Young Adult Romance Microstory

When Love Found Me

By Felipe Cisternas

Chapter 1: Family Life and How I Grew Up

It was August 1992 in the Upper South in sweltering Tennessee. In college, I would go to class and, once the day ended, I would make my way back to my house down the street, across from the main college campus. There, I would stay several hours locked in my room where I’d finish my homework or I’d watch movie marathons on weekends. I didn’t find it necessary to be part of the “in” crowd or part of a clique. Although I would say, I liked living in the city of Memphis, Tennessee for its cold winters and its short summers. Preferably I don’t like to be outside sweating through my shirt with high humidity and being that I’m prone to mosquito bites all summer long, I count the days for summer to go away when the season comes around each year. My mom, Susan and I moved to our current house when I turned 12. I took Mom’s last name because I didn’t wish to be associated with my father in any form.

“John, are you ready to go? Do you have all your things?” Mom asked.

The blue sky day was painted on like a canvas, while the sun rays bounced off the concrete pavement road causing heat and humidity to rise up in the air. The trees swayed gently from side to side, causing a gentle breeze. Birds chirped and it looked like it was going to be a good day.

We had moved around quite a lot, six times in the past three years, and not too long ago my mom didn’t hesitate to pack up our belongings and move out to a new house. Memphis’ vivid music scene kept me living in the city. Downtown Memphis was rambunctious, it was crowded because of the many bars and saloons one could go to on weekends. There was also a downtown blues band on the Grand Stage that would play every Saturday and Sunday evening. Music City really lived up to its name.

The city was always loud and always crowded, we lived in the suburban part of the city. It was a short drive to make it downtown. There was always something new to do. Downtown Memphis was filled with a bar or saloon on every block, and there was something for every person to do and enjoy. Some bars had line dancing and square dancing, others had live music playing, these ranged usually from an up-and-coming artist to a male country artist performing cover songs. Music City really lived up to its name.

Who could forget Old Cowboy Jones with his square dancing who put on quite a show each Friday night at the local saloon for a crowd of screaming fans?

Or the spit contests that happened between contestants in a local bar, which caused hollering men to cheer for one another and declare victory over one another. Just plain old fun for every resident of Memphis.

My two brothers, Justin and Ryan, lived with their own families, and there was a 22-year age gap between the youngest and the oldest. Ryan gave us all a scare once when he fell off his bike and fell down a steep ravine onto the mud puddles found below. He had cuts and bruises and Mom had to take him to the hospital. It was hours of uncertainty, until finally the doctor came and spoke to Mom. “I’m very sorry to say this but it appears Ryan has a fractured leg and twisted his ankle as a result of the hard fall he took.” Ryan’s doctor said. I was young and I didn’t really understand the full scope of what was going on. In the end, Ryan was in the hospital for 2 and a half weeks after the surgery to repair his fractured leg. His post-surgery recovery went on longer than expected, or at least in my head it did because I remember asking Mom every night she came home from the hospital “Where’s Ryan?” in my sweet six-year-old voice. To a six year old, days seem to move slower than usual and I really just missed having my brother at home.

One sunny Saturday morning, Ryan walks in our kitchen now fully recovered and back home, and walking again with crutches after his accident. “Hey bro, how’s it going?” I was sitting down on the kitchen table reading a book. “Do you want to go to the baseball game today?” Ryan asked. “Sure thing!” I answered gleefully. The three of us talked about everything together and shared moments that made us bond more as siblings who cared for each other and had each other’s backs.

There was one point in my studies, I fell behind in a lot of college assignments and I was always struggling to get my concentration in check. My other brother Justin was always top of his class and he helped me out in being a good brother so I could find motivation to finish working on those pending assignments to pass my classes. The three of us had a healthy and strong brotherly bond.

As I became an adult in my early 20s my heart longed for and I became heavily interested in finding a woman who could walk into my life and make me feel complete. I was finding my missing puzzle piece and I knew she was out there somewhere waiting for me. I felt lonely deep inside and felt I needed my better half to hold me tight during times I needed it most and be my company each night.

Well, everything in my life was about to change in an instant.

One day, I went to “VHS All Day”, the largest video rental store out of many in the city of Memphis. On that first visit, I met the one person who I found to be dazzling and drop dead gorgeous as soon as I laid my eyes on her.

