(A story idea visited. I don’t have a title yet. I am excited to where the story goes. I will be doing weekly updates of the story until it is finished)
Michael refuses to share any personal detail. It drivers Anna crazy. When Anna looks into Micheal’s eyes while having sex, she knows he is open, open to be vulnerable and to connect. There is a light in his eyes. The light speaks. He can’t fake that. A light that you see in children’ eyes when ice-cream is presented. Once sex is over, that light goes off. He becomes an iceberg. There is no other way to connect or communicate. Anna hates that. She hates Michael. She hates how life randomly invited Michael in.
Anna woke up with a sore throat. Michael has left town for a week. He will be back towards the end of the month. Anna replayed the week they spent together scene by scene and felt rage. What is she doing? She doesn’t even know Michael’s last name. Michael is emotionally unavailable. Micheal wants a playtoy. Micheal is grieving a huge loss. Michael can only take right now. And Michael is not Jack and will never be Jack. Anna knows all that. The responsible and mature thing to do is to stop contacting Michael.
She picked up her phone and texted Michael. “When was the last time you were tested?” “Around 4 weeks ago. Why?” “Something is off. I am getting tested. May you should too.” “Okay.” Anna set down her phone right next to the sink and turned on the fob. She wants this to be the last exchange between them.
If Anna were to dive deeper, she would come up with the conclusion that Michael’s emotional unavailability reminded her of the relationship she had with her own father, again. Anna would feel insecure, unworthy, and anxious the whole time and the one-sided relationship would consume her. Anna knows that she deserve better. Jack is the living proof.
The weekend came in time to provide Anna the right type of distraction. She is going to her God daughter’s birthday party. On the invitation, it suggested kid friendly costumes for Halloween. Anna and costumes, no thanks. Anna timed her arrival when the big group is still on its way.
She hasn’t had any proper chat with Emily for a long while. Kids. Being a working mother with two toddlers makes Emily unlikely to have any time or energy. Anna understands. Emily was dressed up as Snow White. The two shared a laugh and a long hug on the front porch. Anna asked Bill to take a photo of her and Snow White. Bill was dressed up as a ninja turtle. His suit looked stuffy and uncomfortable. These two love their kids. They love each other.
Anna greeted the kids and helped setting up the food. People started trickling in. One chatty neighbor named Cathy introduced herself to Anna and hoped to find out more about her. At parties, Anna tells people she is a data scientist. Whenever she runs into a client of hers, she does a good job of pretending they don’t know each other. Five minutes into the conversation, Anna knows that she need to stay away from Cathy to enjoy the party. She made a polite excuse and went to look for the birthday cake.
