The Life & Times of a Self Proclaimed Blind Gypsy

Part 1: Waiting

2:00. Waiting. 3:46. still waiting. Waiting is all Sloan could do at this point. At 6:05. It was time to at least get ready. He would actually be here, in the city in an hour, and they had plans for dinner at 8 sharp. She had been such a ball of nerves all day, which caused her to be even more awkward than usual. She lit her favorite herbal candle and turned on her Relax playlist before she sat at her desk to start her makeup ritual. "Bittersweet Symphony" filled the room and lavender cleansed her mind as she deeply inhaled. When she looked in the mirror she saw the two of them holding hands for the first time in years. How perfectly their fingers fit, the cool air blowing against her back making her skin tingle, the sand moist from the tides soothed their feet as they strolled the shore, the reflection of the sun seemed pinkish orange against the ocean as it began to set. She soon snaps out of her trance realizing it had been nearly three months seen that day on the beach with William.

Sloan and William had secretly fallen in love ten years ago, at the time they were only high school juniors, who barely knew each other. They hung out in different crowds, had different schedules, and even lived in different neighborhoods. But somehow when they would sneak stares at each other they felt the weirdest connection. One day Sloan had missed her ride home because her brother had to go into work early and as usual she lost track of time, so she had to catch the city bus. The first one that pulled up she jumped on. After about 20 minutes Sloan realized she had jumped onto the wrong damn bus. Feeling like an idiot she rung the bell, and calmly got off at the next stop. Once she got off and the bus was out of sight she had a fit, saying every four letter word that came to mind and sat on a nearby tree stump to gather herself. As she sat trying to figure out how she was going to get home she heard someone laughing before they asked, "Are you ok?" As fate would have it William had seen her throwing her little temper tantrum from the bodega across the street. At first they just stared at each other before Sloan busted into awkward laughter. After she stopped giggling she explained the whole story of why she was sitting on the stump acting like a crazy lady. William laughed and offered a ride home. His house was a block away and after he dropped off the bag he had he'd be free. Sloan shyly accepted. For the next four hours they talked about everything from family, food, dreams and Bill Clinton to techno music and Lauren Hill. When she finally dropped her off she didn't want to go in the house. She had met the love of her life. From that day on her and William spent every free minute together.

Sloan had to snap out of it. She had to be heading out in the next 20 minutes to make sure she beat traffic. She was truly one of the most beautiful girls most people had ever seen. A mixture of four distinct cultures left her standing with the best features of each, 5'7", slightly sun kissed skin, curves placed as if Michelangelo chiseled her from Italian marble, and a face Mona Lisa was jealous of. Yet oddly her inner confidence was equivalent to that of a bullied 12 year old with acme. She had tried on 13 dresses before she felt ready, it was a black figure hugging number with a low cut back and sweet heart neckline, and new her patent leather "Red Bottoms". As she took a final look over in the mirror she said her motto, "When in doubt Black stops the pouts."

"What the hell does that mean?” William asked laughing. Sloan finished getting dressed and replied, “It means that when you have no idea what to wear black is your best and only choice you have. I mean seriously who ever looked bad in black? When I wear a black dress with matching pumps I feel settled and on top of my game.” “What’s wrong?” said Sloan noticing William’s laughter had stopped and an upset look on his face. It was weird because all week she had caught him with this look on his face in the mist of them laughing about little silly things. And every time she asked was everything ok he would say yeah, everything is good. “We need to talk Sloan” he said as he sat and took her hand. William went on to say in a week his family would be moving to California, to stay with family. Since his father had lost his job two months earlier things had been going horrible financially for his family, and at this point it was their only choice. Sloan felt a stabbing feeling in her heart as tears streamed down her face like The Nile River flowing through a parched desert. She knew things would be over if he left. Sloan had never seen a long distance relationship work, and she knew William didn’t believe in them from earlier conversations. When she looked at his flushed face, and into his empty eye, she heard the words he couldn’t bring him to say, it was over.

