REM

10 Years Ago

Life has a way of coming full circle for some of us. For me, that meant meeting my current girlfriend ten years ago when she was only twelve.

Now she's twenty-two and I'm twenty-eight, but I never envisioned leaving my girlfriend at the time for someone so much younger. I always liked the idea of dating someone a year or two younger than me; anything more than that and it felt like I was dating my younger sister. However, people change and so do their perceptions of the world and society as well.

Walking out of the house, there is a pep in my step. My new girlfriend lives just down the street so I can easily walk over to her house to spend time together. My ex and I haven't spoken since we broke up. She was cheating on me. I had the texts to prove it, but she denied the whole thing and then dumped me in the end.

As I made my way down the sidewalk, she came out of nowhere from a parked car, slamming the door.

"And where do you think you're going?" she asked sternly, as if I was being caught doing something wrong.

"I'm going for a walk," I replied nonchalantly. "Is that okay?"

"No, it's not," she stated. "You can't date her, she's too young. She was twelve when we first met her!"

I stopped walking and turned to face her. Blood seemed to be rushing to her face as it became more and more red as our conversation continued.

"First of all, we're done. You can't tell me what to do anymore Rachel. You cheated on me, yet you're still obsessed with me. Secondly, she's not twelve anymore. She is a woman, and a much nicer one than you could ever be by the look of things. You need to leave me alone."

Continuing down the sidewalk, I left her with something to think about, hoping that she would actually process it and then get in her car and leave. Unfortunately, she did not.

"You don't get to walk away from me Eric!" she barked. "I will ruin what you two have!" Her threat seemed unnecessary, but it was certainly confusing. For someone to cheat and then behave in such a threatening manner made no sense to me. It was like she was mad at herself for screwing things up, but then wanted to put the blame on me instead.

I turned to face her, hopefully for the last time.

"Rachel, you need to grow up and take responsibility for your actions. No more of this pity party crap for the cheater. You screwed up. Accept that and move on. And if you truly feel bad about it, don't let history repeat itself. Don't do it for me though, do it for yourself."

"Hey babe."

Turning to face Maggie, I saw her subtle sweet smile peering back at my cheeky one. It didn't matter that Rachel was trying to get me riled up, Maggie's smile had a positive effect on me no matter what.

"Is everything okay?" Maggie asked.

"It is," I replied. Turning back to my ex I hoped she wouldn't make a scene. "Rachel was just leaving."

Her jaw clenched and she balled up her fists as well. She wasn't happy at all with my new-found happiness.

"Hmph!" Rachel stormed away from us and got back into her car, then raced down the street and through a stop sign.

"Well that was fun," I sighed, bringing my fingers up to the bridge of my nose.

Maggie grabbed my hand and asked, "So what was that all about?"

I shrugged and exhaled a deep breath. "She's just jealous I guess."

"Because she gave up on such an amazing guy?"

"Yeah, something to that effect," I smiled in response.