” His looks were piercing. “Pleeeease.” I always say that my innocent cat-looks work but no one believes me. Of course they did work and I got the money. After a week , my life was almost in place. I got a job as a graphic artist and things with Andrew were going so good. Just one thing, during all of our meetings, someone kept calling him and I think he is keeping things from me. I mean, he might want some secrecy but not this way. Today is the best day to tell him this. We’re meeting tonight and I can tell about my feelings about this problem. Yes, this will work.
Hours later, at my meeting with Andrew, just when I was going to open this case, his cell started ringing. “Go on, answer it.” I said. He answered it and then came back. I started talking, “I know that all of us need some secrecy, but not this way. I mean, you just leave to talk and when you came back, you frown all night. I get it if you don’t want to share it but please, don’t bring your business to this table.” I smiled hopefully but his expression didn’t say so. “If you want you can leave.” No, no, no; this wasn’t the thing that I wanted. “Alright, I’m leaving”, oops, it’s too late now. Why did I say I’m leaving? I shouldn’t leave but I said that, so I have to leave. I put on my jacket and took my purse and left. Why did he react this way? He could have been more gentle but he just said “Then leave.” I can’t believe it! That night didn’t pass. I tossed and turned in bed. Then I turned on the TV and found a comedy and while I was watching it, I fell asleep. In the morning, with my body aching, I had a shower, then breakfast and started tidying the place up. I won’t forgive him; I was telling to myself, I won’t forgive him. Then the phone started ringing and I couldn’t find the strength to get up and answer it. It rang and rang and rang. Then the voicemail beeped. “Hi, I’m Andrew. Last night I didn’t mean to hurt you. My mood was down and when you said that, I just said “Leave”. If you didn’t tell me those things, I wouldn’t say it. I’m sorry.” Beep. How did he dare to leave a message like this? He told me that I was the one to blame. On that day, four other messages came from him. The first three messages’ were similar. Like I’m sorry, please forgive me, blah blah blah. But the fourth one was telling different things. He was saying, “If you are decisive about your choice, then tell it to my face.” Then the door bell rang. I opened it and found Andrew’s reddened face in front of me. He said “I know you have been listening to the messages I left. So you know that why I’m here. Tell me that you don’t want me anymore; tell me that you don’t want to see my face again.” I was so surprised and I couldn’t say anything. He started talking again, “I’ll be here until you make your choice.” I said “I don’t want you, leave, please.” He said “You’re lying. I know that you want me to stay.” I shook my head. It was over, he was leaving. His blurry eyes showed everything, he was going to cry and my inner voice got me and I said, “Please, don’t.” I was afraid, what if he said it was too late? What if he said I had lost my chance? He turned around and said, “What if, what if, just relax. I’m pretty sure that you were thinking about “what ifs”. Life is not settled on “what ifs”, for now it’s just you and me.” I couldn’t resist him; I couldn’t wipe my smile away and hugged him. And this is just the beginning of my story, but for you, it’s the end…
Dilay Altuğ
9-D / 348
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