Chapter 2: Love at First Sight

All I could notice was her long wavy brown curls and dimples on her cheeks. Her facial features made her shine and I stared intently at her. I let my actions speak for itself, without saying a single word. Her eyes ignited like two bright shining stars, and the moment her eyes met mine, I felt attracted to her. I became aware of myself, my short golden-blond hair, the plain white t-shirt clinging to me, the skinny blue jeans with a pair of white sneakers I’d thrown on without much thought. I skimmed through the titles of the movies on display in the Summer Releases section of the video store, as Top Gun caught my eye. I was 4 spots behind to reach the checkout girl to rent my movie. After a slight touch of the wrists from both of us when she was checking out my order, the hairs in my neck tingled and I caught the colors rising in her cheeks.

Bryan Adams’ “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You” played softly over the built-in store speakers. “Would you like me to apply your coupon to this order?” she asked. Her name tag read Chloe.

“Y.yeah … sure” I stuttered, my hands twisted the coupon nervously. I folded the coupon twice, then unfolded it, then folded it again. And every time I wanted to speak, I froze.

My shyness stopped me short. I fought internally with my timid nature clashing with her outgoing personality. Because we were so different, I didn’t connect with her at first.

The first verbal exchanges were awkward. Don’t be hasty! Make her interested in you! But don’t be pushy! I thought.

“Are you okay? Do you want some water?” asked Chloe, her voice sounding comforting to hear. “Most guys that come here buy the three-for-one sale we have on Fridays.”

I spoke my first words to her. “Hello! I’ll just take this movie and be on my way, I have to go.”

She looked effortlessly composed as she handed me my movie in a bag. I on the other hand looked like a nervous wreck, panicked and with a sweat.

I exited and headed out the door. I felt useless. I had messed up a really good chance to get a woman to go out with me. It’s all because I froze and I did not engage in conversation with her.

Two days later, I gave myself a pep talk that today was going to be different and I was determined to ask her to go out on one date with me. If it didn’t work out, then I’d leave her alone. I got ready and headed out of my dorm and drove to the “VHS all Day” the town’s video store in my ’91 navy blue Honda Beat Convertible.

When I arrived there, I first glanced through the movies and looked around the shelves. Afterwards, I glanced over at the counter where I last talked to Chloe. What ended up happening is I didn’t see her there at her spot at work. Instead, I saw a man standing there working the cash register, taking orders from clients. I turned around and asked a security guard I saw by the front door of the video rental store.

“Excuse me? There used to be a woman who worked here, she had brown curls and was petite, do you happen to know where she is?” I found out from a security guard, she had been transferred to another video rental store on the other side of the city after she completed her last shift.

I drove to the other side of the city using the directions the security guard gave me. Of course, I didn’t want to seem like I was stalking this woman. I just wanted to get to talk to her.

Once I made it to the new store, I walked in and I saw her standing taking customers’ orders.

As I’m making my way over to talk to her, she sees me, stops me, grabs me by my arm, and slides a yellow sticky note directly into my pocket. It has her name and phone number written on it. Then her wrist brushes against my wrist and heat slowly races through my veins and the hairs in the back of my neck stand up.

“Thought I’d make this easy, my name’s Chloe,” Chloe said. “Mine’s John,” I said. She gave me her phone number and told me she would call me later that night to talk more and to plan when we would have our first date. “Before I go, I’m curious, how old are you?” I asked Chloe. “22, I just turned it 5 days ago,” she answered. “I’m 23 and I’m pleased to meet you. I said and I left the store. As I made my way to my car walking across the parking lot, my heart began to beat fast, because I was starting to have affection and a profound attraction for a woman I recently met. Later, I drove off to work and I left the store, feeling so happy I had finally overcome my fear of talking to a pretty lady.

Chapter 3: My Workplace and Family Life

I worked a part-time retail job at the clothing store “It’s Summer All the Time Here”.

“Hey Lou, how are you today?”

“I’m doing well, thanks for asking John,” “These clothes need to be packed and shipped by tomorrow morning,” Lou said.

I immediately got to work on this and did all of my responsibilities.

After my shift ended for the day and I had packed all the boxes and finished all my other responsibilities for the day, I said goodbye to Lou and headed out the door. He has been generous to me and a kind-hearted boss ever since I started working here 5 months ago. The night was pleasant as the stars shone bright in the sky.

