One

A Chapter by SOSAtoned

The first chapter in the Novel For Her. Two people meet up after a long time separated and share a long overdue conversation.

Rain beat down in time with the blood pounding in his veins reminding him that his heart was still alive......

People said it had been a hot summer, but who knows? Thee hadn't really been anything since her.

He hated this little taco place, placed perfectly in the back of this lot as to disguise the fact that they were a giant corporation with money, that chose to have a s****y store in a s****y place for s****y people to eat s****y food and think they were superior, but she loved it, and so this s****y place is where he found himself on a particularly rainy day.

He didn't know if she'd come, hell he didn't even know if she still lived around here, or if she'd even recognize him. It had been years since they had last seen each other and he had changed so much since that boy that had loved her, that boy she had loved. He stood at six feet tall, taller than when they were together. A rough beard burrowed it's way out from his face, covering his jaw in fine blond hair, hiding the wear and tear of stress and a life far too long with out her . Short on the sides and back but with a long golden mane that caught the sun so well he had caught her staring at his hair a few times, well, back when he still knew her. He wore simple clothes now, he had never been the one to wear extravagance, adorned with tight grey pants and a slimming black dress shirt he sat at the bar waiting for her.

"Do you want another?" The waitress asked politely as he finished his beer setting it before her. She was gorgeous, barely over five feet tall deep red hair, perfect hourglass frame, and obviously interested. She had five other tables looking for her, yet had come for the third time this beer to check up on him. He didn't respond instead pulled out another five and gave it to her. She didn't say anything else, just went to fulfill his unspoken request dejected by his lack of response to her. She was beautiful and he was lonely and on any other day he would have stopped her and gotten her name, tried to befriend this beauty, but today .... today was for her. As he nursed his fourth beer he considered going home telling himself she wouldn't show up, or that she would with a boyfriend or husband and he would be compelled to make of fool of himself, he always did, for her. Rationalizing to himself the insanity that burned at him he scanned the room again looking for the woman who haunted his dreams with an unstoppable kind of love, and then there she was.....

She sat alone in her booth, as she always did, as he longed for himself too, to be contented with, tearing at her food like she was starved, but she wasn't, lost in her meal and her own world making soft prehistoric animal noises to no-one in particular. His eyes caught on to every last detail of her. Every single detail that his mind had replayed over and over for years. Her slender frame, the thick illustrious raven black hair that once had held his gaze and heart hostage. The dark brown eyes outlined perfectly with a mix of well done mascara and a sharp honed intelligence that seethed out from her. The strong fit calves that made their way from her black dress to the purple heels she wore everyday. There were lines on her face now, they looked like time itself had outlined the contours of his beloved to highlight the every perfection that she was, marking the visage equally stunning for both beauty and wisdom.

His hands started shaking. Having spent the last two hours convincing himself that she wouldn't be here he had not thought of what he would say to her. Apparently he had been staring at her too long because when he broke his gaze, which required a no less than herculean effort, the waitress was staring at him smiling. "You should go talk to her" she said spreading a warm smile across her face. Taking a last deep pull from his beer he chuckled, "Yea but what do you say to someone you love you haven't seen in years?" The smile ran from her face as a seriousness took up its stead. "I'd start with sorry"

"You know I've had enough of your apologies for one lifetime"

"You didn't even give me the chance to apologize yet"

"Yes but what else could you possibly say?" The truth of the statement seemed to silence the restaurant. The tall man across the table from her slid back into his chair staring down at her with hazel eyes. Vibrant green and a rich brown peppered with steaks of yellow. They were unique eyes. Ones she had pictures of she would never forget. Holding her gaze she saw that which they longed for, love. It may have been a long time since she had seen it but it was unmistakable in that moment. It didn't matter,or hadn't yet.

"Sorry" It was all he could say and she knew it. "Did you see the new book?"

Glare. He stared back. He knew she was mad. He also knew she knew the drill. He was crazy. Drunk? Stoned? Off his pills and emotionally damaged? Yes, but he tried, and he also knew she loved him. It was difficult for them and she had to give up so much to be with him. The romantic in them saw it as Romeo and Juliet but the realist in them saw it as an obstacle and and issue, they valued family, and them not being able to mix theirs and being shunned by others was a problem.

"They are never worth it." That's all she said. It stung, but not as much as the first time. The book won awards, people commended the writing and prose. Character development they lauded. None of it mattered to him. He always wanted her to like them, and eventually she would say she liked this one as well, but the game still brought him down they always cost so much from him. The first one was about growing up, -An inspiring look at modern youth culture and a vibrant expansion post modern literature- It had cost him his house. His ability to see his siblings. Thousands of miles separated them now. His job. His first chance with her. His first love.