Dolan Enterprise ~ e.d.

XXXII

Kendal

I sit up and swing my feet off of the couch. I run my hands through my hair as I attempt to stretch and let all the kinks out of my bones and muscles.

"I'm really sorry you had to sleep there. You can always share the bed with me." Racheal rambles as she scrambled around the apartment to grab her things for work.

"No no. It's fine. I don't want to invade your space too much." I chuckle lightly.

She smiles lightly as she swings her purse over her shoulder. I sigh as I realize I actually have work today too.

"I should get ready for work." I sigh. She stops dead in her tracks. "What?" I ask her.

"I think you should stay home. You know. Chill, eat some ice cream." She says as I stand from the couch.

"I need money Racheal." I sigh. She walks up to me and places both of her hands on either one of my shoulders. "A couple days won't kill you. You really don't need to be near him right now." She says, raising her eyebrows.

I sigh because I know she's right. A couple days from work can't be that bad.

"Text me if you need anything." She says sternly as she makes her way to leave the small apartment. It's definitely way different from Ethan's house. "Will do." I say as I wave to her.

"Love you." She shouts before slamming the door.

I sigh as I take in the empty apartment. I hate being left alone because it gives me so much time to myself. My thoughts just eat me alive.

"It's fine." I mutter to myself as I attempt to keep myself calm. I plop back down on the couch and grab the TV remote and flick it on.

The TV fills the room with sound as I begin to scroll through the channels. I finally land on The Notebook. "Jesus." I mutter to myself, completely annoyed that this is the only decent thing on right now.

The romantic movie could push me over the edge. All it will do is remind me that I fell short of a great love story.

I stand from the couch and make my way towards the kitchen. She did offer up ice cream so why not.

I reach into the freezer and grab a tub of cookie dough ice cream. I smile to myself as I realize that I haven't had ice cream in what seems like forever.

I grab a spoon from one of the drawers and pop the lid off of the tub. Thank god for ice cream.

I carry the sweet treat in my hand as I plop back down on the couch. I take in the screen and I realize that I haven't seen this movie since I was in high school.

When I was in high school I loved this movie. I loved all things that dealt with love. Books, movies, shows you name it.

Now I find myself hating them all because they're nowhere near truthful. Love is fucked up. All it does is crush you.

I continue to watch the movie as I shovel spoon after spoon of ice cream into my mouth. I find myself so invested into the movie it's almost upsetting.

I make it to the scene where they have sex for the first time in the infamous house that he'll later repair. The scene chokes me up as I watch how much they love and need each other.

I know I really shouldn't be crying and hat this is such a typical thing for me to be doing right now but I can't help it. I wish Ethan loved me like that. I wish he'd do anything for me. He can't even act like a decent person for me.

I cry off and on throughout the whole movie. It's not because of the movie itself, it's because I'm constantly comparing it to Ethan and I.

I never realized just how fucked up our relationship really was until now. Not to mention Ethan made it twenty times worse.

As the credits roll across the screen I decide not to even attempt to scroll through the shitty channels again. I know Racheal has a movie collection somewhere and I'm determined to actually watch a movie that'll at least make me laugh.

I sit the empty tub that once had ice cream in it on the coffee table. I walk towards the stand the TV sits on and swing open one of its cabinets. Nothing.

I sigh as I continue to look.

I smile in victory once I finally find some movies. "Thank god." I mutter to myself.

I shuffle through all the movies but I stop as soon as I see The Incredibles. "No way!" I say as if I'm five years old. I used to love this movie.

I mange to figure out the DVD player and start the movie.

As it rolls through all the previews I take the spoon and the empty ice cream container into the kitchen.

I throw the container away and rinse off the spoon. I really can't believe I ate all of that but in a way it doesn't surprise me. I tend to eat a lot in stressful situations.

I hate that Ethan made me this way. I hate that Ethan now effects my life so much. I can't even go into work because of him. I'm stuck at home crying like a baby.

My thoughts are interrupted by the ding of the doorbell. My face scrunches up at the noise. No one ever comes here. No one visits anyone.

I make my way towards the door hesitantly. Thank god it's locked.

I peak through the peep hole to see no one. All I see is the white wall of the hallway.

Even more confused, I swing the door open. I poke my head out and look down both ways of the hall. No one.

I sigh as I go to close the door. Right before I close the door a bright white catches my eye on the floor.

I look down to see a perfect white rose. It looks fresh and the thorns are picked out of it with care.

I pick it up and take a small smell. It smells just as beautiful as it looks.

A small slip of paper dangled from the stem. I lift it up to read it.

A white rose is a symbol of innocence and purity. Some of the many things I've always loved about you.

Word count 1104