Unfinished Stories
Jan. 8th, 2026 05:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thatsjustjenna Aida moved to Texas after the sixth grade. I never got her forwarding address.
I loved that she was older than her age, she had a wizened woman about her that melded with mine naturally. We were apart from the other girls in our class. She spoke Spanish at home, and I was an odd duck. She invited me over to her house to play once, and I remember having a wonderful time listening to her family talk to one another in their beautiful language. It was the first time my ears had ever encountered sounds and cadence so different from my normal. She asked if it bothered her that they (her family) only spoke Spanish. I said no, it didn't bother me, I only wish I knew more Spanish so that I could understand them better. This seemed to please her. I remembered that she smiled.
In the fourth grade she came to one of my birthday parties. She brought me a beautiful bracelet. Each gold bead had an animal or an insect on it. It looked like real gold despite being beaded on elastic string. I remember cherishing it and wearing it with only my finest Sunday dresses, and only on special occasions. It still sits in my jewelry box at home, among finer pieces that are less cherished.
The day that she told me that she and her family were moving back to Texas to be closer to family in Mexico I cried. We would not make the leap to middle school together, and I would no longer hear her family's rapid fire rolling musical words. I think she gave her address to our third grade teacher, but she never gave it out to anyone else.
I wonder what she's doing now.
I've been thinking a lot about these unfinished stories that I have with other people. Stories that should have ended differently (in a perfect world), or at least with an "Until we meet again!" before a commercial break. Instead the stories stop suddenly. Just like Grimm fairytales of the past. Once you learn the lesson, the ending is just around the corner.
So it was with the Valspar paint rep at the Lowe's where I worked for almost three years slinging paint. I remembered people by what color they ordered. The British couple with the Apple Pie Green for their kitchen. A childhood friend who wanted Gumball Red for her front door after she had finalized her divorce. The Peppercorn Black the black priest wanted for her rental spaces.
The reps for the different paint companies would come and give us tutorials and fill up the paint swatch displays every few months. The rep from Valspar was short and stocky and had a New Jersey flare about him even though I think he hailed from North Carolina. (You know the type.) He was gaudy with his gold rings and chains, but dapper with his salt-n-pepper hair and easy going smile. He told me about the one that got away.
"Man, I tell you, Jen- she was something! My buddy and I took her and one of her friends out on a double date. She was my friend's date, and I had her friend on my arm. We went dancing on the boardwalk- shag dancing you know? Real smooth stuff!- we ate good food, had good drinks! Just having the time of our lives, you know? Now her friend was a real dud, and my buddy liked duds. I liked girls with big brains, and let me tell you she had beauty and brains for days! The longest legs, the sweetest laugh- she was the total package. And I thought to myself, "Man, whatever you do, don't let this one go!'. So we watched as the other two went off on their own for a bit- and we just sat on the back of my friend's car and talked the rest of the night. Man, what a woman. We took her home and said our good nights, but because it was the first date and I'm a gentleman I didn't lean in to kiss her. I tell you- it's the regret of my life- not kissing her on the first date."
He'd pause, somewhere along the blue swatches and the green, his gaze would go off somewhere else. To another place- another time. "I told myself I was an idiot. She'd never fall for a guy like me. She ended up dating someone for a while. We all went our separate ways- I met someone else and fell in love and got married. We're divorced now- and right after the ink on the divorce papers dried I went back home for a while to sort myself out. I got to talking about old times with another buddy of mine that was in town and he said, "Hey, man- you know that she works down at the bank across town, right?" My eyes lit up, I tell you! I got my second chance! I was going to that bank in the morning and get the girl I never should have let go.
So it's the next morning, right? I'm excited- I shower, get dressed up some, go and grab a dozen roses and head to the bank. I fling open the doors and I see her- I see her, Jen- just standing there in the middle of the floor. God, she hadn't aged a day- still that beautiful smile, still those same long dancing legs- and she sees me! Her eyes brighten up, her smile is ear to ear, I could have dropped dead right there my heart was pounding a mile a minute- she runs over to me and gives me the biggest hug. I can't help myself, I pick her up and swing her around right there in the middle of the bank- everyone staring!- I set her down and hand her the bouquet. She looks at me like she's confused. I tell her, "Darling, I've thought about you every day since that night way back when. I was a fool for letting you go- so what do you say?- come away with me! Let's get out of here and go to the beach and let's be together." And then the sparkle in her eyes dims just a little. I look at her like a big grinning idiot. She holds my hand in hers- they're soft just like I remembered- and she delivers a line that came like a sucker punch to the gut- I mean it just tore me right in two. "Babe," she says, "I'm married." Boy you could have heard a pin drop. Everyone was silent. My heart hit the floor. I'd lost her again. What a chump, right? Thinking that someone else hadn't swept this woman off of her feet. They'd been smart, unlike me. Well I left that bank with my tail between my legs, went back to my empty apartment and poured myself a drink." He said and replaced the gray swatches with more gray swatches. I teared up holding my paint can opener.