I come back home and I pop in Top Gun to the VCR player. I love rewatching the scene where Pete Maverick first glances at Charlie and they exchange glances at the air base, and fall in love immediately. That is what it feels when I’m around Chloe. I could stare at her for hours and be captivated by her effortless charm she gives out.

That night, I got a call from Chloe. Are you free now? Do you want to meet at the pier and talk?

I got up from my recliner and I do a quick change of clothes and groom myself. In no time, I showed up at the pier to meet up with Chloe. I turned giddy like a boy receiving the biggest surprise of his life the minute I saw her. She had a red sundress on and wore high heels.

I sat across from Chloe, her smile radiating and her eyes sparkling. She had such a sweet innocence about her, that whatever came out of her mouth sounded so gracious and benevolent to me.

“I prefer the big city because it’s where I grew up and here in Memphis it’s where all of my friends live, so we see each other quite often,” Chloe said.

We exchanged hellos and started with small talk, family life, our jobs, and about friends in the city. I’d ask her how long she’d be living in Memphis, and if she’d enjoy the big crowded city or prefer small towns.

“I worked at the cash register for about a year now. It’s a minimum wage job but it gets my bills paid on time.” Chloe said.

I admired Chloe’s confidence and high-self esteem in a woman who was responsible and goal-oriented.

We chatted until late into the night and got to know each other more .

“You told me your brothers’ names. So, what was it like growing up with them?” she asked.

“It was fun. We would play video games together when we were young kids, we would arm wrestle, I out of all of us brothers, was the only one who liked playing football, we would go up on our family treehouse and play games like duck duck goose and then as we got older we’d all studied a career in which we each were interested in.” I said to Chloe.

“I chose supply chain and operations, my second oldest brother chose law school, and my oldest brother chose economics and specialized in real estate,” I continued.

“Awesome” she said, playfully. She was really amazed how passionate I sounded talking about my career. She said it showed commitment and dedication into building a steady life. I told her I could possibly also secure a better job that’s related to my field with my degree and I can quit my part-time job since I live paycheck to paycheck.

“I chose this career path because it requires plenty of problem-solving tactics and requires critical thinking skills,” I said. “In high school, one thing I excelled in was solving complex word problems.”

After this talk, we decided to just relax and end the night by getting ice cream together. She’d order strawberry swirl with sprinkles. I’d go get and then afterwards I dropped her off at her house.

Chapter 4: Childhood Trauma and More Dates with Chloe

(Flashback sequence to when I was 7 years old) I am the narrator: Dad was never around when I needed him such as for my football games, he never came to a single game to see me play. Or when I graduated high school, he hadn’t shown up for my ceremony because “just the night before, he had gone out drinking with his buddies,”he told me over the phone after, congratulating me for graduating but I felt it was insincere, as if he had called just to get it over with and announce to his friends that he had congratulated his son and that he had a healthy relationship with me, which were all lies by the way. On weekends when we were supposed to have more quality time together, my father would stay late nights out, drinking excessively and hanging out with his friends. I call them his bad influences because he was carrying demons and bringing them home every night.

I also saw how Dad would become verbally and physically abusive with Mom. Empty bottles of beer filled the trash. More than once, Dad’s friends called Mom at work because his friends had found him passed out on a toilet seat at a restaurant when they were out dining with him. On some occasions, my brothers would tag along with mom to get Dad safely home. When they found him drunk and sprawled on the floor, Mom and one of my brothers each took an arm, lifting his dead weight and carried him upstairs to his bedroom.

Every time he would black out, Dad’s eyes went wide and unfocused, his face turning a sickly pale.

On the few days he was sober, Mom could never stand up to him. He was manipulative and assumed assertive control over both of us, leaving us feeling trapped and feeling like we were his punching bags. I felt helpless and I truly wanted to help Mom, but she never showed discomfort in front of me fearing Dad would try to hurt me physically in any way. I did see it through my door cracked open and listened to yelling Mom did at Dad about how he needed to get his life sorted back together.

One late night four years ago, we found Dad had committed suicide in the bathroom after we heard a loud bump against the wall. He had tied a noose in the bathroom and hung himself.

Our house felt strangely still after the news had unraveled. I locked myself in my room and laid down in bed for several hours, not knowing whether to cry or feel relief because the tension felt over the years was finally over.

This traumatic experience shaped how distant I felt from Dad and not only that but it affected me emotionally for years since I lacked a healthy male role model.

