Garfield

The Aftermath: Louis

Louis

My house of cards had fallen down. And for the first time in my life I realized that was what was holding my back. I wasn't being held down by my lack of success or my lack of material things. I was being held down by my ego. By trying to preserve my self-image instead of thinking about what really mattered. I parked on the street outside his house and made my way up the stairs. I could see his mom staring at me through the window. She did not look happy. I knocked on the door. "I need to speak to Garfield" I said

"Look, you piece of s**t, I don't know what you have to say for yourself, but I don't want you to hurt my son anymore!"

"I have hurt your son" I said "I've been a jerk, and I realize that now. Just please, let me try to make things right" I didn't think saying that would work, but after what seemed like forever, she let me in.

"Make it quick" she said

When I got in, I saw Garfield leaning in the door frame of his bedroom, arms folded, looking at me. We just stared at each other for a while, and then he spoke "Why don't you go back to your fiancé Louis? There's nothing you can say to make this right so you might as well leave now."

"She's not my fiancé" I said "I'm not marrying her"

"What? Why?"

I sighed "I couldn't" I could see him soften as I said that. His eyes seemed to well up with tears.

"You have a f**k tone of explaining to do" he said. His voice broke.

"I'll leave you two alone" said Garfield's mom, sensing the tension. She walked away.

"Okay, that's fair. I do, I definitely do"

 He started to break down in tears. I held him tight, held him up as gravity overtook him and his knees got weak, and took him to his room and sat with him on the bed. I just sat with him there and held him and comforted him until he was able to compose himself again. And then I told him everything. About the gypsy, about how I was afraid, how I was stupid. I knew it didn't make any sense but he deserved to know, even if it meant he thought I was crazy.

"So, you really think you're going to die?"

"I don't know" I said "I just have this crazy feeling inside like..."

"Like what?"

"It doesn't matter. All this time I was chasing things that didn't matter. That gypsy gave me a wakeup call. I was living my life day in and day out without really living. Like a zombie. And I would have probably wasted my entire life like that no matter how long I end up living. I needed to start steering my own ship, and at first I thought that meant checking off a bucket list, living up to the expectations of my parents, my family, my boss, even myself, and I put that above my own happiness. I put it above the happiness of those I cared about. But now my house of cards has fallen down and for the first time ever I broke everyone's expectations and it's just me, exposed and bare. It's just me and what I want. And what I want Garfield, is you." I said, and I meant every word of it. I pulled out the ring, it glistened with five, shimmering diamonds. He gasped. I could see his breathing become labored. I took his hand, and he let me. His palms were cold sweating, but I didn't care. I slipped the ring onto his finger. "It's a family heirloom, and my family probably wouldn't want you to have it. But I don't care, it belongs with you I can feel it. I've never felt more right about anything in my life. Nothing has ever felt more real, and maybe being real is all that really matters, and being happy too..."

"Oh shut the f**k up" he said and threw his arms around me and held me tight in his big, masculine arms. It was a strange feeling, but it was Garfield. It was my Garfield. He kissed me long and hard "I love you, you crazy son of a b***h!"

"You're the crazy one for loving me" I said and kissed him back.

There were two empty seats at our wedding; they were the ones that were supposed to belong to my mom and dad. But my Garfield was there, and that was all that mattered. It felt so right. And I would live every moment like it was my last from now on. It wasn't my fault my parents didn't see the importance of doing that. That they felt their standards were more important than their relationship with their son. And Rachel was there with her new boyfriend, Thomas, my coworker. She even helped plan the event, and her best friends Diane and Martha and my colleagues from the office, and last but not least, Garfield's mom, who was the most supportive of all. She helped with the planning, the decorations, the outfits, the food. She was with us every step of the way and she told me to call her mom. "I used to care about silly things like that too" she said, when she realized my parents weren't coming "But then I lost my husband and I think it knocked me into my senses. I realized the fragility of life, here today and gone tomorrow, and that was when I decided I was going to love my son no matter what. And now I have a new son, and that's you" she smiled.