This is a short story but will be uploaded in parts. I hope you enjoy it. I wrote it a year ago and it is pretty much unfinished but putting it out there makes me want to finish it so here goes

 

 

It was a usually hot Saturday afternoon. And all Laura wanted was to get home and have a really cold shower. But she still had some more shopping to do and not a lot of time to do it. She turned a corner and bumped into someone making a mess of her things and the other person’s things.

“I am so sorry.” she apologised. And started helping the other person gather up their belongings. As the person moved his left hand, she noticed the tattoo which made her lift her head and come face-to-face with her high school sweetheart, Jeff Porter.

“Oh my God! Laura!” he exclaimed. “What are the odds of bumping into you here?”

“Next to none.”

They finished gathering the rest of their shopping and proceeded to catch up.

“I can’t believe I am seeing you here-,” her phone rung interrupting him.

She apologised and answered, “Hello mom, you won’t believe who I just met. Anyway, I will be home soon and how is Avery doing?”

They spoke for a few minutes and the call ended.

“Avery’s my daughter. She is teething and has been unwell all through last night and this morning.”

“Congrats. So you’re married now huh”

With a shake of the head, “No, I am not. Single mom by choice.”

“Laura Anderson, a single mom. Who would’ve thought?”

“Life happens, you know?” she shrugged.

They visited for some minutes and exchanged contacts and then went their way.

He couldn’t believe that after a decade she still had a hold on him. She looked even better than when she was a teen. He always had a special place in his heart for that girl who pushed him and encouraged him to do better at all times. Laura made him chase after his dreams of pro ball even when he thought he wasn’t good enough. He could still remember the times she coached him. They had worked out together. She wasn’t a cheerleader for their school team and it wasn’t mandatory for her to show up at the games but she did. She was always his biggest cheerleader. She was his biggest encourager and critic. No one knew him and understood him as much as Laura did. Theirs was a beautiful friendship that blossomed into one of the greatest love stories that lived in Rockberry High, their high school. It was going so great until the fame of being a football star had gone to him so much that he started ignoring her. He lied to her so many times. And the worst thing he ever did was step out on her with one of her closest friends when she wasn’t putting out for him. She had forgiven him for all the lies and missed appointments but what shattered her was the cheating. She walked out of his life and he’d never seen her since. They had been in school together but she was super smart and intelligent. She took all sorts of classes and participated in all sorts of programs that made sure they ran in completely different circles. He caught a glimpse of her here and there but he’d never gotten the chance to speak to her or hold her. She’d been the one who’d gotten away. He wasn’t hurt about losing her in the early years because there had always been a super beautiful woman ready to jump into her spot and be his woman. Years down the line, he’d searched for her in every woman. He’d looked for her everywhere when the high of being a pro athlete wore off and he was drowning in the day-to-day. He’d searched for her everywhere but found nothing. Right after high school graduation, she’d left their hometown and has never been back there. She lost touch with all their mutual friends and those that knew where she was, iced him out. But ironically, when he stopped searching here, she was.