The Waiting One

Chapter 20- I'm Leaving

Chapter 20- I’m Leaving

Serronie sat in Zachary’s lap curled up on the sofa watching television. The silence was thick with a hint of tension. They were watching Zachary’s favorite comedy sitcom and he didn’t laugh once. Serronie noticed the difference. He lightly shook her and said, “Turn down the television, Ronnie, we have to talk.” The feeling of fear shot through her stomach. She hated being in the line of fire. Zachary’s mood was always light, and it was obvious that he had some bad news. Serronie sat up and turned to face Zachary. He began to speak, “Ronnie, I’m leaving in a few months. My dad wants me in Dallas. He wants to start training me to be h partner at the company.” She fully turned around and sat back on her knees. Tears began to well up in her eyes. “So you’re leaving me Zack?” He passionately held her shoulders and said, “I’m not letting you go Ronnie! This is temporary. We’re going to talk all of the time, and visit one another. We’re in no way over!” She wrapped around him, pressing his face into her chest and rubbing her chin on his head. “I’m moving soon Zack, I’m supposed to live by myself now?” she whined. “Ronnie I don’t leave for another few months, we’ll have plenty of time together. I’m going to help you move and be with you as much as you like”, he expressed. Serronie was sad and starting to feel familiar emotions from when things went bad with Julius. She held a distant stare for a few seconds. Zachary moved her chin so that their eyes could meet, “Hey, hey, we’re young and we have so much time Serronie. You can always come with me, I don’t mind at all. I’ll get my training, we’ll find you an editor out there, it’ll be great.”

“That’s pretty heavy Zack. I love you like crazy, but living together, is serious.” He sighed, “Oh goodness, I don’t want to hear your whole fornication talk Ronnie.” “I just want to be clear that we’re on the same page. We can visit each other until the end of time, but when we live together, I want it to be final”, she declared. “I don’t mind spending forever with you sweetheart, I know we’re young, but, I know what I want, but we just have to want the same thing.” She rubbed her face and slowly exhaled, “I’ll get my thing going out here, and then we’ll see what happens with the distance. Francine has set up so much for me already; house, money, a really great plan, and I can’t up and abandon it.” “Well, I’ve put my cards on the table Ronnie, as long as you can handle the distance, we can make it work.” Serronie grabbed his head and kissed him deeply and pulled back, “I’ve never wanted anything to work so badly in my life!” He gripped her hips and shook her playfully, “Goodness you’re awesome!” he yelled. And they cuddled up on the sofa and turned the volume back up on the television.

Two weekends later Serronie was moving into her apartment. She didn’t have much to move right away so she and Zachary did the job alone. They spent all morning at her mother’s house boxing up possessions and labeling boxes. Her mom complained the whole while about how much stuff Serronie was leaving behind. Zachary shook his head in frustration and Serronie and her mom bickered back and forth. Her mom was nervous and uneasy about Serronie moving out, because there were still many child-like qualities she saw in her daughter. By midafternoon everything was loaded on Zachary’s truck and they rode off to Serronie’s apartment.