Short Story:
“Lola”
It was a bright and beautiful Saturday afternoon. It was winter; the sky
was a lovely and enchanting bluish-gray, and there were tiny snowflakes falling
slowly from the few clouds scattered across the sky. Lola had
spent most of the day being excited about and getting ready to see Wally, her
boyfriend of the past few months. She tried very hard not to seem so
needy and desperate to see him, but she had been having trouble disguising her
emotions lately, particularly around him. This was strange for her
because she tended to be the kind of girl who was very good at concealing the
fact that she liked a guy. She had grown quite tired of it over the
years. Something was different with Wally; she did not want to hide her
feelings from him, even though she had a terrifying fear of rejection based on
years of liking boys who had never returned her affections, though most of them
had no idea she liked them anyway. She was not usually one to go after a
guy; she had usually waited around for them to pursue her. This was new
and different though. She wanted to see Wally and talk to him all the
time, even though she was a little shy. She had not seen him in about a
week, which does not sound like a very long time, but to her it felt like
months. Maybe she was being a little overdramatic but she did not
care. Every time she would go a while without seeing him and start to
miss him, it would remind her of the time not so long ago that she had missed
him without knowing if she would ever see him again. She tried not to
think about that time, for it made her sad, but once in a while, when she was
missing him, those thoughts would sneak into her mind. She knew now that
he did love her and would not be leaving, but she had always been a worrier.
She woke up that morning hours before she needed to, so she would have time to
choose an outfit that would make her feel confident and hopefully one in which
Wally would think she looked beautiful. She also needed time to fix her
long thick hair and put on her makeup. As she put on her favorite pink
lipstick, she could not help but imagine the last time she had kissed
Wally. It was magical, even though he always made her a little nervous.
It was not because he did anything or that he scared her or anything, in fact
he made her feel so happy whenever he was near. She just loved him so
much that she was somewhat paralyzed by it in a way. She would always
tell herself before they would meet: “This time when I see him, I will grab him
and kiss him, and then not be too shy to talk to him about absolutely
everything!” Then, she would see him, all her plans would disappear, and
her mind would go blank. Well, maybe blank is the wrong way to describe
it because she was always thinking and over thinking about everything!
Her mind would just get clouded by certain thoughts when she saw him, causing
her to forget the list of things she wanted to talk to him about. She
would stare into his eyes as he spoke, recording every word in her mind.
As she did this her thoughts would wander and think things like: “God, I love
him so much. I wonder if he thinks of me the way I think of him.
What was it I wanted to say to him….I made a list somewhere…who knows? I just
wish he’d grab me and hold me and kiss me right now. He’s so adorable…and
I love the way he talks and says my name. Oh gosh, he’s asked me another
question that’s difficult for me to answer aloud…if I do not respond he’s going
to think I’m an idiot. Why can’t I answer this?…what has he asked
me? Where do I want our relationship to go? Hmm…well I want to spend the
rest of my life with him, I want to kiss him right now and always. I want his
hands caressing my…everything…oh gosh, what am I thinking about, he’s waiting
for me to answer…focus!” Then she would finally mutter something about how it’s
a hard question to answer and that she didn’t know, feeling like she should
have tried harder or that she had failed a test.
It was almost three o’clock, and she was planning to meet him at four at their
local coffee shop and bookstore. She tried to think of what she could do
to make herself act more comfortable and talk to him more. She had this
terrifying fear that one day he would grow tired of her shyness that he had
initially told her was cute and sweet, and would leave her. She could not
bear the thought of letting her ridiculous lack of outgoing social skills ruin
something so important to her. She did not want to let her shyness ruin
what could be her fairy tale. Her prince had finally shown up, and she could not
bear the thought of losing him. Lola arrived to meet him a half hour
early and as she wandered around the bookshelves, her mind drifted off into a
wishful daydream:
Wally arrived at Lola’s house to visit her on a lovely winter
evening. Snow was softly falling behind his silhouette in her door.
She opened the door, their eyes met, and he grabbed her, wrapping his arms
around her, pulling her into a long, passionate kiss. He made her
entirely forget that she was nervous and that she was rather
inexperienced. He made her feel like she was the only girl in the world
that mattered to him. They spent the rest of the evening cuddled in each
other’s arms, whispering sweet words for no one else to hear in each other’s
ears, and kissing like they’d been in love for years.
“Bzzzzzz!” Lola’s cell phone buzzed
loudly in her purse, shocking her out of her daydream and back into
reality. Slightly disappointed, she reached into her purse and checked
her phone. It was a message from Wally. He would be there in five
minutes, he said. She went and sat at a table, reading a book while she
waited for him, trying not to lose her nerve. Shortly after, he arrived.
She saw him walk towards her and as much as she swore to herself that she would
not let it happen again, the sight of him made her forget and be completely
unable to do and say everything she had planned. She said hello and they
exchanged pleasantries. She had let it happen again…and it made her
somewhat disappointed in herself. Why was it so hard for her to go after
what she wanted? She had a nice time, as she always did when she spent
time with him, but she still wished she had not lost her nerve and had been able
to come up with more things to say to him. Although it may have been
inappropriate in the middle of a public place, she wished for nothing else but
for him to tell her how much he loved her, kiss her, and make her forget about
what she had been so nervous. Soon, a few hours had gone by and it was
time to go.
“Next time, it will happen
like in my daydreams” she thought. Maybe she was being a bit too
greedy. She should not have expected all her dreams to come true all at
one time. At least she had found her prince; the rest would hopefully
come later. She was very happy to be in love with him and though she
still wanted more, she would have to wait. She had always been so patient
throughout most of her life, why now was she being so impatient all of a
sudden. It must be because she loves him and had never felt this way
about anyone before. Hopefully, good things will come to those who
wait. One day soon she would be able to talk to him without her mind
being so clouded and one day the things in her daydreams would come true.
She had to believe it, being such a dreamer hopefully would not fail her this
time. Wally was everything she had ever wanted. As she watched him
walk out the door, she smiled, and hoped they would be very happy
together forever.