“I never had father-son bonding activities because this person was never around when I needed him to be and he was always violent the few times he was home with us. For years I would not seek help or socialize with other people. Eventually, I sought help from a community mental health center,” I said with bitterness still in my words and I felt anger when I thought of dad, so I tried my best now to move on from this and overcome my battles with counseling.

I explained to Chloe how these sessions with Chris, my counselor at the center, helped me out a lot in seeking someone to talk to about past traumas and how to close dark times in my childhood. I wiped tears streaming down my face and I tried to contain myself from breaking emotionally in front of Chloe. Chloe listened attentively to my story in a prudent fashion, yet she still showed charm in her personality, by showing a side of compassion and great concern as I could hear her voice breaking. Still, she only wanted to hug me tightly soon after, letting me know that it’ll all be alright. I broke down crying when she leaned in to hug me. She caressed my hands and let me rest my head on her shoulder.

“I can’t imagine what you went through. It must’ve been so traumatic and tragic to see your dad take his own life in that way so abruptly.” Chloe said.

Chloe sympathized with me after learning about my father’s abuse. She saw the hurt I carried, and it fractured something delicate in Chloe’s heart. At that moment, she reciprocated my feelings I have for her. We see each other quite often, and I had her meet my friends afterwards.

“Hi everybody, this is my new friend, Chloe.”

“Nice to meet you!” said Trevor, one of my oldest friends from middle school.

“Thanks! Your name?” Chloe answered back, with a big smile painted on her face.

“Trevor, I’m an old friend of John’s.” I liked how well she got along with my friends. It made her even more likeable.

I didn’t want to introduce her as my girlfriend publicly, since we hadn’t officially asked each other the question of being boyfriend and girlfriend yet.

When I’m around Chloe, I smirk when she crinkles her nose. Every time she unties her hair and lets it fall down, the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. She was kind, gentle, loving, and intelligent. At the end of the day, I was grateful to be by a woman’s side who brought out the best version of me.

“See, this is how you do this.” She taught me to cook good, delicious food, and then after eating we’d relax and spend hours talking about life in the kitchen-living room area of her house, making jokes and easing back into conversation.

“My mother was a single mom who split from my dad due to not being her match. He abandoned us when I was four. I don’t remember him much, if so vaguely. At our house, It was just my mom, my sister, and me, us three living together in Knoxville, Tennessee” “I moved here to Memphis once I started college, I saved money and bought a car and moved here on my own, it was a rough transition but I was able to manage through.” Chloe said.

Chloe’s story was full of sacrifice and resilience which is something that made me more attracted to her.

“My sister’s name is Ashley. She studies nursing and is almost done after seven years of sacrifice and long endless nights of studying.” Chloe said. I noticed she seemed really proud of her sister and all the efforts she put in building a life for herself. Chloe then explained how she had sought help for herself.

“I joined a small group downtown to see if I could share my story with others, and make a difference in someone’s life.” Chloe said. Her story resonated and spoke favorably of women who were strong-minded and independent, those women who wanted to shape careers and be mothers who raised daughters with good values and charming personalities.

After that night of talking and getting to know each other more, we had officially gone steady. I asked her if she wanted to date me. She didn’t think twice about it and she said yes. We went back to her house. With both of us standing right at her bedroom door, I pushed back her hair, I leaned forward, and then I gently opened my mouth and I met my lips with hers for the first time.

For our second date, we went to the ice skating rink downtown and we got popsicles and we traded sweet nothings to each other. She’d also tell me more about her life and in return I’d tell her how college is going for me. The first year of college had flown by quickly for me and it had gone well. I aced all my courses I had to take.

“Wow! A genius and a good looking man! You really have all the charm and wit, don’t you baby?” she said, teasing me.

Chapter 5: The Fight

I came to pick up Chloe at her house after my shift ended at work, and the clock on the dashboard in my car read 5:45 pm.

My hands started sweating.

Chloe sensed something was bothering me.

“Is everything ok, sweetheart?” she asked me.

