9.65 Janessa’s Conclusion

Janessa had a lot on her mind since losing her mother. She needed to speak with Aldo to talk things through. He didn’t get off work until 9 p.m., so she sent him a text saying that she was coming to his job to meet him when he got off.

“Thanks for sticking around. I know you’re tired and want to go home.”

“I’d stay here all night if you wanted me to. What can I do for you?”

She took a deep, courageous breath. “My mom died, and—“

“Oh! I’m so sorry to hear that! Why didn’t you call me sooner?”

“Because I…can I just finish what I need to say?”

“Of course…I’m sorry. I’m listening,” he said.

“Since she’s been gone, I’ve been spending a lot of time with my dad. I’ve noticed things…things that I had never considered before…things that bother me.” She paused and took a quick glance at him. He looked concerned—almost afraid. “When my grandma died, he was sad. We all were. But, that was something we had all come to expect. And, I guess as you get older, you begin to anticipate the death of your parents. He got over it quickly. But, when my mom died, he was different. I can see there’s a huge void in his life. When I see him grieving, he’s just a shell of the man I know. There is this…emptiness in his eyes. When I talk to him, he’s not there. Then I read the book he wrote after she died. It got me thinking about love. Even though it was sad and depressing, I thought that it must be so wonderful to have a love so deep and so strong that, when it’s gone, it leaves you feeling lifeless. That is powerful! I don’t know…it became attractive to me. Love like that…I think there can only be one. It’s too powerful to juggle. I’m not sure it’s even possible to simultaneously love more than one person that way! So…what I’m trying to say is…I want to experience that kind of love, and I want to try and see if I could have it with you. Just you.”

On the inside, Aldo was doing backflips and screaming at the top of his lungs. But, on the outside, he played it cool. “We have it. I know we do. I feel it every day.”

It was a struggle to abandon her strong beliefs, and Aldo saw the uncertainty and fear in her eyes. He wanted to make her confident that she had made the right decision. So, he took her by the hand and beckoned for her to stand up. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her as passionately as he knew how.

“Holy freezer bunnies,” she whispered. She felt it. She didn’t understand it, but she felt it. “No one has ever kissed me like that before.”

He smiled confidently and said, “No one has ever loved you like that before.”