Safe Haven

Crazy Times

Piper

When you're 21, a lot of other life events are ramping up like graduating from college, securing jobs and internships, and moving to a new city could all be on the horizon.

My sister said that one of the best parts of being a 21-year-old human is that you can go to a liquor store! Yay! You can get ID'd at the bar, and they won't turn you away!

To be honest, it is definitely a super exciting and slightly terrifying time. You are in a crazy whirlwind process of finishing college, taking a few steps in your career, and preparing to embark on life as a true adult- whatever that means.

As I said, it is very exciting and terrifying, with your mind battling millions of thoughts at once, it's easy to forget to take a moment and stop stressing and just enjoy the moment while it lasts.

I was naive at twenty-one. I always thought that the world is a nice place and everything in it was beautiful.

I was in that phase where I was experimenting and I wanted to try everything. Growing up, I knew I was very fortunate. Financially we are very stable and I have a loving family, I have a sister whom I consider as my best friend and I have the most loving and cool parents.

So after graduating from college, I moved away from our home in New Jersey and lived in Manhattan.
Living alone for the first time in a big city is a valuable learning experience for me. It gives me a newfound taste of independence, responsibility, and shapes the way I think. I learned how to be considerate of others and stop taking the little things for granted, manage my money, and make decisions for myself.

~^~

When I first arrived in New York I was working part time in a coffee shop when I met this guy, Larry. He is a successful business man and was one of our regular customers.

He was very nice and would often ask me about my day. I didn't realize that he was flirting with me, because like what my sister would always say, I am completely oblivious to male attention.

During one of my shift one day he just flat out told me that he has a crush on me. I was not actively looking for a relationship at that time because I have other priorities and also he wasn't really my type to begin with.

Many times he had invited me to go out with him, but everytime I politely declined. I would tell him excuses like, I have an early shift the next day or I already made plans with my friends. But Larry was very persistent.
And over time things changed. I gradually started to like him. I knew he loved me and cared deeply for me, or so I thought. So after 9 months of dating, he asked me to move in with him and I didn't hesitate.
Larry was extremely sweet and respectful. I felt like everything is going well in my life and I also secure the dream job I always wanted as an editor in a publishing firm. I thought life couldn't get anymore perfect than this.

~^~

"Piper, I love you and you know that, but I don't like your decision of moving in with Larry.
Don't you think it's too soon?". My sister Jamie continue to stare at me like I'm loosing my mind. The sun was setting as we stroll the beach.

"Really? Coming from someone who got married after only dating her boyfriend for 6 months?".

"You know it's different, I already know that Mark is the right one for me and he's proven that up until now even if we have kids".