Second Place by A.I.

He was falling in love with someone else.

Suddenly heaviness crushed her, weight pushing her down into the wooden stool while her feet lost their sense of gravity and floated aimlessly trying to grasp a sense of the ground. Her head started to pull away from her shoulders, winning the race as all her appendages started trying to escape from her body. Her vision pulled back in sudden retreat from the world around her. Her skin bloated up, pushing away from her and leaving her floating in nothingness.

She shuffled her food around her plate and took in the sight slight confusion. What was she eating again – had she tasted it before? When had she ordered this?

Her stomach rose up trying to replace her lungs and she raised to a razor back position in an attempt to make room in her chest for all of the vital organs that felt lodged there. She tried swallowing several times to encourage everything to sink back into it's normal position but had no luck.

He shifted beside her and she should feel the vacancy in his eyes as he swirled his beer on the bar, waiting for her response. She wasn't sure if he had continued to talk or not. Her ears seemed to have shut down in shock, unwilling to be available for any further news.

Automation took over and she pushed a chip to her mouth and chewed. Apparently her throat still worked and the food squeezed past a lump that took up most of the space in her esophagus. She hoped the bar food would take the uncomfortable intrusion with it.

All her senses conspired by wrapping her in a cocoon of nothingness, allowing no other input in until she had dealt with this new reality. The seconds she hung in that void were lifetimes but when she emerged she felt whole again. Her mind rebooted and she shuddered awake.

Her skin returned to it's normal position, resting comfortably against her muscles and bones once more. She felt the heat of him next to her and the solid comfort he always represent appeared unchanged. Her back lost some of the numbing tightness and she smiled a tad.

He was falling in love with someone else.

Her hand relaxed on her glass and she sipped thoughtfully, back in control of her body. Love seemed fitting and right for him. As she assimilated this information, her mind formed a mental picture of everything she knew about him. She saw him in oranges and yellows – parts of him were calm blues and greens. Now he was adding a swirling ribbon of red that wrapped around him and slid into vacancies that soaked up the new color with eagerness. The new color looked against his skin.

His voice rolled his thoughts out for her and she settled into the familiar cadence, listening between the words for tones that spoke of his excitement and fear. His giddy hesitancy came through clearly and she felt her body grin.

He wore the same presence, expanded with new thoughts but constantly himself. She watched him in the mirror behind the bar, feeling his emotions slip around inside him. Her heart settled, heavy with contented knowledge that her spot next to him at the bar would remain unshakeable. This new love would not cloud the clear window between them; they would remain deep within the souls of each other as they always had. Souls that would always settle against each other seamlessly. Souls that had found home and needed nothing more than the feel of communion to recharge each other for the next battle.

Where Do We Go From Here ? by Looking For Happy

    Bryan sat staring mindlessly into the mirror behind the bar. His fingers were wrapped around either side of his beer bottle, kneading and peeling the condensation soaked label one shred at a time. The pieces fell from his fingers as he worked, piling piece upon piece over the bar napkin he had previously deconstructed. His mind wandered as a gust of hot humid air rushed into the bar behind a sweat soaked construction worker, face still caked with dirt, smelling like he needed a shower more than a beer. God, he said, it’s too fucking hot to work, and plopped down onto a stool.
    The noise shook Bryan out of his listlessness, and he glanced sideways at Jill, who was staring into her drink as she fussed with bending a drink stirrer into shapes that resembled nothing. They sat there, staring, thinking, wishing. Needing to talk, knowing it was the only thing that might save...them. Bryan felt a tear pooling in his left eye, away from Jill. It broke free, and followed a zig-zag pattern down his cheek, funneling through the lines and whiskers until it mingled with sweat, dispersed and evaporated. He wondered, how did we get here ?
    Bryan and Jill had discovered each other online, and after exchanging a few pleasant and flirty emails, met for drinks. They hit it off right away, making each other laugh easily, having a few too many drinks, and laughing some more. Exchanging the abridged versions of their life stories, they immediately felt comfortable. Before they knew it, their quick drink was into it’s sixth hour, and both thought it was time to leave. They went out to Bryan’s car, and kissed somewhat nervously, agreed that it was very enjoyable, and said at the same time “we have to do this again”.
    They did, and the date ended at Jill’s place, where they struggled out of clothes, mouths sealed against each other, hands fumbling with clasps and belts and zippers until nothing but tingling skin remained. Sated, they rested, legs entangled, and laughed about the wild times they had, and had again.
It became a familiar pattern, and each time seemed more intense than the last. They really had fun together, and the times were light and breezy. They went away to the beach for a weekend, and joked about the “L” word. But soon, the word crept into the nightly telephone goodbyes, silly love ya’s at first, as with the emails. Then the first one whispered, as he was buried in her and they stared into each others eyes – I love you she said, and he repeated the words.
    And things changed. Simple words became perceived slights. The I’m sorries became more frequent. Bryan liked some planning and some spontaneity but Jill, but Jill was a free spirit who believed no plans meant no disappointments. Cracks slowly appeared in the bond they shared. Here they now sat, each with a different idea of what love meant to them.
    Bryan turned things over in his mind. He genuinely cared for her, and loved her on some level. I know we can make things work, he thought – but wasn’t sure he wanted to. He learned during his hard journey out of a long marriage that secrets kill relationships, something he had been far too guilty of. And that suppressing issues never helped either party. He looked again at Jill, and wondered what she was thinking as she took a long drink from her glass. Where do we go from here he asked himself.
    Bryan turned and looked into the mirror again, stared into his own eyes, and he realized he was looking at the person he needed to love first. He needed to meet his own expectations, and no one else's. He put thirty dollars on the bar, got up and walked out. He never looked back.