Have you ever fallen inlove with a stranger? Not the kind of love at first sight thing but the kind of love where you can't help but to fall in love even if you don't know the person? Like you've been talking for months but the only thing that you knew about them is their name? Like they did nothing but made you fall in love. Harder. Everyday. It was magical, until one day, you lose them, they are gone forever just like that. This is a complicated story. I don't even know if this is a love story or horror.
"Isla, hurry up if you don't want to be late for work." Isla heard her mother's voice from the living room.
"Five more minutes!" she yelled back.
"Your sister doesn't have five minutes!"
Isla just rolled her eyes as she grabbed her red matte lipstick.
"Isla!"
That's her cue; she wanted to annoy everyone but not Vivienne. She's her older sister, and she works for her.
"Mom, it's too early. And I'm not even having fun working for Vivienne. She's not fun to work with," she complained to her mother as she glanced at her compact mirror to fix her mascara.
"You should wake up early if you want to spend hours doing your mascara, and who told you work is fun?" Her mom pointed out.
"My high school teacher."
"That's enough. Go now, or you'll be late. Your sister is waiting for you in the car. Don't make her wait."
She sighs, "Bye, mom!"
"Did you tell mom yet?" Her sister asked her as she joined her in the car.
"Tell her what?"
"You know exactly what, Isla."
Right, it's almost two years since she started working at her sister's coffee shop. She saved enough to buy a plane ticket and start a new life far from home.
"Look, I won't help you with this, okay? You know what will happen if you tell her that. You'll break her heart. And I'm too busy to deal with whatever family drama you'll cause."
"She'll be fine. Sooner or later, she will accept that we can't stay with her forever. We're adults; we must find our place in this world."
"And you think you found yours, Isla?"
"Yes, I found mine, and I'm leaving. You can't stop me. No one can't stop me."
"You can always date guys here. Why do you need to travel across the world for just a guy?"
She looks at her sister. "He's not just a guy. I love him."
She flinched when her sister touched her hand. "I hope you're doing the right thing, Isla. Give yourself time to think, or you'll regret it forever. And my employees will miss you. I will miss you."
Isla felt a pang of guilt. One of the reasons why she needed to do this is because she wanted to escape. She's twenty-four and still lives with her mom and sister. Vivienne doesn't care about it since she's allowed to go out with her friends anytime she wants. She owned a coffee shop; her mom is proud of her. But her? She graduated from college, yes. She spends most of her time inside her room reading and writing. She has work, yes. She works at her sister's coffee shop because she's scared to step off her comfort zone. She's afraid of failure. And she wanted to change that.
And now, this is the perfect opportunity for her to be the best version of herself.
"You can pursue your writing career; I will talk to mom."
"No, please don't!"
"I don't want you to go, Isla. You'll be alone there."
"I will call you every day, Viv. I promise."
***
A month later, Isla found herself at the airport exchanging goodbyes with her sister.
"Try to reach out to mom, okay?"
"I will!" She tried her best to look happy before her sister but was crying deep inside. She wanted to give her sister a tight hug.
And nine months later, she found herself crying while holding a pup outside her apartment, waiting for her ex-boyfriend to pick it up. Ex-boyfriend, yes. They broke up. And it was raining hard when he arrived.
"You told me you would keep the puppy, so I took it. And now you're mad at me? I am so tired of apologizing! I didn't even do anything this time. I have my cats, and a puppy is another responsibility."
"I asked you if you could keep him for tonight. For tonight only, Isla, and you're making it a big deal!"
"It is a big deal! I have work; I don't have anything to feed it. It's crying. What do you want me to do?"
"You know what, Isla? I'm so sick of this!"
Isla watched the person she loved for five years leave, together with the dog. It was sad. She was heartbroken. She couldn't respond when he told her he was breaking up, just like that. She knew she was not a perfect girlfriend, she had shortcomings, but she didn't expect someone to give her up because of some misunderstanding over a dog.
She wipes her tears when someone touches her shoulder. It was her neighbor, EJ.
"What's the matter, Ms. Isla?"
She tried to smile but couldn't fake a smile right now.
"Nothing, I'm sorry," she said, sobbing.
Without any hesitation, EJ hugged her. "You should go inside; it's raining. Do you want me to stay with you?"
"No, it's okay. Thank you!" She wiped her tears with her knuckles and walked towards the stairs.
She had never felt so alone. She has no one. She wanted to call her sister or mom but didn't want to tell them how fucked up she is. She left her family for a guy. And the person she chose over her family just left her. How stupid of her.
She dialed her friend's phone number instead.
"Isla?"
"H-he b-broke up with me," she said between sobs.
"Who broke up with you?"
"M-my b-boyfriend."
"He did? And why are you crying?"
"Because it hurts, Sienna. It hurts. I don't think I'm going to be okay. It's my fault."
"Hey! Wait for me there; I'm coming. Stop crying."
Fifteen minutes later, Sienna arrived with a bottle of wine.
"I know it hurts, but he doesn't deserve it. And I'm sorry about earlier. You should cry; let it out."
"It's my fault, Sienna. I got mad because of the dog."
"Your feelings are valid; you shouldn't blame yourself for that. Why do you always blame yourself?"
"Because it's my fault. We always fight because of me."
"That's crazy, Isla. You feel that way because of his actions. He knew that you're not allowed to have pets here."
"What is wrong with me, Sienna? I did my best to work it out."
"Maybe that's the problem, girl. I mean, he always made you feel like everything was your fault. I feel bothered when you are sorry. You had every right to be mad. Screw him!"
"You're being biased. You don't even know the real story. You only heard my side."
"And I'm not planning to hear his'. I know we only know each other for months, but no guy has a right to make women feel like shit."
"H-he-"
"Stop defending him."
"Im not."
"You should fix yourself. We're going somewhere."