"Dude, you can't give up hope. How long ago was that? She didn't sound like she was happy to be married. You never know!" I told him. He smiled politely but shook his head and finished putting up the display.
Months and months passed- it felt like an eternity. I needed him to come back and finish the story- and finally he returned. He saw me at the desk and shook his head, but he was smiling.
"Jen- I tell you. You must have the gift! I went back home over the holidays to visit my family. See my kids, you know. And as I'm driving around with a couple of folks that are back in town too, we drive by this really nice neighborhood. There's one house on the corner, the kitchen light is on. But it's late so we can't see nothing, right? Well, my friend who's driving says, "Hey? You know that she moved back, right? Got divorced and moved into that house there on the corner." "You don't say!" I tell him, my mind whirring. She's back, she's single, do I dare make my move? I don't know. I go home that night and I sleep on it. What do you think I ought to do?" He says by the clearance rack with all of the leftover holiday decor marked down to next to nothing.
"I think if you don't find her on Facebook and see what's up then you're going to keep losing her the way you have been! Go and find her online!" I tell him. He obviously knows her name. He blinks like he hasn't thought of that, and he's of the age where he wouldn't have thought of that without some young upstart prodding him to. So he pulls out his phone and taps the Facebook app. He's tapping away with his finger in the search bar. There's a pause.
"I found her! I found her, Jen! She's listed as single. What do I do?" He says, eyes pleading.
"Do what you say you were always going to do- don't lose her this time!" I say. He smiles and starts tapping. He slides his phone back in his pocket and takes his wares up to leave.
"I'll tell you what happens!" He says with a wink, and he is out the door.
But I don't get to find out the rest of the story. I don't ever get to know if he finally got the girl and had the good sense not to let go this time. I left that job for another one, and never looked back.
But I still wonder. Somewhere there's a man and a woman sitting on the dock at a North Carolina beach talking about how long it took them to finally get their happily ever forever.
Somewhere there's a woman who still speaks only in Spanish to her family about the friends she left behind in Virginia. Especially the little girl who she gave the gold insect bracelet to.
Somewhere there's an ending to a story that's long been lost to time.
Until next time...
I loved that she was older than her age, she had a wizened woman about her that melded with mine naturally. We were apart from the other girls in our class. She spoke Spanish at home, and I was an odd duck. She invited me over to her house to play once, and I remember having a wonderful time listening to her family talk to one another in their beautiful language. It was the first time my ears had ever encountered sounds and cadence so different from my normal. She asked if it bothered her that they (her family) only spoke Spanish. I said no, it didn't bother me, I only wish I knew more Spanish so that I could understand them better. This seemed to please her. I remembered that she smiled.
In the fourth grade she came to one of my birthday parties. She brought me a beautiful bracelet. Each gold bead had an animal or an insect on it. It looked like real gold despite being beaded on elastic string. I remember cherishing it and wearing it with only my finest Sunday dresses, and only on special occasions. It still sits in my jewelry box at home, among finer pieces that are less cherished.
The day that she told me that she and her family were moving back to Texas to be closer to family in Mexico I cried. We would not make the leap to middle school together, and I would no longer hear her family's rapid fire rolling musical words. I think she gave her address to our third grade teacher, but she never gave it out to anyone else.
I wonder what she's doing now.
I've been thinking a lot about these unfinished stories that I have with other people. Stories that should have ended differently (in a perfect world), or at least with an "Until we meet again!" before a commercial break. Instead the stories stop suddenly. Just like Grimm fairytales of the past. Once you learn the lesson, the ending is just around the corner.
So it was with the Valspar paint rep at the Lowe's where I worked for almost three years slinging paint. I remembered people by what color they ordered. The British couple with the Apple Pie Green for their kitchen. A childhood friend who wanted Gumball Red for her front door after she had finalized her divorce. The Peppercorn Black the black priest wanted for her rental spaces.
The reps for the different paint companies would come and give us tutorials and fill up the paint swatch displays every few months. The rep from Valspar was short and stocky and had a New Jersey flare about him even though I think he hailed from North Carolina. (You know the type.) He was gaudy with his gold rings and chains, but dapper with his salt-n-pepper hair and easy going smile. He told me about the one that got away.
