Amidst love and heartbreak

The first date

Maggie’s POV

The weather is getting a little chilly these days. I really like when the leaves start falling and all you see on the ground is the gold and red rug they create. I adore the fact that at night I need a light blanket to keep me warm. It feels like a hug. How I miss the hugs my husband used to give me. He was the most incredible and understanding person I have ever met. I didn’t love him at the beginning. It was an arranged marriage, like many at the time, but he waited for me to be ready and open my heart to him. It might not have been the passionate love one might read in books, my books for example, but it was absolute care and empathy for the partner that not many can reach in their married life.

What I always loved, though, is rain. I know that it might seem a bit stupid to most people but to me is bliss. The first rain of the season to me is just perfection. The smell of earth and clean air. The colours of nature after they had a much-needed shower. The shushing sound when it falls makes you feel like you are a baby again and it calms you down, reassures you. It is perfect.

Today is a rainy day and since I woke up at six o’clock in the morning I had a simple breakfast, a cup of tea, I don’t drink coffee, and the rest of the day I have been writing non-stop. What can I say? Rain inspires me. 

Melanie was watching the rain falling. She was impressed by the amount of water coming down from the sky. She loved the rain, the smell, the cleanliness, almost everything it brought, but not today. Today, as much as she was mesmerised by it there was something that didn’t let her have the full joy of a rainy day. She could not go out. That means no way for her to meet with Arnold. After that first day when they first kissed, they have been meeting every day for more than a month. This will be their first day not meeting each other and she was not happy about it. There were many thoughts coming and going on her head at the moment. What if he went to the place but she didn’t show up? What if he thought that she was doubting their relationship again? Was this a relationship anyway? Could she call it one? What if she found a way to leave the house but he didn’t come? Does that mean that he doesn’t care? 

She thought it well for a couple more minutes and then she had an epiphany. Melanie put her shoes on, took the umbrella and left the house. Her mother was at the local shop at the moment and her father was working so there was no one to ask for permission from. The only problem was when she came back. Her mother will most probably be back and ask her where she went. She took the last letter she got from her best friend, who at the moment was visiting her grandparents and will be back next month, and decided to pretend like she was at the post office.

In a short while, she was near the tree. The bottom of her dress was all wet but she did not mind. It was usual for her to go out and stand in the rain just to refill her natural batteries. Her mother always told her that one of these days she will catch a cold that she will remember all her life. But it never happened.

The tree was still dense with leaves forming a natural shelter from the rain so Melanie decided to put the umbrella away. While she was putting the umbrella down a pair of strong arms pulled me from the back. I got nervous at the beginning but soon my body relaxed. It is h. He is here. He came.

"Hey, darling. I was not expecting you here today," he said in his usual teasing ways.

" I was not expecting you either, but here you are," I told him with a smile on my face.

"You are all wet from the rain. You are going to get a cold,"

"That is what my mother always says but I never do, so don't worry about it.," I responded with the same smile. I was smiling a lot. I had my doubts about him being here today with all this rain, and now that I see him here I can't stop smiling. 

"I am so happy to see you here. I thought you might not be able to get out of the house with no excuse to read under the tree. How did you do it?"

"I am supposed to be at the post office getting this letter that my best friend sent me last week. What's your excuse?"

"I wanted to meet my girl. Why do I need an excuse for that," 

"But, we're not…"

"We're not… what? I want to be able to go out with you without the need for an excuse. I am tired of these minutes meetings and never being able to show you off to the world," Arnold said in a serious tone. She didn't expect that and she didn't know what to respond to.

“But we’re not…” Melanie was shy. She couldn’t bring herself to say that they were not boyfriend/girlfriend. They never talked about these things. They met. He just kissed her whenever he liked. Only once she kissed him, to make him feel better. Was this a relationship? What did she know about relationships anyway? He probably knew more. That’s why he was so demanding now.

“Yes we are,” he said in a lower voice. “We are, darling. You are mine and I am yours. I promised to be the last one your last kiss and I intend to keep that,”

A shiver went through her body. The way he said it made her body react in a way she never expected. She wanted to feel the heat coming from his body so Melanie pulled him in for another hug. There were no words. Not that they were needed. 

“You are shivering, my love. Let’s go. I will accompany you until near the house. I don’t want to worry that you didn’t get home safely,” he said with a renewed smile on his face. There was not much left of the teasing, flirting Arnold. He suddenly seemed more serious about everything they were going through. She didn’t know what to think at this point.

The doorbell rang and I was pulled from my writing moment. I think it’s better this way. I have been glued to this laptop screen all morning and I might prepare something to eat after checking who is at the door. 

As soon as I opened the door a smile crept on my face. Emily is always a nice surprise to have. I know she is going through some things at the moment and that is why she is probably here. 

“Emily, dear. Come in. You are all wet,”

“I know, Miss Maggie. I really don’t like rainy days. They tend to block me in places I don’t like for longer than it’s needed,”

I smiled back at her. These young people don’t even know the magic of rainy days. It’s something that can’t be taught, though. They have to discover it themselves.

“Would you like some tea? Maybe it will warm you up and I need to have some myself. I haven’t had anything all morning,”

“Oh no, Miss Maggie. Did I interrupt your writing time? How inconsiderate of me,”

“Oh, no darling. I needed to stop as well. The body needs to be fueled in order for the brain to work,” I reassured her.

“Oh, ok. Then, I would love some tea. I could use something to warm me up,”

(10 minutes after...)

The tea was ready and poured in two fine teacups that now were sitting right in front of us on the table.

“I didn’t know who to talk to, Miss Maggie. You are the only one that knows about this and I really need a grown up's opinion on this,”

“What’s the matter, my dear,”

“Ethan. Ethan is the matter. He is always everywhere I go and recently has been trying to convince me to go on a date with him. What do I do?”

“What do you want to do? Do you want to go on a date with him?”

“I am still very busy with the last exam and I don't know where I would find the time, but I have been thinking about what you said the other day about me and Aron. I can’t always hide behind the fact that I am very busy. I should start to get a life,”

“Good that something is stuck in your brain from my speech. What is the problem with going on  a date with Ethan?”

“Aron is the problem. Or it’s not. I don’t know anymore. Last week, when you offered to babysit for Kyle, I went to the diner thinking that Ethan would be there. Long story short, we ended up talking and having a good time, more or less. My phone was on vibration mode and didn’t notice all the texts Aron had sent me, about going out, until he called. I was in the middle of a nice conversation with Ethan at the moment and pretended not to listen to it, something I do usually when I want to study. He is used to it so I didn’t think twice,”

I just nodded and uhu-ed to make her continue.

“Well, he has been acting weird since that. He always seems in a mood or doesn't have time to meet up. One time he even made a snarky comment about Ethan,”

“I don’t know what to say but I think that you should be sincere with him. Maybe tell him what’s going on with you at the moment,” I finished and she sighed.

As soon as she did that her phone vibrated on the table. Her face lit up while reading the text that she just got.

“This is what I am talking about. Can you stop that smile? No. then, go out with him and have more of those smiles on your face,”

“He is actually asking me on a date the day after my last exam. He knows I would be stressing about school if I was not done with it,”

“Then what are you waiting for?”

“I might do just that,”