One More

The swift breeze of air came from the south, blowing the last bits of clouds. 5:45 PM. The last glow of a sunset sank leaving nothing but an array of golden amber across the wet parking lot. I took a deep breath and leaned back in my seat to think for a moment. Carol, I knew would already be inside waiting to talk with me. I should be happy she even called me, right?

It's just that I always imagined we would bump into each other at the grocery store, at the park or somewhere memorable for both of us. Enough already just go inside to talk to her and hear her out. She misses you, hopefully that isn't just my ego talking. I stepped out of the car and walked towards the restaurant, as I carefully manoeuvred around the puddles. Within an hour before my arrival everything had been drenched by a brief thunderstorm.

As I made my way into the restaurant, faint memories of Carol came flooding my mind. Slowly but surely one stood out from the rest which kinda of reminded me J.Coles album called the 'Fall off'.Was she angry? Would she look at me the same way? It's hard enough to share my heart, body, soul and mind to her let alone my anxiety. It's clearly we are going to have a threesome if at all I'm meeting her. Either way I'm here and there's no turning back. The restaurant had an intense perfume scent of too many roses. It's sweet but not entirely healthy air, it smells too good you just know something bad is going down.

The restaurant was crowded and when I finally found the hostess, she told me Carol had already been seated and kindly pointed me toward a terraced area below the main dining room. I spotted five couples all in red, awaiting their meal. I passed two more tables and could see past them to the person who seemed to have been the center of attention- a woman, still seated at the table...Carol! I quickly walked up to her and in less than a second of seeing her, she broke a smile. It's funny how imaginary of the mind conjures up for your partner, is invariably nothing compared to the real life. I noticed her hair was rather different yet her face was exactly as I remembered: small cute nose, thin lips and above all her brown eyes.

'You wouldn't believe it',she said pulling me into a loving hug. After the warm welcome my face rolled into a question mark of confusion, wondering if it all to deceive me. Thoughts of her being mad, irritated and hurt seemed to clouding my judgments of the now. Without making it too obvious I threw in my famous smile into the mix.

' So what have you been up to lately?',making small talk to ease my anxiety.

'Nothing of importance, just been missing your goofy ass.' It's crazy talk,I thought. Three months of no communication and she says she missed me. What is she up to? Or she actually being honest with me, well she caught me of gurard that's for sure.

'Well same here', with a bit of crack in my voice. Liar!! My father once told me I'd never be honest with anyone unless I became honest with myself. I mean I missed her but the liquor kept me company while we separated. Geez I'm pathetic. 

'I find that hard to believe, you haven't even said Happy Valentines Day to me', she said pulling something under the table. I looked at Carol and began to wonder if at all I deserved her. I mean she did have all the time to dump me, even after she caught me under the sheets with her twin sister. And it never changes not by a long shot. She forgave me yet deep down she must be full of pain and rage. Damn. I would nominate her and give her a Grammy for her acting skills. No matter I gave her the space to think about our future and to my surprise here we are. 

Here I sit looking like a moron without a gift for her, geez it's February 14th dammit.

'I'm such an idiot; I forg....before I could finish her lips were already pressing against mine. Such tenderness, soft and moist. A minute or two passes and our eyes met once more, I couldn't believe what had just occurred. The restaurant felt silent, time seemed to have stopped along with my senses. By why Carol?

'I forgive you Jack and I love you'.

Everything felt blurry and out of order. She looked embarrassed for a moment, then with force said', ain't you going to open your gift. Quicky I was brought back to what appeared to the cosmos. ' 'Hello earth to Jack, she said sarcastically'. In the paper bag the box was nicely wrapped in pink, her favorite color. And to top it of was a purple ribbon. We looked at each other directly momentarily, then began to unwrap the mystery in the box. When I focused on Carol again, she was patiently waiting patiently. Eager to see what's in it I peeled it off slowly undressing it as if an onion.

As I stepped into the kitchen, I could hear sounds of television in the living room. I walked through the kitchen and into the living room, where I stood silently. I didn't say anything. I just stared at the fluorescent light from the set and in tune was Fox news. It was first seeing her. Naomi, Carol's twin sister. ' You know staring is rude, she said sitting on the couch in her pyjama shorts and a sports bra. Sorry I didn't mean to stare; Liar! It's written all over your face. She looks identical to Carol after all. But she looks more thicker and her mould on the bottom lip, shows her uniqueness between her sister. I saw her swiftly analyse my entire structure as if she was a qualified inspector of a pristine building. Not bad at all, she said as subtly. She opened her mouth as if she were clearing her throat to say something else. Cracks from a distance grabbed our attention. It was my beautiful girlfriend coming the downstairs in her Fubu jeans and dark Nike t-shirt. Hope you both introduced yourselves cause I ain't in the mood...' you must be Jack and you must be Naomi'. In five minutes we passed the whole introductory part and even though we didn't talk much we clicked.

A knot of anxiety formed in my stomach. Inside the box was a picture of both Carol and Naomi together at their High School Graduation. 'Wh...wha..what is this?', choking in my own saliva. It's your valentines gift silly, I mean you did want both me and my sister. So there you have it, your one wish come true. Come on stop playing, I became confused...

' I can't believe you don't even realise it's me Naomi', my face felt pale as soon as I heard that. What are you saying.??