“Yeah it’s just that I find it hard to have closure with you. What I mean by this is that I find I fall short in proving to you that I’m the one for you and you don’t appreciate much of what I’m doing in making this relationship work for the two of us, relationships operate like a two-way street after all.” “And I also find it hard to tear down my walls for you and become emotionally available for you at times when I feel you need it most,” “I can’t do everything and pour out all I can into this relationship, it’s too difficult for me, and I feel like I have all this heavy burden that I am the only one who is carrying it for both of us, meanwhile you seem nonchalant about all of this.” I’d held it in my chest for several days. I’d been waiting for the right opportunity to have this conversation with Chloe. Even if it meant hurting her emotionally, I couldn’t stand the fact that it was tearing me up inside emotionally as well.

“What more do you need to prove to me?” she asked The comment I made about not having closure between us bothered her.

Tears poured down both her eyes to her cheeks as I said some regrettable words to her I take back now. “Well maybe we should go back to being friends for a while until I clear my head up from work and also knowing in which direction we want this relationship to continue,”

“I am trying my best in this relationship. I want this relationship to continue. I’ve shown interest in you, and I can’t believe how self-absorbed and selfish you are becoming! Good riddance, you egocentric jerk!” she remarked, angrily at me.

She got out of the car and she slammed my car door shut and Chloe stormed off quickly. I barely could keep track of how fast she ran off to a nearby bus stop, where she hopped on the bus and that was the last time I saw her for a while. I attempted several times that same day after our fight to call her phone several times, but to no avail.

That night, I couldn’t sleep because I couldn’t stop thinking about how my words hurt a person I truly cared about. The next few nights were hard to get by. I went into a downward spiral because of the way things ended with her and I. I hung out with Trevor and a few of his college buddies to make myself feel better, but I couldn’t forget her as every memory with her was still there etched in my mind. For several nights, I would slouch into bed, pull up my bed sheets, and cry inconsolably for endless hours, simply missing Chloe.

It had been a month since Chloe and I last saw each other when we had our fight. I got up that morning and decided to give myself a pep talk and say that I was going to win her back today. I had done enough self-reflection, and I decided to toughen up and act maturely. I drove to her house to surprise her. When I got there to her driveway, I went to her front porch and knocked loudly three times. The door opens and it’s Chloe standing at the doorway.

“Hi,” she said coldly, and with a shocked expression because the last person she would expect on a Sunday afternoon to stand on her doorway is me.

“Hey, how are you? Listen Chloe, I wanted to apologize for my behavior. I know you probably didn’t expect my visit today, I know you probably don’t even know how to react, like what’s a guy like me standing here in front of you who didn’t have the courage to appreciate you and the way you changed my life for the better the minute I saw you in that video store.”

“And then, after all our dates, I got to appreciate you and get to know a kind and caring woman who I love. You’re the one, Chloe,” I said.

“John, I love you. I’m so glad you feel that way about me sweetheart, and I feel the same towards you because you were able to own up to your mistakes, and that’s what makes you and I human and capable of making it through tough times together,” Chloe said.

She leaned forward and smiled and gave me a warm soft kiss on my cheek that made me giggle.

“Apology accepted,” Chloe said.

We embraced and I put my hand around her shoulder and smiled softly as we walked out and headed for my car for a pleasant moonlight drive around some streets around her neighborhood. We laid under the stars and brought our picnic food in a tiny camping spot lodged outside a shopping center. Memphis had a lot of forested areas and wooded areas. She had brought a boombox and I tuned it to a radio station “106.7 The Love Lounge” where the greatest hits of the nineties played. “Everything I Do (I Do It For You)” sounded over the boombox speakers. Yeah I would fight for you. I lie for you. Walk the wire for you. Yeah, I’d die for you. You know it’s true. Everything I do I do it for you. We continued lying underneath the glistening night sky for several hours, looking at the shining stars that illuminated the sky. I gave her some sweet nothings and kissed her earlobes and I also gave her some sweet kisses in her neck and cheeks and I held her close to me all the time. I brushed the curls back so her face would become visible, and then I grasped her hands gently, pulled them back laying them gently on the grass and I initiated a steamy makeout session. I heard her gasp and softly felt her whole body relax, as I caressed and kissed her intensely. She grasped on to my arched back and she ran her hands through my body, and grabbed on to my shirt, essentially taking it off and we gave in to intense and slow, passionate desire as i slowly removed her dress and covered her with the towel we laid under. I laid her next to her and I wrapped my arms around her tightly and set her close to me as we were wrapped in the towel, appreciating each other’s company. We each got dressed, packed up our things in my car, and I’d drop her off at home at the end of our date.