"Man, I tell you, Jen- she was something! My buddy and I took her and one of her friends out on a double date. She was my friend's date, and I had her friend on my arm. We went dancing on the boardwalk- shag dancing you know? Real smooth stuff!- we ate good food, had good drinks! Just having the time of our lives, you know? Now her friend was a real dud, and my buddy liked duds. I liked girls with big brains, and let me tell you she had beauty and brains for days! The longest legs, the sweetest laugh- she was the total package. And I thought to myself, "Man, whatever you do, don't let this one go!'. So we watched as the other two went off on their own for a bit- and we just sat on the back of my friend's car and talked the rest of the night. Man, what a woman. We took her home and said our good nights, but because it was the first date and I'm a gentleman I didn't lean in to kiss her. I tell you- it's the regret of my life- not kissing her on the first date."
He'd pause, somewhere along the blue swatches and the green, his gaze would go off somewhere else. To another place- another time. "I told myself I was an idiot. She'd never fall for a guy like me. She ended up dating someone for a while. We all went our separate ways- I met someone else and fell in love and got married. We're divorced now- and right after the ink on the divorce papers dried I went back home for a while to sort myself out. I got to talking about old times with another buddy of mine that was in town and he said, "Hey, man- you know that she works down at the bank across town, right?" My eyes lit up, I tell you! I got my second chance! I was going to that bank in the morning and get the girl I never should have let go.
So it's the next morning, right? I'm excited- I shower, get dressed up some, go and grab a dozen roses and head to the bank. I fling open the doors and I see her- I see her, Jen- just standing there in the middle of the floor. God, she hadn't aged a day- still that beautiful smile, still those same long dancing legs- and she sees me! Her eyes brighten up, her smile is ear to ear, I could have dropped dead right there my heart was pounding a mile a minute- she runs over to me and gives me the biggest hug. I can't help myself, I pick her up and swing her around right there in the middle of the bank- everyone staring!- I set her down and hand her the bouquet. She looks at me like she's confused. I tell her, "Darling, I've thought about you every day since that night way back when. I was a fool for letting you go- so what do you say?- come away with me! Let's get out of here and go to the beach and let's be together." And then the sparkle in her eyes dims just a little. I look at her like a big grinning idiot. She holds my hand in hers- they're soft just like I remembered- and she delivers a line that came like a sucker punch to the gut- I mean it just tore me right in two. "Babe," she says, "I'm married." Boy you could have heard a pin drop. Everyone was silent. My heart hit the floor. I'd lost her again. What a chump, right? Thinking that someone else hadn't swept this woman off of her feet. They'd been smart, unlike me. Well I left that bank with my tail between my legs, went back to my empty apartment and poured myself a drink." He said and replaced the gray swatches with more gray swatches. I teared up holding my paint can opener.
"Dude, you can't give up hope. How long ago was that? She didn't sound like she was happy to be married. You never know!" I told him. He smiled politely but shook his head and finished putting up the display.
Months and months passed- it felt like an eternity. I needed him to come back and finish the story- and finally he returned. He saw me at the desk and shook his head, but he was smiling.
"Jen- I tell you. You must have the gift! I went back home over the holidays to visit my family. See my kids, you know. And as I'm driving around with a couple of folks that are back in town too, we drive by this really nice neighborhood. There's one house on the corner, the kitchen light is on. But it's late so we can't see nothing, right? Well, my friend who's driving says, "Hey? You know that she moved back, right? Got divorced and moved into that house there on the corner." "You don't say!" I tell him, my mind whirring. She's back, she's single, do I dare make my move? I don't know. I go home that night and I sleep on it. What do you think I ought to do?" He says by the clearance rack with all of the leftover holiday decor marked down to next to nothing.
"I think if you don't find her on Facebook and see what's up then you're going to keep losing her the way you have been! Go and find her online!" I tell him. He obviously knows her name. He blinks like he hasn't thought of that, and he's of the age where he wouldn't have thought of that without some young upstart prodding him to. So he pulls out his phone and taps the Facebook app. He's tapping away with his finger in the search bar. There's a pause.
"I found her! I found her, Jen! She's listed as single. What do I do?" He says, eyes pleading.
"Do what you say you were always going to do- don't lose her this time!" I say. He smiles and starts tapping. He slides his phone back in his pocket and takes his wares up to leave.
"I'll tell you what happens!" He says with a wink, and he is out the door.
But I don't get to find out the rest of the story. I don't ever get to know if he finally got the girl and had the good sense not to let go this time. I left that job for another one, and never looked back.
But I still wonder. Somewhere there's a man and a woman sitting on the dock at a North Carolina beach talking about how long it took them to finally get their happily ever forever.
Somewhere there's a woman who still speaks only in Spanish to her family about the friends she left behind in Virginia. Especially the little girl who she gave the gold insect bracelet to.
Somewhere there's an ending to a story that's long been lost to time.
Until next time...