Happily Never After 2

As fate would have it, we met under the unexpected
circumstances... I never expected to see her under
the The
"Testicular" Sculpture ( not the official name
but its 2 spherical bodies leaning on each other, it
reminds of that)...
"Diana??"
" Well well, its artist birthdayy boy..
"
" Nahhh... My birthday was 3 weeks ago..
" What are you doing here??"
"I came to see a client..."

I must have looked horrified cos she burst out
laughing...

"Im just kidding... You should have seen
your face..."
" Hahaha... Very funny..."
"You're not the only student..."
"Student by day; stripper by night.."
"Im sorry... Wrong joke.."
"Its okayy... Its true enough..."
"Are you still busy or in a hurry??"
"Why? Have plans??"
"Well if you dont mind..."
"Okayyy..."

To me it felt like a date... And it was the first of
many more dates... It was impossible to define what
we were... We were more than friends but less than
lovers... What do you call that Frovers?? We were
wayy more than just Friends with benefits..
I liked her... Really really did... But it felt like there
was this barrier we couldnt get through...

"Was this your intention??"
I was at her house... We had talked and gotten carried
away and it was too late for me to go back home + i
didnt want to go back home...
" Funny... But drinking wine with you, yess...
Getting drunk, not really..."
"Well for all its worth, i dont mind..."
She was smiling... God, she looked so beautiful when
she smiled...
"When you smile like that, i could stare at you all day..:
"Cmon Chris... Thats cheesy..."
"Its the truth.."
And then i asked the question that has been bugging
me for a while now...
"Why??"
"Why what??"
"Why do you do what you do??"
"Hahh!!! Should have seen that coming.."
"Im sorry... I just... Im just trying to understand.."
"Oh its the cliche story... My dad was a low-life
scumbag; a rich one... Nothing my mom ever did,
pleased him... He would hit her, lock us up in our rooms; me&my sister..."
"I didnt know you had a sister..."
"Her name is Catherine.."
"One day, my parents were fighting again... Dad
pushed my momm a little too hard.. She was on the
floor, motionless... Dad had this look in his eyes& i
knew someknew something terrible had happened... I was soo
scared... I knew that after momm, he would come for
us... So i grabbed what i could find for me and my sister
and we ran away..."

" I was 15... Cathy was 12... I had to find a way to
cater for both of us... So i got a job at Baileys
'; just working tables and all.. When demands got higher,Cathy in school and all, i had to work more... Im at
H.Quinn's now because..."
"Its further from town... Cos you dont want to be
recognized by your colleagues... Right??"
"Yeahh..."
"Where's Cathy now??"
"She's at a sleepover @ her friend's house..."
" I never got to find out if my mom died for real or
where she was buried or if the bastard even buried
her.. I abandoned her when she needed me the most..."

She was crying now.. I moved closer to her...
"You did what your mom would have wanted you to do...
You raised Cathy and you should be fucking proud... Im sure your mom is too..."

And then she was sobbing... I just held her and let
her cry and in that moment, i felt like i knew her
most...
The terrible thing with falling for a stripper is that
its quite unusual; you dont know what you're in for
and there are no guidelines, no written rules... Cos its
not your average clichè kind of love... The worst part
was that, i didnt know if i was supposed to fall for her;
if she wanted me to...
"What's on your mind, art boy??"
" You..."
" Too Clichè..."
I laugh...
"Is it out of place to say i may be falling for
you??"
"Yes it is..."
"Why??"
"My kind of life doesnt have space for that..."
"Cos you're a stripper??"
"That amongst other things..."
"I dont care..."
"You're saying that now..."
"Im serious Diana..."
"No you're not..."
I anticipated this... I didnt want to argue or fight...
But i wanted her to believe it... So i did what any aver‐
age panicking lover boy would do in this situation... I
kissed her... And eventually, she kissed me back...
One unfortunate thing bout having feelings is
that, you dont only get the good ones, you get the bad
ones.. And there's nothing you can do bout it...

I was waiting outside H.Quinn's for Diana to finish
her shift... I had a surprise for her... I was the one
who got surprised when she walked out hand-in-hand
with some guy... I felt this feeling of jealousy well up
inside me.. It was a strange/surprising feeling; i had
never felt anything like it before... I couldn't take it
anymore so i left...
"Heyy art boy.."
"Where have you been??"
"The fuck is that supposed to mean.."
"I saw you... I was waiting outside and i saw you with
him..."
" Where you spying on me??"
"No... I actually wanted to surprise you..."
" Well why didnt you call me??"
"Why?? So you can keep your escapades hidden from
me??" I was yelling now. ..
"Chris, that's not fair..."
"Whats not fair is me having to see you with other
guys all the time..."
"Cmon!! You know you mean wayy more... They dont
matter..."
"Bullshit..."
"Its my job and you fucking know it..."
"Is it?? Or do just enjoy being with those guys?"

She slapped me...

" You have every right to be upset but you've got no
right to judge me... Nothing about this is new to you...
You know the whole story..."
"Do i?? Diana do i??"

At that point she walked away from my apartment;
from me...
I was still fuming so we didnt talk for days...
Though i missed her; i didnt know what to say to her...

She didnt seem to want to talk to me either so i was
surprised to see her outside my house; waiting for me i hope...

"Heyyy..."
"Heyyy..."
"How have you been..."
"Good... U??"
"Good too..."
I knew it was a lie cos she had circles under her eyes
which were swollen and i got the faintest smell of
alcohol as she talked...
"Want to come inside??"
"No..."
"I have something to give you..."
And then she handed me a small box...
"What'
s inside??"

"You'll find out soon enough..."
And then she placed her palm on my face..
.
"My art boy..."

"Since the day i met you, you turned my world upside
down... In a good wayy... When you said you loved me;
i didnt want you to cos i knew that it ll never work;
even when i loved you back... These weeks iv known
you, have become the better and brighter part of my
life... I know that in another life, if things were dif‐
ferent; we would have made one hell of a badass duo...
It sucks but you're amazing and im a lost cause; i wont
bring you down with me... I dont believe in fairytales
but i wish they existed... Im glad i met you..."

And then she kissed me and walked away...
I could have gone after her; i should have but i was too stunned to do anything... It took me a while to recover and at that point, i was sure she was gone... I just didnt know how much...

I opened the box... There were cut papers with
scribblings on them... I picked one; it read
"He was different...
Real fucking different...
I dont know if it was the parting smile...
Or the last little wave...
But something sure got my heart going..."

It was dated May23rd... My birthdayy...
I spent the next few weeks trying to find her but
it seemed like she was bent on not being found... You
might say i gave up too fast but there was a reason to
it... I started to read her letters everyday since she
left... The last paper read...
"If you ever loved me; dont look for me..."

And i did love her... At least i think i did...
This is the moment when i should tell you the moral
of my story right... Sorry to burst your bubble... I'
ve
loved and iv lost... I think about her a lot and i wonder
what we could have been if that night had gone as
planned... She said she didnt believe in fairytales.. I
do... But i also know; fairytales dont always have a
happy ending... Do they??