Chapter 6: The Dance at Paladino’s

The next date followed four nights after our second date. For our third date, I took her to Paladino’s, a dance hall located in the heart of Memphis.

As we made our way inside, I convinced the DJ and I handed him 15 bucks to play “Everything I Do (I Do It for You” as the evening’s slow song.

Don’t tell me it’s not worth tryin’ for. You can’t tell me it’s not worth dyin’ for.

You know it’s true. Everything I do, I do it for you.

The night got even better. I nudged Chloe close to me and I slow danced with her to Bryan Adams’s song. I grabbed her tightly by the waist and I spun her around as she majestically moved around the dance floor. There was a sea of couples slow dancing, but for just one moment, it felt like she and I were the only two people on the dance floor.

The next day, I would call her at her house but she didn’t pick up so I left her a brief voicemail.

“Hey Chloe, it’s John. I don’t know if you’re busy or if this is a bad time. You don’t have to call back right away. I just wanted to say last night stayed with me longer than I expected. I keep thinking about how much fun the concert was and how great it is to have you by my side.

I’m not great at saying things out loud, so I’ll probably regret leaving this message. But I also don’t want to leave things unsaid and pretend like nothing happened. Sparks continue to fly when we’re together, just like the first date we had. I love you .” Those three words I said at the end of the voicemail, I mean them from the bottom of my heart.

The next time I saw her, we talked about my message together. With each breath Chloe took, I found myself inching a bit closer to her. Her presence made it impossible to leave, as if some invisible force drew us closer to each other.

She said I could stop by her place at night and we could grab a bite in her house. Later, I drove to her house. She had a water fountain in her front yard and she also had big walkway lights that illuminated the path that led to the entrance to her home.

I knocked on her door and rang the doorbell. I was wearing a light blue plaid t-shirt, slim fit jeans, and comfortable brown shoes. I held an orchid flower in my right hand, hiding it from plain view.

The biggest desire for me was to see her happy and comfortable in my arms.

“Hi John, how are you?” She opened the door and walked out. “Good. You look amazing.” I said.

I continued talking while hugging her and holding her close to me. “I missed you a lot.”

Chloe looked happy and radiant with all the love I was showing her. She walked inside and dropped her gifts in her bedroom, where she placed the envelope and orchid in a vase on her nightstand.

Now on our fourth date, we each got comfortable sitting on chairs at her front porch and sipped wine and brought out the charcuterie board and sat, talking about life.

I got the courage to ask her if she wanted to settle down and start a family one day.

“I love you. Would you want to get married someday?” I asked gently.

“Yes,” she answered confidently.

Now knowing what her future plans were with me and now that I knew in which direction the relationship was going, I said “Sweet.” I couldn’t say anything or lead her on with the concept of marriage so she would be dissuaded. At that moment, I made the decision that I was not going to wait any longer. We had gone on enough dates together and got to know a lot about each other. I will ask for her hand in marriage the following day. We ended our date by going on a moonlight stroll by the beach shore. We talked, walking and holding hands, I kissed her a few more times, and we traded sweet nothings all night. The serene nature of the waves crashing, the moonlight, and the silence of night made it all so more romantic. With her, silence was not uncomfortable, it was calm.

Unfortunately, another man, Steve, who was her ex- boyfriend had returned to Memphis after a long time of being away. Steve had a long relationship with Chloe for 3 years.

I tried to stop her from seeing him when she found out through her girlfriends that Steve had returned to Memphis for a month.

“Steve, I love you but the truth is I’m in love with another man who stole my heart.”

She had said the words that she wanted. I love you.

It hurt me when I found out a week later, she had given him a second chance and was dating him again after a long time of having initially been broken up.

Chloe and I arranged to meet at a bar.

“Chloe? Can I ask you if you didn’t want to give him a second chance, why did you choose him over me?” I asked Chloe, not giving her a hard time so that she could elicit a correct response.

“Well given the circumstances, Steve and I have been seeing each other for three years before I started dating you.” Chloe said. It was clear to me afterwards that there were still unresolved sentimental feelings from her toward Steve.

I hated Steve. His reappearance made me feel worthless, like he was trying to steal Chloe away from me.

It was a bit of a pickle. I was stuck in a love triangle. I had one way of resolving this. I had to confront Steve and tell him to back off Chloe and walk out of her life. Chloe fled the bar that night and we again got into an argument, this time about Steve and how he was the bad guy from my perspective.

