Walk Away

Retrudunt: Charlie

The problem with love is that there are too many reasons why you shouldn't want to love someone, and only one reason that proves you should. I've been in that situation myself before. Currently, the situation I've positioned myself in is the complete opposite. Genevieve is perfect. She's beautiful, she's good in bed, and she's sort of smart. But I don't love her. I chose her because she was the only one left. I didn't expect the reason I chose Genevieve would come parading back in my life, leaving a tornado in her wake once again.

Genevieve was out shopping when I got the call from Emily. She told me she thought she was having her baby, it was just a false alarm. I never expected to see Del and Isla standing on her doorstep when I went to take her to the hospital. We all knew Del couldn't take her, she's an awful driver. They followed Emily and I to the hospital, and I could tell Isla was as much in shock as I still am. She walked out of the hospital with a hollow face, no words were spoken through her pink lips.

All of a sudden, a voice knocks me out of my thinking. Genevieve slams the front door and walks towards my office space at home.

"Darling, I forgot to tell you that there's going to be a so-called ball tomorrow night at the Grand Duke Hotel in town. It's not going to be at the four seasons in Chicago anymore." She looked at me and held out a black tux.

"Thank you darling." I said flatly.

"I'm going to go to sleep early tonight so that I can get my beauty sleep." She said as she strutted away in her five inch expensive looking heels my money probably bought.

I kept thinking about Isla. The tv was merely just flickering in the background. Before I knew it, the time had become 1:00 am. I groggily headed to our room, took off my clothes save my boxers, and jumped into bed.

The night and day passed quickly, like lightning. My thoughts of seeing Isla once more were invading my mind. 6:00 pm came and left and it was finally 7:30. I slipped on my tux and shoes, and put on my cuff links. Genevieve put on a really ugly orange dress she claims to be by a designer, and pairs it with a pair of black stilettos. It's like Halloween exploded all over her. The taxi is called earlier showed up, and Genevieve started complaining that it wasn't a limo, and I had to tell her that they were all already booked.

We arrived at the venue in less than 10 minutes. There were already about 65 people crowding the place, and I didn't see Isla amongst them. Genevieve immediately ran off to her old friends and began reminiscing about the old times with them. I saw my old buddy Josh talking with some other guy I think was named Rick. I began walking towards them when, out of the corner of my eye, I see a woman wearing a brilliant sapphire coloured dress with two cutouts in the back. Her hands clasped together in front of her, her eyes scanning the crowd. I began walking full-speed towards her. When I was about 8 meters away, our eyes locked, and once again, she went hollow, and her arms went limp at her sides. She quickly turned around and began walking away quickly, eyes once again scanning the crowd. She began shouting for Del. Before she could get anywhere, I grabbed her arm gently and she turned around to face me, tears looming silently in her eyes.

"Charlie, I can't-" she started.

"You can't what? Isla, you were my best friend! You left. I was alone. I know Em and Del told you about Genevieve. I had to move on. You didn't call, text mail, and I didn't even know your address! Was I just supposed to wait?" asked her. By this point, she had pulled me into a corner of a hallway next to the ballroom, her tears falling freely now.

"Charlie, you don't understand! It was my dream! And you decided to tell me in the most inconvenient time! I couldn't just drop everything and be with you. I had plans I needed to follow, a life I wanted to live. I'm sorry."

"I'm getting married in two days Isla." I impulsively told her. The colour in her face and eyes drained, and she turned her back, and ran out.