The Ex-Fiancé

“I've got a quick fix for you,” I handed her the laptop and she bent down to plug it in.

“Oh, goodie,” She said as she stood up. She smiled cautiously at me, “So, how's everything been going?”

“Uh, okay, I guess. As good as being next door neighbors with your crack addicted ex-girlfriend can be, I suppose,” I said. It was meant to be a joke but the words hung heavily in the air.

Her face contorted in a mix of confusion and embarrassment. She quickly sat down and swiveled her chair to face the computer. She regained composure and coldly said, “I'm sorry, Luke.”

I stood there for a moment, racking my brain for an appropriate response, but I gave up and went back to my station. I sighed as I sat down and cupped my head in my hands. I had been dating Sarah before I met Lily. She had been one of those goodie-goodie girls I always went out with and we got along really well. We both, of course, loved computers, we both thought ThinkGeek was the best thing ever, and we both had named our first cars TARDIS. I dumped her on the spot, however, for Lily. I don't completely know why. I ponder about it sometimes late at night. I've entertained the idea that I did it because Sarah was getting to the point of wanting a ring. I had even bought her one. When Lily reared her pretty head, however, I realized how much I had not even experienced in life and now I was going to be forever tied down. Lily was the kind of fun loving party girl I had admired throughout adolescence but had always thought was unattainable. When I realized she thought of me as more than a neighbor I romanticized her, thinking she would grant me the key to the world I thought I wasn't invited to be in.

I can still picture the look on her face when I told Sarah I had cheated on her and wanted to break up with her. A look of pain enveloped her face and she looked like a dog that was stricken by its beloved master for the first time. It pains me to think about it. I thought of the economical yet pretty ring I had gotten for her sitting in my beside table and imagined it on her slender fingers. I imagined the sentimental look that she would hold in her misty eyes as we would exchange her vows and my chest ached for a moment as I pushed the visions to the back of my head. I grabbed the rainbow sock that I sat on my keyboard and shoved it into the bottom of my bag.

The rest of my work day passed by in a blur of dropped laptops and fried motherboards and thoughts of my now purple haired ex-girlfriend. I steered clear of Sarah. I walked onto the lamp lit sidewalk and breathed in deeply, hoping my asthmatic lungs would be greeted by fresh air but really finding that the musky dumpster smell had just wafted over from the next door restaurant. I coughed a few times and started walking home. I pulled out my cell phone and looked long and hard at the contact that read 'Lilikins.' I scrolled up and selected the name 'the Beckster.' The phone rang a few times before crackling told me he must have picked up.

“Luke? Long time no hear, man!”

“Hey, Beck,” I said flatly as I crossed the street. A couple laughed and walked slowly in front of me. I pushed past them, glaring along the way. I felt down into my bag and pulled Lily's sock out.

“You sound down. You okay?” I just sighed in response. “Come on, dude. Talk to me. People pay good money for me to just listen to them complain.”

“I saw Lily today. She dropped one of her socks and I kind of... you know... kept it.” I clutched her sock in my hand.

“That's kind of... creepy. Why'd you do that?”

“I told her I missed her. I've been holding on to it all day.”

I heard him sigh with exasperation through the phone as I approached a restaurant with outdoor seating. All of the tables were full of couples wearing light jackets and laughing, flirting, and eating. I was tempted to cross the street to avoid the loud scene when I heard a familiar, shrill giggle. My stomach lurched and my eyes searched desperately for the source. Lily was wearing my favorite hot pink dress, sitting beside some lanky and nervous looking guy.

“Hey! Are you even listening to me? You're being a prick!”

“I see Lily. She’s on a date with some guy,” I said.

“What? Are you stalking her or something?” Beck asked before I hung up the phone.

I stared over at them for a moment, studying them. Lily was as strange and beautiful as ever. The guy had boring brown hair, boring mud eyes, and a boring, nerdy outfit. In other words, the guy looked like another version of me. I just stood there, anger starting to swell inside me. There she was having fun, trying to trap some other hapless guy, and here I am lamenting our breakup and wishing I could redo my life. Why am I doing this to myself? I thought of all the things she did to me. She tried to kill me with that damn Mexican softener; she pressured me into trying a string of drugs; she suggested I get that horrible, spiky haircut; and she “accidentally” poured bleach on my favorite jacket after our first fight.

I let myself in a small gate adjacent to the building and made my way over to the table. The guy noticed me first. He looked confusedly at me and Lily turned her head. Her face went from interested to completely confused. I walked up and stood beside their table.

“Luke? What are you doing?” Lily asked. I balled up her sock and gently threw it with my wrist into her face. She flinched and held her hands up.

“Hey! What do you think you are doing, buddy?” The guy stood up and tried to look menacing.

I laughed, “I think I'm returning something that I stole, buddy.” I looked over at Lily and her still-shocked face. “And I'm giving you back. I don't want the memories or thoughts of you anymore. You can keep them.” I looked back over to the confused lug standing next to me and decided I'd try to spare him from Lily. “Oh, and in case you didn't know she is a cocaine addict and has a mean case of herpes.” I smiled. “Now, enjoy your meal.” I walked off. I turned around briefly to see them both sitting there, slack-jawed. I grinned and dialed Beck again.

“Oh my god, what are you having a psychotic break or something?! What the hell is going on?!” Beck greeted me.

I laughed, “No, I'm fine, Beck, really. I'm better than I've been in a while, I'd wager.”

“Should I even dare ask what you did?”

“I'll tell you about it when I come over. Do you think you could house a roommate for a while? I think I need a change in scenery.”