Purple flowers, Blue shirt

Downtown, a random man gave me flowers.

They were purple.

And I felt loved.

Across the street, there was another man in a crisp blue shirt.

His hair perfect.

His face straight out of a magazine.

Sunglasses covered his eyes.

His black shiny shoes pointed towards me. 

 His briefcase next to him.

He sat there at a small table.

Coffee in hand.

Watching my every move.

He screamed fuckboy.

But he oozed annoying appeal.

Of course.

I walked by him carefully.

He eyed me.

And we exchanged smiles.

It was as if he knew me.

My stomach dropped and I almost stopped to ask him..

...Taidgh?

Was that Taidgh?!

He looked just like him.

He was dressed too immaculately to be an American.

I briskly kept walking.

Sweat broke out.

Panic.

Anxiety.

Anger.

Fear.

Guilt.

.

Taidgh wouldn't do such a thing.

Fly all the way from Ireland and come to my small town to surprise me.

To apologize.

Infuriating how one man, one face...

Could trigger so much heartache.

So many memories.

But instead of sprinting away, I basked in my past.

I fed myself sad truths.

At least you were a part of his life.

Maybe you taught him something.

It wasn't a lost cause.

I hopped in my car and sped away.

Dizzy with flashbacks.

Sick with how it all played out.

My heart sank again.

My lip quivered.

Tears blurred my eyes.

Hurt weighed my bones down.

But then I thought of my flowers.

Of George. His lopsided smile, and our conversations.

I thought of Joe and his advice and care.

And I thought of the man with the dog in the Library.

I thought of the boy in my math class.

The man at Starbucks who gave me free coffee.

And all the men who have ever laid eyes on me.

Who have made me feel like a Queen.

Who have given me simple respect.

And I was soothed.

Because I was free from the cell of rejection.

Free because I found acceptance.

For when proper treatment shows it's colors.

It heals a wounded heart.

And mistreatment slinks away in shame.

Reviews

[B]

We all have that moment of seeing someone and seeing just how badly they treated our heart ....
In a matter of seconds your mind has all those other guys that cherished you and loved you beyond your imgaination
I say a good man is to become the one who can have full residence in my thoughts
because he knew the meaning of love

really well done

[Kathryn Smith]

Aw thank you very much! :)