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Authors: Abigail Winters
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and hide behind her sarcasm and witty smile. The memories of love were cluttered with lost lonely nights, and feelings of abandonment.
Love brought her such little joy over the years, except the love of her father. In that love she felt safe enough to open her heart and be fully exposed without fear of pain, judgment, or suffering. She hung on to these warm memories of her father when she needed to feel safe again, but even their warmth was now tainted with the coldness of his passing and the realization that she could not make new memories with him.
After her last failed relationship with Brian, love came to such a point that she claimed she never wanted love again. She remembered slamming the door after screaming, “I never want to see you again!” How could love turn into such a horrible, painful thing? she had thought in the moments of their breaking up. Then there was her mother, the root where all love and pain intertwined as one indistinguishable sentiment. She could not think of her mother and the need for her love without the feeling of abandonment, sadness, and even anger.
But Julie did not want to think of such things. She was finished with love for now. The walls were built around her heart to keep others out. She put it on a shelf, out of her mind and continued shopping the stores with her strange friend that she met on a bus. He seemed safe to her, as if the tangling vines of love’s pain would never get hold of her through him.
“Come here, Charlie.” She pulled out a pair of jeans that any young hip teenager would like. “These look like they will fit you.”
Charlie, a little reluctant about the style, agreed to buy them. He grabbed an ordinary blue hoody from the rack. Julie grabbed a black one for herself along with socks and a couple of hip t-shirts for each of them. Then she brought him to a shoe store across the hall to replace his worn-out shoes. However, Charlie stood still in the hall as he spotted clothing in the store next door that looked like something that an upper class European man from the 16 th -17 th century would wear and said, “I remember when people dressed like that. It must be coming back in style.”
“I don’t think so,” Julie said.
“But it’s on display in the window. Don’t they put all the latest fashions out front?”
“That’s a costume shop,” Julie laughed as he noticed the witch, disco queen, and cave-girl outfits lined up next to the one he liked in the window.
“Well, I like it,” he replied.
“Then you should get it. Just be who you want to be, even if that means wearing clothes that have been outdated for over two-hundred years.”
She pulled him into the shoe store.
After they browsed the shoe store, Julie said, “We have one more stop to make.”
“Where is that?”
“I need some underwear,” she said as she wrapped her fingers around the inside of his arm above his elbow and led him straight to the lingerie store. Bras and panties were laid out on the tables and hung from racks on the walls. Sexy lingerie was draped over the window-front mannequins catching the eye of almost every man that walked by.
Charlie stopped before the entrance.
“I’ll wait right here.”
Julie could see his obvious discomfort and let go of his arm.
“Alright, Charlie,” she flashed a flirty smile.
He turned toward the nearest bench. Sitting on the benches were the seemingly bored, antsy faces of other men, waiting for their wives or girlfriends to finish shopping, as if hoping they might make it home in time to catch the second half of the football game. But there was no game today.
Charlie joined the men. They were in a deep discussion about the Jets’ last losing season and their predictions for the next. Charlie didn’t know much about football. He just observed how all the men suddenly became psychics when it came to the outcome of future games, laying their guarantees out and putting their reputations on the line. However, the interest of
Love brought her such little joy over the years, except the love of her father. In that love she felt safe enough to open her heart and be fully exposed without fear of pain, judgment, or suffering. She hung on to these warm memories of her father when she needed to feel safe again, but even their warmth was now tainted with the coldness of his passing and the realization that she could not make new memories with him.
After her last failed relationship with Brian, love came to such a point that she claimed she never wanted love again. She remembered slamming the door after screaming, “I never want to see you again!” How could love turn into such a horrible, painful thing? she had thought in the moments of their breaking up. Then there was her mother, the root where all love and pain intertwined as one indistinguishable sentiment. She could not think of her mother and the need for her love without the feeling of abandonment, sadness, and even anger.
But Julie did not want to think of such things. She was finished with love for now. The walls were built around her heart to keep others out. She put it on a shelf, out of her mind and continued shopping the stores with her strange friend that she met on a bus. He seemed safe to her, as if the tangling vines of love’s pain would never get hold of her through him.
“Come here, Charlie.” She pulled out a pair of jeans that any young hip teenager would like. “These look like they will fit you.”
Charlie, a little reluctant about the style, agreed to buy them. He grabbed an ordinary blue hoody from the rack. Julie grabbed a black one for herself along with socks and a couple of hip t-shirts for each of them. Then she brought him to a shoe store across the hall to replace his worn-out shoes. However, Charlie stood still in the hall as he spotted clothing in the store next door that looked like something that an upper class European man from the 16 th -17 th century would wear and said, “I remember when people dressed like that. It must be coming back in style.”
“I don’t think so,” Julie said.
“But it’s on display in the window. Don’t they put all the latest fashions out front?”
“That’s a costume shop,” Julie laughed as he noticed the witch, disco queen, and cave-girl outfits lined up next to the one he liked in the window.
“Well, I like it,” he replied.
“Then you should get it. Just be who you want to be, even if that means wearing clothes that have been outdated for over two-hundred years.”
She pulled him into the shoe store.
After they browsed the shoe store, Julie said, “We have one more stop to make.”
“Where is that?”
“I need some underwear,” she said as she wrapped her fingers around the inside of his arm above his elbow and led him straight to the lingerie store. Bras and panties were laid out on the tables and hung from racks on the walls. Sexy lingerie was draped over the window-front mannequins catching the eye of almost every man that walked by.
Charlie stopped before the entrance.
“I’ll wait right here.”
Julie could see his obvious discomfort and let go of his arm.
“Alright, Charlie,” she flashed a flirty smile.
He turned toward the nearest bench. Sitting on the benches were the seemingly bored, antsy faces of other men, waiting for their wives or girlfriends to finish shopping, as if hoping they might make it home in time to catch the second half of the football game. But there was no game today.
Charlie joined the men. They were in a deep discussion about the Jets’ last losing season and their predictions for the next. Charlie didn’t know much about football. He just observed how all the men suddenly became psychics when it came to the outcome of future games, laying their guarantees out and putting their reputations on the line. However, the interest of
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