15:30

Thirty Seven

After Jay dropped the L bomb on Tara, she couldn't stop thinking about him. She wanted to meet him but he made it clear that he would be busy. Even Heather explicitly stated that atleast on her birthday, Tara would not spend time with anyone but them. Ever since Jay had walked into her life, it seemed as though she was always too available for him. But Tara was like this with every guy, ever since Chris was kicked out of her life. She dated lots of men, and committed herself fully to them, in an attempt to fill the Chris shaped void in her heart.

While her rationality told her it was time to move on, her delusional heart kept whispering chants in hope of Chris' return. Which was why when any man that came after Chris told her he loved her, she could never reciprocate. She would leave him, or make sure he left her. But with Jay, she took a leap of faith. She told him she loved him, despite the fact that she wasn't sure of her own feelings. This is why she wanted to see him, and then she would know for sure.

But that night her conscience attacked her. She got a horrible dream about Chris, in an army uniform dying in a blast. She saw his dead body, and then she saw Jay , saying the words to her, calling out to her with his arms wide open. She woke up in tears. Her face was sweaty, she was breathing rapidly and she wanted to puke. It was as though the dream was a punishment to her for cheating on Chris. She remembered his face vividly in the dream. His turquoise eyes closing for the last time. Blood streaming from his forehead. It was so surreal, it made her want to scream. How on could she have dreamt the death of the love of her life?

She rushed to the bathroom and puked. She couldn't sleep . All she saw was Chris. All she thought about was him. It was certainly one of the worst starts to any of her birthdays. Finally, when dawn brought in the first rays, it felt somewhat comforting.

Tara got ready for work. Heather and Olivia treated her like a princess. They made breakfast for her and gave her gifts. She kissed and hugged both of them, and didn't mention anything about the previous night. She didn't tell them that Jay loved her and how much she was craving to just see him. She was her usual chirpy self and decided to combat the day's events with optimism.

But it would require more than optimism to get through the sucky day, as Tara soon realized. She didn't find a cab to commute to the salon for a good twenty minutes. Finally when she did get one, the driver was rash and this caused her to spill coffee all over her new white dress. She got caught in traffic and was late to work. In a hurry of getting to work on time, she ran in heels and tripped twice. Finally she did reach, but in a terrible state and it was only 11 am. The day was already bad. A series of unfortunate events followed when she ended up coloring a client's hair the wrong shade and another one wasn't happy with her new hair. Even Brenda asked her why she was so distracted.

Tara was miserable. Her cheer died down and she just wanted to sit in a corner and not talk to anyone. She was tired. She had never pictured her thirteeth birthday to be like this, coloring people's hair wearing a coffee stained dress. Still, when it was lunch time, things began to get better. Brenda and Camilla got her thirty cupcakes and they celebrated her birthday together. Eventually, she regained her spirits and decided she wouldn't let a bad day ruin her bubbly. After all , it was still her birthday.

After lunch, a woman who looked about Tara's age walked in with her son who looked about six.

"Good afternoon," Tara said happily. She was talking to Brenda, waiting for clients, as they both walked in. She got up and went to greet them.

"Good afternoon," the little boy mumbled shyly, looking down at the floor.

Tara bent down to his height and smiled the classic Tara smile.

"Hi. I'm Tara. What is your name?"
The little boy just looked at his mom and she nodded.
"Bill," he said softly.

"What a cute name for a cute little boy," Tara chirped.
Bill's cheeks reddened. He didn't even look up at Tara.