"101"

"101"

Devin had it all. Tall, single, and blessed with devastatingly good looks with the world seemingly at his feet. Sandy, on the other hand, is struggling to put her life back together. She, at the age of 26, is on the verge of becoming undone. Working at a dead end job for five years, Sandy hates what her life has become.

Lately, Devin has become increasingly distant. He knows in his heart that he still loves Sandy, but he has lost all patience for the little details. No more midday calls at the office, no more flowers waiting on her doorstep. He even barely says "I love you" anymore.

The alarm clock blares as Sandy gets up. Groggy, she rubs her eyes and mutters, "Not this shit again," as she gets up and walks over to the window and looks out. The rain from last night has subsided and she is alone again. She goes over to the foot of the bed and sits. "Strange, he left his cell phone," she says.

There is a knock at the door. "Be right, there!," she said irritatedly. "Oh, hey! What's going on?," Sandy said excitedly. Wendy, her mother, gives her daughter a hug and raises an eyebrow. "Kinda bare in here, isn't it?," Wendy says. "You know how things are, Mom. No matter how many times I tell him, he just doesn't seem to have a clue," came the reply.

Wendy takes a seat at the kitchen table. She reaches for her purse and fishes for a cigarette. "Do you care if I...?," she asks, eyeing her daughter as Sandy takes a seat across from her. "I thought that you quit," came Sandy's incredulous reply.

"I thought you should know," Wendy began slowly as she lit up a cigarette, "that I'm getting married again," she finished as she took a drag from her cigarette and exhaled. "Don't you think it's too soon?," her daughter asked, the concern evident in her voice.

"Your father was a good man, sweetheart. He was hardworking, strong, and he was always fond of you," Wendy said. "But you two were never in love, you said so yourself the last time we spoke before he died," Sandy replied, her voice shaking.

Wendy shook her head with disdain. "Your father did love you. Whatever issues he had with me really didn't matter. It was you that kept everything from being ripped apart," Wendy said as she reached for Sandy's hand.

"When I caught Eddie with another man, I decided just to let things be. I thought that, if I spent more time with him and showed him my appreciation, things would cool down and we'd be in a better place, the both of us, to talk about what happened," Wendy said with a rueful laugh.

Sandy shifted nervously in her chair. Her mother sensed the young woman's tension and smiled. "So how are things with Devin?," Wendy asked, changing the subject. "Things have gotten weird, lately," came her daughter's anxious reply.

"How so?," Wendy asked curiously. "Well, he's just been all over the place here lately," Sandy replied. "I never liked the boy," her mother stated coldly. Sandy managed a smile. "The bastard was always asking how big my boobs were or making snide remarks," Wendy said disgustedly.

Sandy got up as her mother watched and calmly finished her cigarette. "It's 101 degrees outside today Mom," she reminded her mother as Wendy got up and walked toward the door, a gleam of satisfaction in her eye.

Copyright: 2009, by Raymund Diaz Delizo