Ali: Helloooooo readers! :) Long time, no...write? Sorry abou the delay, I've been pretty busy lately. I've got nothing but PROBLEMS right now. Anyways, this chapter reveals something we never knew about Mark! Suspenseful, right? ;) Maybe so, but you'll just have to read to find out!
vote/comment/fan <3
Chapter 16
Mark’s POV
Everything was starting to work out in my life for the first time since I’d fallen hard for Abby. I was no doubt in love with her. She tells me she loves me too, so for now, I can relax.
She came over every night, telling her mother she was going for a walk. Sometimes, before Abby got to my apartment, her mom would call me and ask me how my day was. When she’d tried to seduce me and kissed me, I had to use all of my strength to pry her off me. I thought that might have been a hint that I don’t want to go out with her. Of course, I couldn’t complain to Abby about her own mother, so I just didn’t tell her anything.
Brandon has called Abby multiple times when she’s been over, and it pisses me off when she answers them all. Even when we’re…doing something. We have to stop, to make sure it’s not her mom. It never is, in fact Brandon and Holly are the only two who have ever interrupted. She only answered for Holly once because she’d had a rough day and needed someone to talk to, and Abby told her to call her.
There was something about that Brandon that made Abby very jumpy. I wasn’t worried about it. She didn’t usually talk to him for too long anyway.
At school, it was hard for us not to talk about later plans or even exchange a quick kiss. We had to be careful because of Jessica. I really wish she’d just leave me alone. She always comes into my room asking weird questions. Personal questions. I really wish that as a teacher, I could tell her to get lost, but I can’t do that. I’d get fired. Sometimes she just so annoying, I almost think it’s worth it.
Before I knew it, Abby and I had been together for a month. I knew that night had to special. Not that any night with her wasn’t special, but this one had to be different. After all, she was a very special girl.
The night before, I’d paced my apartment a few times, rejecting any idea that came to mind either for being too corny or not romantic enough. I’ve never given this much thought to something like this. Most of the relationships I’d been in before Abby had been very casual. Accept for one.
Meredith Gregory.
She’d been the love of my life for three wonderful years. I was planning on proposing to her. Instead, she betrayed me. I found her in the arms of another man a few days after I’d bought the ring. I was heartbroken.
I first met Meredith at a small coffee shop that I went to every day back in England. I’d been a regular there for years. One day when that bell jingled to signify a customer’s arrival rang, it was as if the bells of fate had rung instead. She walked in the door, looking as beautiful as ever.
I was last in line, and she took her spot behind me, smiling at me casually and nodding her head. I smiled back.
A few moments passed, and she finally tapped me on the shoulder.
“Have you ever been here before?” she asked with a voice that powered through my thoughts, making me incapable of answering the question right away.
I stammered. “Uh…umm…oh, yes. I…uh…come here every day, actually.”
“What do you usually get?”
“Coffee with cream.” I answered, finally getting a grip.
“That’s a little strong for me,” she said, making a face. “Do you have another recommendation?”
I pondered the thought for a moment and studied her face.
She seemed sweet and caring, always thinking about something. Her sundress had pretty flowers on it and she wore her honey blonde hair in a low, messy bun with a pink ribbon wrapped around her head to match the flowers in her dress.
“Chocolate frap. It’s delicious. I usually order it when I’m sick of coffee with cream.”
“Well, I’ll try that, then.”
I ordered and took my seat, thinking about how well that went. Before I knew it, she was sitting across from me with her chocolate frappichino in her hands.
We talked for hours and hours that day, and I finally asked for her number. I called her a few days later and asked her out, which she said yes to.
Our relationship was wonderful. Everything both she and I could have asked for. My parents adored her and her parents loved me. After three years, I was finally ready to commit to her for the rest of my life.
A few days after I’d bought her ring, I was at work when I’d realized I’d forgotten my lunch. I decided to go home and eat lunch there. We were living together in an apartment, so she was home.
I walked in the door quietly so I could surprise her. It wasn’t too quiet in the house though. I heard many…noises. I walked quietly, inching closer and closer to our bedroom. The noises were indeed coming from the bedroom. I opened the door.
