A Momentous Occasion

Finally.

After too many long years of waiting patiently, impatiently, and whatever else…I finally got to see Will embark on something that resembles progress.  This past Saturday night, he left town in an effort to go do something, anything, with his life.  Like i said…finally.

Personally, I found out about the grand plan about a week before it actually happened.  He had annonced his intentions to his family the day before, and they were happy, but skeptical.  His sister was the only one to try to discourage him, using the awe-inspiring argument of, “What am I going to do?”  ::shakes head::  Keep in mind that she’s around 30 years old, with a husband and son.  No words can describe that, can they?  Anyhow, I was in the chorus of people telling him I thought this was a grand idea.  When asked where he was going, all I got was a “you know where I’m going to end up.”  Uhhhh…huh?  That was the straightest answer I got, and with what I later found out to be good reason.

Friday afternoon, he called me before I left for work (I’ll explain that another time), and told me to be sure and bring something to take all my stuff home in.  I told him it sounded like he’d picked a departure date.  “Yeah, tomorrow night.”  Well…no shit.  He always does that.  Anytime he’s going somewhere, I never find out he’s leaving until the day before.  I’ve never understood that.  After work, I went and picked up almost all of my shit from his house (which consisted of a few DVD’s and about 10 video games).  Knowing I had to work 7 hours on Saturday, I asked him when, exactly, he was leaving.  He wasn’t sure.  I told him to make sure he waited until I got out of work at 9 p.m.  He promised nothing, except to say that I couldn’t come by before I went to work because he’d be gone all day.

Saturday at work, I watched to clock all day long.  It couldn’t move fast enough.  After work, he called me and we agreed on a meeting point.  I called him once I got there and he wasn’t there, which didn’t make sense because he was far closer to it than I was.  He concluded that call with, “And do I have a surprise for you…”  I had absolutely no idea what it could be.  As soon as his car pulled in next to me, I saw the surprise…

Her.

The ex.

Monica.

The first words out of my mouth completely echoed my feelings.  I proceeded to yell out a big, “WHAT THE FUCK!?”  I couldn’t even finish the sentence I’d meant to say, which was “What the fuck are you doing here?”, though I think that came out the second time.  Will was cracking up at how surprised I was.  I wouldn’t have been more shocked if someone had hooked my nuts up to a car battery.  Basically, she’d flown into town that day and was riding with him up to KC, which was the actual destination of mystery.  Though, I did have to deduce all this myself.  But back to the three of us bullshitting in the parking lot…

As much as I would have loved to think seeing her again wouldn’t bother me, it surely did.  Did it ever.  Yes, it’s been over two years since we broke up, but this was the very first time I’ve so much as heard her voice, let alone seen her.  It’s not something I was prepared for.  I always assumed when I saw her again it would be on my terms and I’d be able to prepare myself for it when the time came.  Instead, I got what amounted to her appearing out of thin air.  I could barely even talk to her, or even just look at her.  I was that spooked. 

At one point during all this, C.J. called me to talk NFL Draft.  He asked me what I was doing, to which I could only respond, “You would never believe me if I told you.”  “Try me,” he said.  “No, really.  You’d never believe me.  I’ll tell you all about it later.”

After much storytelling, hooting, hollering, laughing, and strolling memory lane, it was time for them to leave.  They had to get moving towards the destination.  Mo and I hugged, and I blurted out, “It was weird, but nice, to see you again,” which probably told her all she needed to know.  I shook Will’s hand, and off they went.  I sat in my car for a few moments shaking my head in complete and utter disbelief at what had transpired.  Then, as if on a timer, my brain went off at light speed.  “Why was she here?”  “Why was she going with him?”  “What’s going on with them?”  This last question being the most troubling, because perhaps the greatest fear I’ve ever had is that they’d end up together.  Paranoia or reality, at that point it didn’t matter.  Finally, I started my car and headed for my mom’s house, just two minutes away.

Since it was Saturday, she was still awake despite it being about 11 p.m.  So I proceeded to tell her the tale of what had just happened (this was also the first she’d heard of Will leaving), specifically the “I just wasn’t ready for that meeting to happen,” part.  She could tell I was rattled.  As I finished it up, C.J. came walking out of his room and asked me what was going on.  So then I went and told him, with a lot more emphasis on the what if’s.  But mostly, really, I was just in complete and utter shock by then.

The next two nights, I didn’t sleep for shit, indeed, barely at all.  I was driving myself crazy.  It was like the last few times he went up there to visit…I just couldn’t sleep, thinking about all the possibilities.  So Monday after work, I went to visit his mom.  She told me he’d already called her a few times and was expressing doubts about being able to stick it out.  He was already in “I want to come home” justification mode.  That told me most of what I wanted to know about if something was going on between him and Mo, because if there was, why the fuck would he want to come home?  Then his mom told me that Mo had really wanted to see me.  That told me all else I needed to know.  The lesson here is, as usual, I was being ridiculous.  I did take some form of perverse joy from hearing Mo could tell I was a little spooked, though.  Why,  I’m not sure.  There’s an answer in there somewhere, but fucked if I can find it.

So now, my mind is at ease on all fronts.  Well, except for figuring out what to do with all my spare time now that I can’t go hang out with my best friend on a whim.

At least for now, anyway.

And as you can see, what should’ve been a Momentous Occasion for one reason, has become one for something completely different.

Sayonara.