1:00 A.M. on Monday

“You should hate me.”

“I can’t hate you.”

The Brooklyn Bridge looked like a painting. The Edges of each distant structure glowed a bright outline against the darkened sky. The wind blew harshly, and the wood under their feet was wet from the aggressive tide.

“It would be so much easier if you did.” Taylor laughed. Her laugh transformed into a groan and she found a seat on the cold wooden benches nearing the edge of the dock. Collapsing dramatically, the leather bag around her shoulder thumped onto the seat, startling Jack.

“Don’t be so dramatic.” He started, “Its the mature way to feel.”

“Maturity is only maturity if it is not recognized verbally as maturity.”

“And this is why you’re single now.”

Taylor couldn’t help but laugh. Jack found himself next to her, his jeans cold against the frozen bench. She had looked at him earlier that month and saw memories, comfort, change. Now, he glowed with resilience, an independence that Taylor had never considered possible. The phoenix had rose from the ashes, and Taylor couldn’t help but feel like she was the matter left behind to toss in the wind. Still, she appreciated his new aura.

They sat in silence for a moment until they found the courage to glance at the other. In the path of their sight, they had caught the other staring, now destined to continue till one broke. Taylor sniggered through her nose, letting a nervous laugh fall from her lips. Jack broke from his serious spell and joined her laughter.

“This is okay,” Taylor admitted.

“Yeah. It is.”

Jack’s hand wrapped around Taylors, and they clung together like a force. Learned like the soles of a loved pair of shoes, their fingers found their way to the other’s hand with a graceful consistency. This action had been practiced many times before, but only now were Taylor and Jack noticing the complexity of the interaction. She pulled her hand away before she could get used to it there.

“What?”

“No,” she simply responded. “We’re friends.”

Jack sighed, and rolled his shoulders back, trying to get rid of the tension he felt in his shoulders. He looked at Taylor with disappointment, with hurt.

“Friends can hold hands.”

“Not the kind of friends we are.” Taylor felt her chest flutter with guilt. She was trying her hardest to sort through her head, to find that one thing that would calm her, bring her back to reality.

“He’s not gonna make you happy,” Jack shrugged. His last defense- hitting the nail on the head.

“How do you know?”

“He’s selfish. He’s not gonna care about you, give you what you want, give you what you need-”

“I don’t need anything,” Taylor snapped defensively. Jack looked at her with knowing eyes, and laughed. His demeanor, full of confidence, worried her immensely, especially when it supported an opinion he held of her life choices. “I’m figuring it out.”

“You don’t love him, though.”

“Yes I do.”

“You don’t.” When Taylor had given up- lost the drive to continue speaking- Jack chuckled. His hand fell to her knee, and he looked at her softly. “Whatever you choose, whoever you choose- That’s okay with me.”

“Well I mean, it kind of has to be-”

“You know what I mean.”

In that moment, they we’re a force stronger than they had ever been. Years of ignorance, of closed minded interaction and regret, fell away. Without them, they were truly themselves. It had been as though they had frozen over, lost from each others sight and their view distorted by the frozen ice surrounding them. Then, a fire. Once every bit of the ice was melted away, they saw each other truthfully.

They found a reason to smile once they had breathed in the air that the other had not.

“Thanks.”

Reviews

[alanwgraham]

Very accomplished writing! You made a great job of describing all the subtleties of this relationship. Your dialogue is very realistic and you have made use of some vivid images like ' learned like the soles of a loved pair of shoes.' It feels like it's a fragment of a longer story.
Regards,
Alan