Chapter 7: I’d Fight For You, Chloe

I clenched my fists ready to confront Steve. I walked with a mindset of Who does this guy think he is? Trying to steal her away from me? I needed to give Steve a piece of my mind.

I knocked loudly three times on his door, each time louder than the knock before. Steve opens the door. He had tattoos running down his left shoulder that extended to his back. I couldn’t see them but it was noticeable they reached over his back, and he exhibited a mean disposition.

“Are you Steve?” I asked back.

Yes? Can I help you?” Steve asked back.

“How dare you steal Chloe from me?” I asked angrily.

I then lunged my fist toward his nose. I punched him so hard that I think I may have fractured his nose. He got up angrily and quickly retreated to defensive mode. He then tackled me to the ground and started punching me repeatedly on the side of the ear. It hurt like crazy.

“Ow!” I yelled out.

I kicked him in his groin and had him defenseless now. I then sucker punched him so hard that I knocked him on his butt down by landing him a solid uppercut in his chin.

“Oof!” He yelled out and fell unconscious. I then knocked over some trophies, snowglobes, and some vases on his countertop and I left his house. Before I slammed the door shut, I yelled “Don’t ever try to come between Chloe and me again. You won’t like what’s coming for you next time!”

“All right!” I heard him say, screaming and slouching over in pain sprawled on the floor.

I had bruises and punches from the fight with Steve. I called 911 using his house phone. I limped my way over to use his house phone. Soon after, 911 took us both to the hospital. The nurse was able to stop my bleeding from the ear where I received the most punches by Steve. I never heard anything about Steve and his recovery, frankly I did not care about it either. A police officer stopped by the hospital and asked me what had happened at his house. I told him it was just a fight. He asked me if I wanted to press charges. I told him I didn’t want to press charges against Steve and Steve never did either. It was left at that.

Chapter 8: Picking out the Engagement Ring

After our last date at the dance hall, I woke up happy and I didn’t want to think about what had happened three weeks ago with Steve. My only focus today was thinking about Chloe and how to make her happy. I went to the store and picked out a diamond ring for her to propose, with my savings I had.

“Excuse me sir? How much is that diamond ring?” I asked the store clerk.

“For this? It’s a fortune, my son. For who is this jewel for?”

“A very special woman in my life. It’s for my girlfriend who I want to ask to be my wife. She’s no ordinary woman, she is extraordinary beyond every sense of the word, simply put she is amazing.”

After making the purchase with the store clerk, I walked out giddy and happy as can be. I raced home and made preparations to ask her to be my wife. I call her friends first and then I called my mom, Justin, Ryan, and Trevor to share the exciting news and arrange for them to all be there together for the momentous occasion. As I’m making my way back home, I step inside and my dorm phone goes off, it’s Chloe. “Hello?” she said, but this is not normal Chloe, she seemed distressed and she had a broken voice like she had recently cried a lot.

“My dad showed up here at my house today. He apologized for his behavior and asked to talk to me and set things right,” Chloe said.

“Thats great!” I said excitedly, trying to cheer her up a bit. So what’d you do?” I asked.

“I couldn’t do the same, John. How could I forgive him just like that? How can he walk back into my life and make me believe in love in this life?” I stumbled on my words, thinking of what to answer back at her when she posed that question. By believing in love, I knew right away Chloe was talking about me and how deeply conflicted she felt, and I sympathized with her. After experiencing childhood trauma like she did, what woman would want a man to to unexpectedly walk into her life, and ask her to trust in you and that you make her all these promises that realistically some guys don’t live up to unfortunately.” she said.

I placed myself in her shoes because I remembered how badly Dad treated Mom his whole life being married to her.

“After all these years, you’d expect me to just let it go, put the past behind me, and accept him back into my life after he divorced my mom and abandoned me when I was just a kid.” she said.

“I see your point.” I said, comforting her. Listen baby, tonight let’s have a date at the pier where we first met, and I’ll make it up to you with some flowers and a candlelight dinner at that seafood restaurant , Giovanni’s, that’s by the docks you like to go to, ok? I promise. I love you.” I really was planning she’d show up tonight there dressed nicely so I’d pop the question.

