Torn In Two
Wide glassy green eyes the colour of freshly cut grass on a
hot summer’s day. His smooth, flawless, olive coloured skin is dripping with expensive
aftershave and he has a wide smile, which shows off his perfect white teeth, constantly painted
across his face.
He pushes back his sleek, silky, brown hair as he is
swanning around the crowded night club handing out shot glasses to all the
love-struck women. Tight denim jeans are wrapped around his calves and his almost
sprayed on white t-shirt is clinging onto his chest and biceps. His designer
clothing is hugging his well-earned, muscular physique whilst his face still
has that forced gigantic grin upon it.
He is thinking about his Mother’s tragic death as he is serving
drinks. His vision’s all of a sudden becoming blurred by his uncontainable tears.
He places his tray of shot glasses onto the varnished table beside him. Gently
grabbing his throat, he slowly, but extremely tightly, closes his eyes to
create a barrier in front of the stream of tears which is desperately trying to
force its way out. He swallows, takes a deep breath and re-opens his now dry
eyes before beginning to carry on roaming around the club acting like he
doesn’t care about anyone or anything.
His mother suffered for a year and a half with throat and
mouth cancer. He was 14 years old. His heart was torn in two. For that last year and a
half of her life it was hard for him. He had to watch the woman who meant the
most to him in his life turn to dust. A cough is all it started off with, and
then the lump in her throat appeared - which just never left. Gradually, she
became frailer and frailer, to the point where she could hardly even get a
whisper out. Where she had lost so much weight; her skin looked like a wet
cloth which was just sagging off of her.
5th October 2008 was the day she breathed her
last breath. He was there, lying beside her on the hospital bed, holding onto
her cold and weak hands. Her last words he always remembers. That one phrase,
always repeats in his head over and over again. She had thanked him many times;
she thanked him for being there, supporting and looking after her throughout
the dreadful 18 months. She slowly opened up her mouth, only slightly, just so
there was a tiny gap to release whatever sound she could force out. “The most
beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or touched, only felt with the
heart…” Her eye lids slowly met.
It’s Saturday night. Meaning it’s the fourth night in a row
which he has been working. Tonight seems the same as every other night, like
the same repetitive movie playing over and over again; every night he flirts with
a few lucky women then walks back through town to the university campus and
collapses straight into bed as if he has been deprived of sleep for weeks.
A petite, pretty looking young woman taps him on the back
(she isn’t tall enough to tap him on the shoulder). “Well hello, what can I do
for you?” he asks with a cheeky look in his eyes. They get talking. He cannot
think about work anymore, he is too distracted by this beautiful blonde young
woman.
She comes across as very shy and innocent, yet very sweet
and caring. Her eyes become a tad squinty and the dimples in her cheeks appear.
Covering her mouth with her French-manicured hands, she lets out a girly
giggle.
Her short, tight, rose coloured dress is tantalizing him.
“I’ve lost my friends, do you know where they might be?” she asks him with a
grin on her face. He can tell she doesn’t really care about finding her
friends. He gazes into her dark chocolate eyes. He gently gets a hold of her
dyed blonde hair and pushes it out of her face. He puts his lips next to her
ear “I’ll help you find them later, keep me company for a bit first.” he
whispers.
The pair stand staring at each other. His beautiful smile,
still stuck on his face, looks less forced now. She is clenching her lips
together trying not to show her smile, but you can tell by the way her cheek
bones have jumped up that she is filled with happiness and excitement.
Their compatible personalities enable them to get on as if
they’ve known each other for 5 years, rather than only 5 minutes.
They are together for the rest of the night. Invisible hand
cuffs locking them together.
Standing on her toes to make herself tall enough, she leans over
to him and gently whispers in his ear “The most beautiful things in the world
cannot be seen or touched, only felt with the heart…”
His face is screwed up like he has just eaten a sour sweet. Disgust
covers his perfect face and his hate-filled eyes still will not leave the girl,
but the wide glassy green eyes have now changed to narrow dark slits. Fear is
dragging her eye lids apart wider and wider. Like someone is opening the
curtains first thing in the morning. She begins to back away, tripping over
another woman’s foot as she rapidly walks. Silence grips the whole club.
He kneels to the ground and raises his fist above her.
He slowly drops his arm to the ground and just freezes.
The girl drags herself up off the ground and runs without
looking back once. All you can hear is her heels drumming on the ground as she
runs, and her gasping for air in a panic.
Noise levels rise again. Everyone starts leaving the club.
He is still frozen.
Reaching his trembling hands deep into the pocket of his
tight jeans, he slowly pulls out what looks like an old crumpled but piece of
scrap paper. He unfolds it and brings it up towards his puckered lips. Closing
his eyes, he slowly kisses the photograph. “I love you Mum.” he whispers to
himself. He rapidly rips it in two and drops it to the ground.
Just like his heart got torn in two when his mother left
him.
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