“I guess you wonder where I’ve been? I searched to find the love within. I came back to let you know, I gotta thing for you that I can’t let go. My friends wonder what is wrong with me. I’m in a daze from your love you see…Some people go around the world for love, but they may never find what they dream of…” sings Sloan as She listens to “What you won’t do for love” as it plays in her car. Three million thought go through her mind as she pulled into the restaurant’s parking lot, “Do I look ok, what’s he going to wearing, does he still think about the last time we saw each other, will this be the last time I see him?” The restaurant, Spiaggia, was absolutely gorgeous, one of Chicago’s most famous Italian fine dining spots. As she sat at her table she became nervous again, hoping that the evening went well, and that she would have no regrets the next day. “Ma’am can I interest you in a drink while you wait?” asked the waiter. “Yes, I’ll take a Manhattan. Thank you” answered Sloan. Last time she saw him things were like time had never passed, at least until they discussed what was going on in each other’s lives. Sloan was single for the most part. She had been talking to a guy she use to work with, but they were never officially anything, which was a whole other story. William on the other hand had two kids, and a girlfriend he was supposedly preparing to leave. As Sloan drank her Manhattan, she shook her head in disbelief that she was actually sitting here.

“What? I’m not going in there. You must be Willy Wonka crazy my friend” says Sloan, as he tugs at her arm. William couldn’t help but laugh, being reminded of how funny Sloan was when she wasn’t even trying to be. “Sloan! Seriously trust me people do this all the time” he pleaded. “Ok Will, I’m gonna trust you.” As they were walking on the beach William noticed a house for sale. He wanted the two of them to go inside and pretend to be interested buyers. Apparently he had saw in a movie once, and had always said he wanted to do it because he thought it would be romantic with someone as special as Sloan. When they entered an old cleaning lady approached them saying, “Come in. The real estate agent just left for the day, but you guys are welcome to come look around. I’ll be here for an hour, so you’re welcome til then.” After they thanked her they went to venture through the house. The living room was set up very cozy, ocean blue walls, gold fixtures, black & white family photos so full of life you felt like you were there, and oval shaped windows surrounded the downstairs area. The furniture was smooth cream suede, with a sea of big plush pillows, perfect for kids to pillow fight against a mothers wishes. As they walked into the master bedroom upstairs they both gasped. It was sheer wonder. Everything was in shades of earth tones, carpet that looked like sand but felt like feathers, and a balcony that over looked the private part of the Beach. As they stood on the balcony the breeze gently blew over them. Sloan felt a hand rub down her spine slowly, like a rain drop rolling down a window. She could smell his scent drifting into her, as he lips grazed her neck, leaving her knees weak. As she moved to turn towards him he softly took her into his arms, kissing her ever so passionately. Sloan felt a rush of warmth run through her limp body. It had been years since she had this feel, a feeling of love and lust doing an epic tango. When her lips parted from his she caught her breath, and her skin cooled allowing her to open her eyes. As Sloan looked at him, she could see the old William staring back. The boy she loved so deeply that she didn’t date for three years when he left, the dude without kids, the guy without an “it’s complicated” girlfriend, the one that gave her a ride all those years ago. Yet in her heart she knew he wasn’t that boy anymore, he was a man, a man who had obviously moved on when he left her ten years ago.

“Ma’am is everything ok?” asked her waiter. Sloan hadn’t even realized he had been standing there while she was reminiscing about her last time seeing William, during her business trip to California. “I’m sorry, I’m fine. Can I have another please?” she said as she sat up and pushed her hair out of her face. As she waited she thought about what would come of this dinner. Was he going to tell her what she wanted to hear, what she needed to hear? With him it had to be all, or nothing. Sloan couldn’t keep wishing and waiting for things to be the way she hoping it would. The pain and agony of waiting was killing her, and she just couldn’t do it anymore. “Hello Sloan.” a familiar voice said, interrupting her thoughts. As she looked up there he was. William had finally made it, the wait was finally over. Well at least for now.

To Be Continued…

The Life & Times of a Self Proclaimed Blind Gypsy

Hey welcome!!!

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Thank you & Enjoy

Sloan: Waiting