Morning all. Time once again for the morning writing prompt. Are you ready? Fabulous. Let’s set those timers for fifteen minutes and see what pops out of the brain.
It took me a minute to get into this, but I think I like where it is going. I really like that moment in a persons life where everything is in a state of flux. It seems like Sam is about to hit that. No clue where this is going, but I have a feeling I will be circling back.
Wednesday, December 10th: He couldn’t help but feel betrayed.
He couldn’t help but feel betrayed. He and Sarah broke up less than three days prior and already she was seeing his friend Winston. Sam stared out the window. He could just see them at the edge of the quad. They were walking hand in hand, laughing and joking. He could tell from the body language even at this distance. He frowned. There was something off about the scene, but he just couldn’t tell what. He watched until they rounded the corner and were lost to sight. Sam turned away from the window. As he did a thought occurred to him.
“Comfortable.” He blinked and glanced back towards the window. Winston and Sarah were comfortable together. More comfortable than a simple three days would account for. He had suspected during the time they were together that Sarah was cheating on him. Anytime his suspicions were aroused, they quickly fell off and he thought he was just being paranoid.
‘But each time I confessed my suspicions to Winston,’ Sam recalled. ‘If he was the one Sarah was cheating with…’
He let the thought fall off. He scrubbed his hands over his face. It was over now. He and Sarah were through. It was in fact better that they were through. In the last few months it became apparent that they each wanted different things, were set to walk down different paths. The breakup had been coming, it was almost inevitable. Still he missed her. Missed what they had.
‘Or what I thought we had.’
It hurt that she moved on so quickly. It felt like a betrayal then. It felt worse now that he believed it went on far longer than the three days they were split.
He felt more betrayed by Winston than he did by Sarah. She cheated on him and that hurt, but Winston listened to his suspicions, allayed his fears and concerns and betrayed him on a far deeper level than Sarah had.
‘So I’ve lost a girlfriend and a friend.’
It was a bitter pill to swallow. ‘And I thought I was so good at reading people,’ Sam snorted to himself. He looked over to his desk. His final report was due soon. It was the last paper he had to write before the practical exams begun. Once it was turned in he could check that off his list and begin the intensive study and practice that the practical exams required.
People were counting on him to pass, to become certified. He couldn’t let them down. He did his best to push thoughts of Sarah and Winston out of his mind. He went to his desk and sat down. His pin board was on the wall in front of him. There was a picture of him and Sarah and several of his friend group showing him with Winston. Having them sit and watch him wasn’t helping. He stood up and began to unpin all of the pictures. He decided to make a clean break of it and took every picture down, whether it related or not. Then pins in the jar and photos in the drawer, he pinned his exam schedule to the naked cork.
He would need the schedule when he finished this report. He would need to carefully plan his practice and schedule time in the practice rooms. “I can go through photos later.”
Sam sat back down at the desk and without those eyes looking down on him, found it easier to concentrate. He let everything except what was needed slip from his mind. Occasionally he stood to check a reference from his shelved books, but for the most part he remained seated and focused.
By the time it was done, darkness had fallen and he realized he was hungry.
Ten til Midnight 