A New Story Awaits

Emily finished taping up the last box. For George it felt like the final page of their book together. Sure, they’d see each other around. Emily was only moving four blocks away but it wouldn’t be this book — it wouldn’t be their book. She’d go on, becoming the protagonist of a new tale while he stayed back doing the same. There’d be new lead characters, new friends, new enemies… new lovers. If they were mentioned in each other’s upcoming tales it would be something in the form of a sentence or two. Something like, ‘Emily saw him on a passing train, her lover of a lifetime past.’ Or, ‘George turned the corner and there she was just across the road, a stranger he knew so well. They passed each other by, each pretending not to see the other.’

“You look lost in your thoughts,” Emily said as she picked up the box, a sheepish grin creeping into the corners of her mouth. Was it okay to smile yet? She knew that look on George’s face so well. He’d unconsciously scrunch his brows just slightly as he hopped on a thought and let it carry him a million miles into space.

“I was just thinking about the future.”
“Not too grim I hope.”
“Not at all, just different.”
“We’ll still see each other around.”
“I know.” I know.

Emily always did have the ability to be chipper in harder moments. George envied her ability to take the situation in stride and find the beauty in Autumn while he pined summer away. He wasn’t always equipped to deal with changes. He wasn’t sure if he was equipped for this one now. God knows he had tried to avoid this last page – delaying the serious conversations she said they needed to have, the outburst of emotion when the tension built too high, the fight… the conclusion.

“Can I make you a cup of tea?”
George, a coffee man, did the impossible; he laughed.
“Call it our last new memory together.”
“Sure, I’d love a cup.”