Chapter 9: Chloe’s Emotional Battle

Chloe felt like an emotional trainwreck. After she had been sincere and honest with me, because she felt I was a partner who listened intentionally and someone who truly cared for her, she agreed to have a date with me at the nearest coffeehouse.

I hatched an idea then. I would meet her father, and ask for his blessing to marry Chloe. It seemed like the right opportunity and what great news had it been that he walked back into Chloe’s life at the right time. Chloe had shown me photographs of her family, so I knew perfectly what her dad looked like.

I met her dad and introduced myself formally, said my name, who I was, and how I had met Chloe, his daughter and how I was smitten with her and I wanted her to marry me.

Shawn, as he introduced himself formally to me, looked at me graciously and put his arm around my shoulder and he approved of me asking Chloe to be my wife. We talked aboout a little why he had left Chloe at such a young age, he said he did not want any relationship wuth his ex-wife, but he felt really guilty for leaving the family because he didn’t want to hurt Chloe. Turns out, he owned up to his mistake of hurting Chloe emotionally. I loooked at him and gave him a warm smile, as of approving that we were becoming friends. He was tall and looked like he had a tough demeanor but if one talked to him, he had a sweet demeanor and a sweet disposition. We ended being really close friend sat the end of our long conversation, my father-in-law became a best friend instantly.

Now it was time to surprise Chloe. With popping the question to her and that I had talked to her dad and introduced myself.

“Dude!! This is so exciting! Congratulations! Are you feeling ready?” Trevor asked.

“I never felt better prepared!” I said with confidence.

I invited her to the pier, where we had our first date, it’s where we talked endlessly into the night. I had called her mom and Ashley and a couple of her college friends to be a part of the special occasion.

Chloe was skeptical as to why her friends were not picking up her calls during the day and why her mom had turned off her location. But she never expected what was to come next: the proposal.

Chapter 10: Be mine, forever?

With roses in my hand and boardwalk lights installed on the floor, I saw her arrive in a car that dropped her off at my location. All friends or family members were hiding. The paradisiacal view of the waves crashing against the rocks by the bay made the environment serene and perfect. She made her way slowly walking at a normal pace to the end of the boardwalk where I waited for her.

“Chloe, ever since I laid eyes on you the first time in that video store when you were so kind and graceful, I’ve been thinking constantly that you are the one I always want by my side. You are the woman I want to have kids with, the one I would like to buy our first house together, and the person I want to make endless memories with. You’re the one girl of my dreams and I knew it from the start.”

Chloe was crying and by this point she already knew what came next as her face got bright of emotion and she couldn’t contain her excitement from hearing my words.

“Chloe?” I bent down on one knee and pulled out the diamond ring from the ring box I had tucked in my back pocket.

“Will you be mine forever? Will you marry me?” I proposed.

Chloe was crying, and she only continued getting happier.

“Yes! A thousand times, yes! I love you John!”

“I love you Chloe!” I said excitedly. I kissed her one more time and then I placed the diamond ring on her finger.

“Guys! It’s safe to come out now! She said yes!” I yelled out.

My family and her family came out from behind the building that overlooked the pier. Shawn introduced himself to my brothers and reconciled with his daughter after receiving her ring. She forgave him for abandoning her and accepted him back. “Look daddy! I’m engaged. I’m so happy that you’re here on this special day that was totally unexpected. Dad, John’s perfect.” I had pulled Chloe to the side earlier and I explained to her that her dad had given me his blessing. She smiled and embraced me for the thoughtful gesture. She kissed me on the cheek, my cheeks then turned reddish pink.

Everyone cheered and hugged each other with excitement and joy.

“So happy for you both!” my mom said.

“I know it’s really exciting,” I said.

“Well, now we’re one big happy family” Shawn took one, two, three photographs of everybody and all the family members and new extended family at the pier.

That day, Chloe and I learned what it meant to tear down each other’s walls and allow ourselves to be vulnerable with each other. We both learned over many dates and in being each other’s company that falling in love with each other and finding each other at the right time was just what each of them needed. We got married 4 months after I proposed. I had the woman of my dreams by my side.

Epilogue:

(12 years later) I am the narrator: Chloe and I have been happily married for 12 years now, and we have 5 kids together, 3 girls and 2 boys. They’re all in grade school and middle school. We still go on dates with my wife to keep our marriage alive. It’s been the happiest stage of my life and I’m enjoying every single second. I wouldn’t trade this part of life for anything in the world!

The End!

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