Love Leaps: A Short Story by Karen Jerabek (best mystery novels of all time .TXT) π
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- Author: Karen Jerabek
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Love Leaps
a short story
Karen Jerabek
Smashwords Edition
Copyright 2012 by Karen Jerabek
All rights reserved. No parts of thispublication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, ortransmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permissionof the author.
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Authorsβ Note: This is a work of fiction.All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Anyresemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purelycoincidental.
Follow the author onTwitter: www.twitter.com/KarenJerabek
Visit the author'swebsite: http://www.KarenJerabek.com
For Kate and Lily,
my heart, my joy, my loves
Love Leaps
βI don't understand what that means,β Istammer, trying to make sense of it all.
βWell, it just means I need some space,βGray says quietly.
βI know, you said that. But what does itmean?β I ask, begging for answers. After spending almost a yeartogether, I'm not sure if this is his way of breaking up withme.
βI don't know, Emma. It just means I need alittle time to sort things out in my head,β he says.
βAre you breaking up with me?β I askpointedly.
βNo,β he hesitates.
βAre you sure, because this feels like abreak up,β I say choking on my tears.
βI'm sorry. I just haven't felt like myselffor a long time and I need to get back to who I am, that'sall.β
βI still have no idea what that means,β Isay exasperated.
βDon't you ever wonder if you're livingsomeone else's life, just going through the motions?β he asks.
βNo, I don't. Are you having some sort ofquarter-life crisis or something?β
βNo, well, maybe. I don't know. I just needsome time to figure it all out, that's all. Can you just trust me?βhe asks but I can't answer him.
βEmma, I love you, but I just need thisright now,β he says quietly. βPlease don't cry.β
βI'm sorry,β I mutter as I wipe the tearsaway from my face with the back of my sleeve.
βDon't be sorry. I don't want to hurt you.Just give me a couple weeks or so to sort through all this stuffthat's jumbled in my head,β Gray pleads.
βSo we're not broken up?β I askhesitantly.
βNo, we're not,β he says, but I'm notreassured.
βAnd this is just for a couple weeks?β Iask.
βYeah, probably,β he says. βI don't knowexactly, but probably.β
βSo, what are you going to do, to figurethis out?β I throw at him, finding this whole idea of taking somespace ludicrous.
βI don't know. I think I might go visit Colefor the weekend or take a few days off from work. I don't reallyhave it figured out,β he says, sounding very tired.
βSo you're going to take some space and notsee me at all,β I say, blinking back the tears. βAre you going tocall me?β
βI don't know. If you need me, you can call,but I think I just need to have as few distractions as possiblewhile I get my life figured out.β
βI see,β I sigh.
βI know this is hard,β he says.
βYou have no idea,β I throw back at him.βYou're asking me to flip a switch and pretend like we're not acouple so you can go figure out your life or whatever without anyidea how long that's going to take.β
βI know it's really selfish of me, but I'vebeen feeling like I'm suffocating and I don't know what else todo,β he says.
βFine,β I say defeated.
βAre you really okay with this?β heasks.
βDon't ask me to condone this. I don'tunderstand this at all. But what other choice do I have?β
βI'm sorry,β he sighs. βI'm really sorry. Ihope that I can figure things out and be a better man and a betterboyfriend.β
βWell,β I sigh and take a deep breath. βGoodluck.β
βThanks,β he says and hangs up.
And just like that, the man I thought I wasabout to be moving in with is half way breaking up with me andgoing off to do some crazy self-exploration crap where he hopes tofind himself. I'm so not okay with this.
It's late and we've been on the phone for acouple hours. My head hurts and my eyes are tired and all I want todo is sleep. I toss my cell phone on my nightstand and flip off thelight. As I'm enveloped by darkness, the tears start rolling downmy cheeks and I'm overwhelmed by my sobbing. Drained and exhausted,I finally fall asleep after an hour of crying. My eyes are nearlyswollen shut and my pillow is drenched in tears. Sleep is awelcomed reprieve.
In the morning, I toss back severalibuprofen and chug a Red Bull. I need my head to stop pounding andI need some energy to get to work on time, actually getting thereat all will feel like an accomplishment. As I glance in my hallwaymirror on my way out of the house, I look like I'm headed to afuneral. I'm in head-to-toe black with my darkest sunglasses on.Maybe I should go change. Screw it, I tell myself. This is how Ifeel and I don't have time to change anyways.
I slide into my cubicle fifteen minutes latebut no one seems to care. Logging in at my computer, I startshifting through some folders, trying to look busy like I've beenthere since 8am. As soon as my computer loads, I open my email andshoot off a message to Jessica, my best friend, giving her thequick synopsis about Gray which I still can't seem to wrap my headaround.
βI don't get it,β she writes. βThis makes NOsense. Maybe this is just a lapse of sanity and after the weekend,he'll pull it together.β
βMaybe,β I mutter under my breath. I justwish I knew what he was talking about. The mystery continues.
A few hours later, Roger waves and smiles ashe's walking by my cube. I glance up, smile
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