There she was. With another man. A man I knew, for that matter. My cousin, Eric, was what most women would consider handsome and charming. Apparently, so did Meredith.
All I could manage to get out was, “How could you?”
I turned around and walked out the door. Screw lunch, I thought. I wasn’t exactly hungry anymore.
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Since then, I hadn’t spoken to either Eric or Meredith. I couldn’t bare re-living the image I’d walked in on that one fateful day.
I’d spent four months mourning over the death of our love. I was working as a free-lance writer with a teaching degree to back me up. I’d decided that degree wasn’t going to waste after all.
I’d decided that the next year, I’d move to the United States and teach what I usually wrote about: history.
And now, here I am, thinking about the reason I left home for maybe the third time since I’ve been here. I quickly shook the thought of her and continued pondering anniversary ideas for me and Abby.
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Abby’s POV
I walked to Mark’s the night of our anniversary with a nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach. What if he tried to go too far? I know it was only a month, but he is a grown man! Isn’t sex what drives them to live? What was I supposed to say if he starts taking things too far?
My thoughts were interrupted by the dinging of the newly renovated elevator. The doors opened to reveal the ugly wallpaper that covered the walls of Mark’s floor. I stepped out of the elevator and dragged my feet towards his apartment.
When I knocked on the door, I didn’t have to wait long for him to open the door. He whisked me inside and closed the door.
He kissed me tenderly and said, “Turn around.”
I turned slowly so that my back was facing him. Suddenly, I felt something cold being placed around my neck. I placed my hand on my chest to feel a silver pendant there. I gently lifted it with my fingers to see a shining locket in the shape of a heart.
He spun me around before I got a chance to try and open it. He looked into my eyes, hands firmly placed on my shoulders. I feel built up passion running off his fingertips.
“I love you more than anything in this world right now.” he said to me sincerely.
“I love you, too. More than I’ve ever loved anyone.” I said, tears forming in my eyes.
He had yet another candlelit coffee table dinner sat up, only this time it was roasted chicken. It smelled wonderful. We didn’t talk much during dinner, but we managed to fit a couple of laughs in there.
After dinner, we went over to the couch, like we usually did. Today, he just held me there for a little bit.
“Abby,” he started, turning me so I was facing him. “Do you want to know why I gave you a locket?”
I shook my head no, wondering why he would give me a locket. I mean, it’s not like I could keep a picture of us in there. Obviously people would get suspicious when I wouldn’t let them see what’s inside.
He smiled a little, and handed me a small, heart-shaped picture along with a tiny folded up piece of paper. The picture was of a toddler with adorable brown curls and light blue eyes that could capture your heart with just one glance.
I knew by those eyes that it was Mark.
He was in a meadow, smiling widely at the camera. It was adorable! He looked so happy and innocent.
“This is you, isn’t it?” I said, turning the picture in his direction. He nodded.
“Read the note.” he said, gesturing towards the folded up piece of paper.
Forbidden Love
“How do I describe this feeling
Pure ecstasy, blissful, serene
The experience of floating away
Away to another plain with you
Far away where we are alone
Just the two of us in paradise.
Giving so much, one to another
Away from what keeps us apart
Where we can become as one
Holding on to our beautiful dream
The two of us forsaking all others.
Together, wrapped in our love
Swaying with the rhythm of life
Grasping what we can't have
Pretending that it's ours alone
No bother from outside forces.
Alone, just you and I forever more
But in reality, we must come back
Back to our senses and realization
Back to a world we wish to escape
Awakened to the truth of what's right
What's wrong and what is not ours.”
I read the poem over three times. The last line, about coming back to reality really confused me. Did this mean it was over for us? I started to cry.
“I used to read that poem before we were together. Around the time you told me about that dream you had about me. It’s by Becky Garcia, and all I can think of is you when I read it. The most wonderful thing about us, Abby, is that we don’t have to come back to reality. What we have is real. It’s forbidden, but very real.” he told me, reassuring me and touching my heart.
We kissed the whole time until I had to go home. I held my locket in my fingers and thought about the contents. That beautiful poem and his adorable baby picture. It was a brilliant way to keep him close, no matter how far away he was.