Storymania - Or So He Thought by Mark Brittan

Or So He Thought
Mark Brittan

    Tears streamed down Evan's face as he watched his girlfriend Aubrey passionately kiss some stranger in the front seat of a car he did not recognize. He had hoped to surprise her on the night before her birthday with a dozen roses and a teddy bear from the Vermont Teddy Bear Company. He had convinced his boss to let him off of work a few hours early in anticipation of the occasion. Aubrey had told him that she'd be in class until 10PM and that she'd probably go home afterward and go straight to bed. He had hoped to intercept her at her house when she got home so that he could surprise her. As it turned out, it was he who was surprised. Never in his worst nightmares could he have imagined the scene that was playing itself out before his eyes.
Evan and Aubrey had dated for close to three years. They had been through everything together. She had been there with him in the waiting room at the hospital on the night his niece was born last year. They had hoped that they could be blessed with their own children someday. They had gone on countless dates and even taken trips together. They had shared their dreams with one another and cried in each other's arms when things went wrong. But most of all, they had gotten into each other's souls. Or so he thought.
Evan had given himself to Aubrey in every way that he knew how. He had given her his body, his mind, and his soul. He never hesitated to buy her something when she had no money or drive her somewhere when her car was broken down. He would have gladly died for her if he had to. There wasn't a person in the world he was closer to. The two had fights like any other couple, but they were always able to arrive on a common ground. They always agreed that their love was too deep for trivial arguments to interfere. They were way past that. Or so he thought.
Evan was tempted to pull the stranger from his vehicle and beat him senseless. HOW DARE he do this, he thought. But then Evan realized that Aubrey was a willing participant. Pounding the man wouldn't solve anything. It certainly wouldn't take the pain away. So instead, Evan sunk back into his car like a deflated balloon and drove home. The once beautiful red roses seemed to mimic his mood. They fell from the passenger's seat onto the floor and appeared to wilt right then and there. He fired the teddy bear out of the window in a fit of rage and it landed in the middle of the freeway where it was promptly obliterated.
The following day, Aubrey called Evan and acted as if nothing had happened. SHE MUST NOT HAVE SEEN ME, he realized. Aubrey was stunned by the news that Evan had in fact seen her the night before. She didn't seem to show any kind of remorse for what she'd done. All she could say was, "I was afraid you'd find out about that." She went on to officially deliver the bombshell that he knew was coming. "It just wasn't there anymore Evan," she insisted.
Evan had no reason to believe that his girlfriend would be so sadistic and cruel to him. There weren't any warning signs. She had kissed him the night before and told him that she loved him. He struggled to try to understand why the love of his life could cheat on him. Evan was not someone who'd probably ever be financially affluent. His life had been a struggle up to that point and probably would continue to be throughout. He had to work hard for anything he'd gotten in life. Based on the vehicle the stranger had, Evan guessed that he probably came from a somewhat wealthy background. No doubt he could give Aubrey things that Evan couldn't. But was that it? COULD AUBREY POSSIBLY BE THAT SHALLOW? Evan thought.
Throughout their courtship, Evan and Aubrey had become best friends. Perhaps Evan valued that more than anything else. He enjoyed the physical stuff, the hugging and kissing, but that wasn't what defined their relationship. After Aubrey left him, she turned cold towards him as if HE had done something wrong. She wouldn't even return his phone calls. Not only had she withdrawn her love, she had also withdrawn her friendship. She had started to spend every minute of every day with this stranger. He hardly ever saw her. In a single night, Evan had gone from having everything he ever wanted to losing it all. He couldn't even pick up the phone and talk to his best friend anymore. Furthermore, the breakup had devastated his niece and hers. Both children were asking all sorts of questions he didn't have the answers to. She did next to nothing to cushion the blow for him or for them.
Evan went through a period of profound sadness. Words could not describe the depths to which his thoughts took him. Frankly, his own thoughts scared him. He was fortunate to have a strong support system in his family. They were his only lifeline during this desperate time in his life. He eventually became used to life without Aubrey. He tried to keep busy and as time went on, his pain gradually transformed into anger. He began to think about how awful Aubrey had treated him. He wouldn't have done what she did to his worst enemy. He thought about how completely he had loved her and how brutally she had repaid him.
In the months afterward, he had learned that Aubrey's life had started to suffer. She had dropped out of school and quit her job. She had set herself up to be totally dependent upon this stranger whom she had met online of all places. Meanwhile, Evan had begun to open himself up to possibilities he had never previously considered. Ever since he was in elementary school, Evan had been the object of one of his classmate's desire. Unfortunately for her, he never gave her a second look. He had seemed to change girlfriends as often as he changed clothes until he met Aubrey. She had bewitched him in a way no other girl had. This poor girl knew her chances with him had gone from slim to none when he met her. As the years passed, the girl had matured into a beautiful young woman without Evan even noticing. But while her body had changed, her mind hadn't. She only had eyes for Evan. And Evan only had eyes for Aubrey. But all of that had changed. Aubrey was gone. It was time for Evan to move on.
She encountered Evan one night at the video store and for the first time, she started talking to him. Her contact with him before had been minimal at best. She was simply too nervous and shy to come to him with her true feelings. The truth was that this girl adored him. Not only was she physically attracted to him, she was also spellbound by his smile and his personality. He had a special charm that sent goosebumps down her arms. The admission hadn't fazed him at all. In fact, his face didn't flinch a bit. "I know. I could always tell..." he said. And then, he hugged her. Before she could even react to his words, she was caught in an embrace. She had always believed that she'd hidden her feelings well enough. She had never before even touched him, let alone hugged him. But she did not back away. She squeezed him tightly in her arms. It was almost as if they had hugged a thousand times before. It felt good to be in caring arms, for him, and for her. By the time he began to cry, she was past the awkwardness of the situation. He laid his head on her shoulder and she caressed the back of his head with her hand. "It's going to be OK. You don't have to face this alone," she told him.
In the weeks that followed, Evan began to start seeing this girl. They went out on dates a few times and had started to get close to one another. The pain of losing Aubrey had started to lose its grip on him. He had started to develop feelings for this girl whom he'd known almost his whole life. Her parents clearly approved of him and his parents were happy to see that someone had finally brought some happiness back into their son's life. It had been like being reborn for Evan. He was starting to fall in love again.
With their plans thwarted by bad weather one evening, the two decided to go to the video store and rent a movie. They didn't care about the rain, just as long as they were together. They popped popcorn and cuddled up on the couch at his house but were interrupted by the sound of knocking at the front door. Evan got up to see who was there and was shocked to see Aubrey standing there. She was getting soaked in the rain so he let her in. She was crying hysterically and dove into his arms. "He left me, he left me!" she kept saying. She didn't even seem to notice that there was someone else sitting on the couch, now sobbing herself as she watched the scene in front of her. "I'm sorry I left you," Aubrey said desperately to Evan. "I really DO love you!"
Evan stepped back to take the situation in. He was both stunned and torn. He actually had feelings for two women at the same time. He didn't know what to do. He wanted Aubrey back so badly after she had dumped him. He would have done ANYTHING to win her back. It would appear that his prayers had finally been answered.
Aubrey gradually drifted back into his arms, still sobbing. As he held her, he could no longer deny his feelings. He knew what he had to do regardless of the repercussions. He knew that this was a mistake that needed to be corrected right then and there. He looked down at the soggy girl who shivered in his arms and said, "Aubrey, I'm sorry, it just isn't there anymore..."