Red Herring

Crudely drawn storyboards are laid out in front of me on the dining room table. They're arranged to tell the most bittersweet story I've ever penned. Created in sporadic bursts between classes and my internship; the manifesto of a lovesick heart.

It opens with our hero at a crossroads finding the dream he's been chasing longer than he can remember on his right and his dream girl on the left. Opportunities presented themselves at the exact same time which forced him to choose between the two. Cliche, I know, but I've only been in school for six months.

After minutes of thoughtful consideration, our hero reached his decision. He'd been living his life to please other people for too long and he'd be foolish to squander a once in a lifetime opportunity. Plus, they were meant to be together, right? What could go wrong?

For starters, the distance between them was doubled. He became busy with his classes, while she waited on text messages which were never returned. The only way they've ever been able to connect suddenly severed, their eyes began to wander. Mistakes were made, foul words said and trust irreversibly damaged. They ended it through text on a screen without ever meeting face to face.

After several months, our hero realizes what a horrible mistake he had made. Without her, his dream lost its allure and his well of ideas dried up. He no longer had his muse or his strength and he lost everything else shortly thereafter.

While I'm making notes in my netbook, I hear a knock at the front door. I grumble in mild frustration at being disturbed as I rise from the table and go to greet the soon to be victim of my frustrations.

Once the door is opened, however, they fade because I'm staring into her eyes which make it impossible to feel anything other than bliss. Her lips crack that smart ass grin of hers and she manages to hold it flawlessly. My eyes dart up and focus on the U-Haul parked in front of my apartment. Our apartment. Then our eyes meet again and the grin explodes into the biggest smile I've ever seen on her beautiful face and she leaps into my arms.

"Jehovah's witnesses sure are getting aggressive these days." I say, suddenly aware of how close her lips are to mine.

"Shut up." She retorts as she leans forward and I officially become hers with a single kiss. "Where's the bedroom?"

I make a slight nod behind me and follow her to where we'll be spending the next several hours. What? The storyboards? That was just fiction, of course we end up together.