"Different Directions "

Chapter 5

She sat nervously at the park bench. It was a chilly evening, She was glad she has brought her coat with her. Geo had texted her on Tuesday night asking if they could meet Wednesday evening at the park close to where they lived. She looked around and remembered how they used to come for picnics to this park.  She looked at the tree they sat under and drank wine and had a good time. She saw Geo making his way towards her. She straightened her shoulders determined not to show she was still upset over the end of their relationship. He walked closer with his hands in his pockets. He was wearing a blue sweater and black jeans. Her eyes automatically went to his thighs. She loved his thick toned thighs. She looked away to avoid him catching her looking at him. He knew what she liked about his body and the last thing she needed him to know she was checking him out. He smiled at her as he sat next to her. He too looked around for a few minutes and then turned his attention to her. They were both silent. He moved closer to her and cleared his throat. " Thank you for coming." He said almost like a whisper. She gave him a casual smile and just nodded. " Do you think we can try being friends?" he asked looking at her. She looked up at him and frowned. " Geo! you can't expect me to just say ok, I still don't know how it all happened or even why it ended!" She said trying hard to hold back her tears. She was struggling to look at him. He was looking at the ground and then she saw he had tears coming down his cheeks. She wasn't expecting that. She began crying when she saw him crying. " Please tell me Geo so I can understand, so I can understand you and make sense of this whole thing." He turned towards her wiping his tears. " You know I have always been honest with you right?" His voice cracked as he spoke. She felt her heartbreak again. She managed to nod looking at him questioningly. She saw his lips tremble as he spoke. " I did not see us having a future together." His words cut like a sharp knife slicing someone's neck. She thought she did not hear him right. Her mouth opened to ask what did he say but the way he was looking at her she knew she had heard him right. She held on to her coat tight. She knew she was crying. Her warm tears running down her cheeks. " Please don't think I did not love you, I did and still do and I will always care for you and I hope we can try being friends at some point". he continued explaining. She had closed her eyes and was trying hard not to hear what he was saying. Each word was like a ton of bricks falling on her. " And April please don't hate her, it's not what you think it is" She had heard enough. She stood up and turned to him. " you could have handled this better Geo, been man enough to talk to me about it instead of leaving me for another woman! do you see a future with her then?" she voice was getting louder. " April is..." she cut him off and continued to speak " I think it's better I go before I lose myself and I don't know if we'll be friends but right now I can't." she took two steps away from him but stopped. she wanted to scream at him but her ways just did not allow it. Turning around she told him " take care Geo, I hope you will be happy with April and I mean it." and with that, she started walking towards her car. She was trembling soo badly that twice she almost lost her balance and fell. she got into her car and closed the door. She held on the steering wheel and started crying again. she felt useless, like the four years she had with him was nothing to him. she saw Geo coming up the steps to where her car was. He saw her crying and it hurt him to see her hurting this way. He took a couple of steps towards her but she drove off. She did not want to deal with him anymore. 

She drove to the apartment car park and waited there. The silence helped. She took some tissues out of the box and blew her nose and wiped her face. She remembered her mum for some reason. She wanted to hear her voice badly. She took her phone and pressed her mum's name. A couple of rings later her mum answered " Hey baby." her mum said cheerfully. " Hi mum" was all she said and her mum knew something was wrong " Baby are you ok?". Shana was silently crying again." Honey, what's wrong?". " Geo broke up with me" she blurted out. Mum and Shana were both silent for a few seconds. " Do you want to come home for a few days?" mum asked her. " We can hang out and talk about it if that's what you would like to do!" Her heart and mind both wanted to go home. She needed the change even if it were for a few days.     " I would like that mum, maybe tomorrow." they spoke a few minutes more and hung up. She knew it was the right thing to do. She badly needed a change and some fresh air. She got out of her car and went to her apartment wanting to pack and sort out a few details. Her home was about two hours drive and she decided to drive. It gave her time to think and sort things out in her head. She packed some clothes and essentials. Decided to take the cat with her too. Her head hurt badly so she decided to go to bed early. She lay in bed trying hard to shut out her thoughts but memories of her relationship with Geo and the words he said that evening just kept playing in her mind. By five am she was dressed and drinking a cup of tea. She picked up her hand luggage and the cat in its cage and walked out closing her front door. The early morning wind was fresh which made her smile. She got into her car and started driving.