Reality Happens by Alexis Doberstein (the rosie project .TXT) 📕

I’ve been sitting here for the past hour waiting for him. This is the second time it’s happened and each time he’s been an hour or more late. I’m sitting in the coffee shop that’s two blocks away from where he works. So you would expect him to be here on time. But no he’s late again. The waitress comes by and asks “He’s late again?” I just sigh and nod my head. She just shakes her head and mutters, “Men. They think they can do anything now a days.” I laughed. I was just about to order when he decides to make his big entrance. He comes in and looks around for me. And then he waves. He comes strutting over to me, but on the way he ends up colliding with another waitress who’s carrying hot coffee. They both come falling to the ground. Coffee spilled everywhere. Everyone starts laughing including me. I’m looking at him and thinking to myself, “That’s what you get for being late.” He tries to get up but looses his footing and falls right back down. It was quite a sight to see. When he finally regains his balance he comes over and he smells strongly of coffee. He was going to sit down and I quickly say, “I think you might want to go wash up before you sit somewhere in wet clothes.” He thought about it for a minute and then agreed. So he went to get washed up and changed. But on the way out of the coffee shop he dropped a letter of some sort out of his pocket. I look around and nobody noticed but me. At least for now until one of the waitresses come by. I get up and go grab it. It’s a red envelope. I want to open it. But it’s sealed, and if I try and open it he’ll know that I did. So I stick the envelope behind me, so it’s out of sight. They always say out of sight out of mind. But it worked the exact opposite for me. Since I knew where it was it was even more tempting. I could only fight it for like 5 minutes before I gave in and opened it.

Inside was a ring along with a letter. I got really excited. I open the letter and the letter says:


Dear Sara, I apologize for the inconvenience today where I was late again. I really do care about you. Sara I'm starting to fall in love with you. I've been feeling like I've been in a trance since we met. I'm under your spell and my heart is yours. I'm writing all this down because I'm not very good at expressing my feelings in person. But I hope this works the same. Sara would you do the extraordinary honor of marrying me? Love, Austin


The letter was completely beautiful. I was in tears. There was only one thing I wished. I wished that the letter would’ve been for me. My name isn’t Sara. My name is Liz. I don’t know who this Sara is but I hope she appreciates Austin the way I do. And the ring. I can’t even begin to describe. It’s one of kind. And it’s gorgeous. I slide it onto my 3rd finger on my left hand. I sit there and watch it sparkle in the light and daydream about how it could be mine. I started crying even more. I couldn’t believe that I was getting cheated on again by a guy. The waitress was coming by again, so I hid the note and the ring behind me. I wipe my face and hope that it doesn’t look like I’ve been crying. I glance at her as she passes me and I notice something on her shirt. The name tag says “Hello my name is Sara” I look at the letter and then I look at the ring. I thought to myself “No way. It can’t be.” I went against my better judgment and followed her into the kitchen. I yell, “Sara?” She replies, “Yeah. That’s me. How can I help you?” I didn’t want to ask but I went ahead and did it anyways. “Do you know Austin Cook?” She replies, “Oh. Austin. Yeah I know him. We went to school together since first grade. And then we went our separate ways when we graduated. And now I’m waitressing and he’s a big business man. And he asked me out the other night. So we went to a lovely restaurant. He’s changed since I knew him in grade school. I can tell you that much. He use to be such a brat when we were kids. Oh I almost forgot. You came over here. How can I help you?” I replied, “That was all I needed to know. Thanks for all your help Sara.” She smiles and says “Well it’s my job to keep the customers happy. Glad I could help.” I go and walk back to my seat. I sink down into it. I’m about ready to fall apart again. But I refuse to let myself do that in public. So I’m holding it in until he gets here.

I’ve waited here for another hour for him. It’s so weird. While I’ve been sitting here alone, I’ve been thinking about the relationship that we’ve had for the past 6 months. It’s been great. And it kills me to even think that it’s going to end for good. He walks into the coffee shop just as a tear slips from my eye. He walks up to give me a hug but I don’t want one. He sits down and asks, “Have you been crying?” I look up at him and scream, “This! This is why I’m crying! You and this stupid letter. Oh and don’t forget the ring!” He looks at me and replies, “How did you get that?” I chuckle. Then reply, “It fell out of your pocket on your way out to go get washed up and stuff. So I picked it up before a waitress would pass by it.” I looked at him and there was sweat beadings on his forehead. I put the letter in front of him and say, “What is this? And I want to know now.” He swallows and then replies, “It’s for Sara. Sara is a girl I use to like very much when we were kids. She was the only one who was nice to me and that tolerated me the way I was. I ran into her here at the coffee shop one day. And we’ve been seeing each other ever since. I wanted to meet you here at the coffee shop today to talk to you about it. But you already found out where my heart is.” I didn’t know what to say. My head was pounding. I could feel my face growing redder and redder. I look at him and scream, “You cheater. You lied to me twice all in one. You promised that you’d never cheat, and you promised that you’d never hurt me. You lied and you cheated. That is the lowest of the low. You are nothing but scum. You disgust me. And it sickens me that you could sit here and lie to me for 6 full months. Every kiss, every touch was a lie. I gave you everything and you take it all and throw it away before you even give me a chance? It makes me sick!” When I got done I had the attention of everyone in that coffee shop. And Austin looked embarrassed. It made me glad. So I kept on going. “And so you decide to take Sara over me? It’s ridiculous! And I’m done! I hope you and Sara are very happy together.” I toss him the letter and the ring. I grab my coat and purse and I head for the door. Sara stops me from reaching the door. She looks at me and says, “Liz I’m sure that Austin has a good explanation if you just give him a chance and you’re willing to listen.” I get up in her face and I reply, “If you don’t move in five seconds I will move you myself. And if you ever hurt Austin I will hunt you down. Have I made myself clear?” She nods her head. I reach the door and I say “Thank you all in the coffee shop. You’ve been a great audience.” And I take one more look at Austin and I walk out the door. And from there on I followed my heart.

Publication Date: 11-03-2011

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