Reddest Apple

(Quote by-Daniel Saint)

His breath caught in his throat as he watched her walk by. His eyes followed her form taking in the way she moved with such purpose but her smile was carefree. The blue dress hugged her curves just the right way and it made his thoughts wander to dangerous places.

It was amazing how this little slip of a woman had captivated him so completely. She could even break his attention from his task at hand so he had to ignore her siren call throughout the day but he had to talk to her before the weekend. He needed to hear her laugh, see her smile and possibly feel her skin.

She was the reddest apple in the garden, the most tempting among the forbidden fruits, and I didn't need the serpent to convince me to bite her.

The quote rolled through his mind and he sighed. She was forbidden. He should just walk away now and not entangle himself any further in her sweetness. But how could he when she walked towards him as she is now, her smile widening when she saw him standing there.
A beacon of beauty.
A soul that reverberated  with his own.
A delicious apple that he just had to bite.

Understood

All alone she stood at the waters edge. The sun was setting in the west and the forest behind her had grown very quiet. The only sound she heard was the lashing of the waves to the sand at her feet.
Her heart had hardened in the time she spent alone rebuilding her life and that was just fine by her.
Sentiment and love was something she could not afford to even think about now.
All she cared about was getting through each day with sanity intact.

Her chin came up as she felt a familiar presence walk up behind her.

"We should get back to the lodge. The dinner rush is still ahead."Dillon's voice said softly.

She nodded and then let out a sigh. Dinner rush. She needed to check on the steaks that had been marinating all day. That was the special tonight and she was positive they would run out before the night was over so she made sure the salmon and chicken were stocked up on.
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She began to turn away but paused as the sunlight gleamed off a ship in the distance. A cruise ship heading to the wilds of Alaska she was sure. Her heart tightened and a memory popped up in her minds eye and she gasped.
He stood there before her, smiling and waving a knife in animation as he talked. Chopping celery for the base of a soup. That had been a grand night of wine food and talk that ended with epic loving.
Then she knew she had caused him more pain that he needed to carry. She reminded him of everything in the past he was trying to forget. His ghosts came forth more and more so she took a step away and realized the only thing she could do was leave him be. The only thing that was right to do was walk away and let the demons sink back into their black hole.
She did that and he went on to have a life worth living for.
That ship reminded her that even though we may float away from those we love it does not mean that we do not love them still.

Dillon came to stand next to her.
"It's alright. Sometimes you need to let it out." he said softly. He knew her story He was the only one who knew what she had left behind and why.

She turned to him with eyes bright with tears. They slid down her cheeks and she made no move to wipe them away.

"There were days I wanted to go back and take what I felt was mine .I know he would have stayed. But the pain in his eyes was so hard to see. The fear he tried to hide with bravado or anger showed me I was in the wrong.."

She shook her head. "That ship I just saw reminded me that love is not simple. Love is not roses and wine every day."

Whirling around she saw the ship was gone and the painful lump of emotion in her throat made it so hard to speak but she knew she had to say it.

"I finally understand what true love means Love means that you care for another person's happiness more than your own, no matter how painful the choices you face might be. That's love. That's what I believe in. And sometimes it is not yours to even hold"

One deep breath and she turned to her worried friend. She wiped her eyes and smiled.

"Let's go make some magic in the kitchen for our guests"

She reached for his hand and led him back to the lodge with a heavy heart but lighter spirit.

Reason Lost

The wind whipped through the city and she stared outside the hotel room. Her heart shattered in a million pieces but even with the pain they glowed white hot like the lights of the city below.

She lost the battle.
She lost the war.
She did not even realize she was fighting for something until she realized what had happened.

Reason lost, the battle and all she could do was surrender and accept she was in love with him.

The man she had followed around on tour for so many years. Who she had saved from himself more than once. The person she considered her best friend.
The taste of him would forever remain on her tongue. The sound of his love in her ears would always haunt her. His gleaming eyes filled with mischief and love would stalk her forever. She would remain drunk on him and stumble around this planet knowing why he chose to take the other woman as his wife.

Foolish girl. Men like him do not fall in love and marry their assistants.
They fall in love with models and have gorgeous babies.

"Dear hell." she said aloud as she thought of the babies they would have.

She took a long drink of her vodka and sighed as she turned to the bags next to the door.

She was leaving tonight. Red eye back to the west coast. Back to a new life she needed to find.

Somewhere there was someone who would choose her.

Somewhere,

Don't Have to Say a Word

The wind howled outside the hotel room and he stood watching the glittering city below him.
The world went on below, the ebb and flow like it was every single night, but he was stuck in his misery.
Both of his hands slid into his hair and his forehead pressed to the cool glass. His eyes closed as the pain sliced through his heart.
He could not believe he walked away from the best thing ever to come into his life.
The choice he made was more for show, for excitement and of course love but the woman he chose did not see him as his little one did.

"God I fucked up." he said softly.

"Yeah, you did." a voice came to him from across the room.

He turned to see the guitarist from his band holding a six pack of beer. He held it up and waved him over.

"Dude, you need one or more of these."

He sighed and walked to his friend. Taking the beer he twisted the top off and drank down half of it instantly.

"What can you do now man? You not only lost her for yourself you lost her for us as well." his friend said as he sat down in the arm chair.

Sighing he dropped onto the couch and nodded.
"Yeah,I lost it all I think." He drank the rest of the beer and reached for a second one.

"What made you choose like you did?"

He said there silent a moment, his eyes staring blankly into space and then he shook his head

"Ego." he admitted and then let out a long sigh.

"I get that. I really do. But then what made the one who got away so special to you. I know what she was to the rest of us but to you, there was something more."

He took a drink of his beer and thought about it. So much made her so special. So damn much. He closed his eyes for a moment then started to speak.

"She understands me. She accepts me. I don't have to say a word. She just looks at me and sees who I am and how I feel and accepts it. She doesn't try to change it or wants to change it.That person. There's a billion people but I imagine there is only one of her. And I did not chose her." he felt the lump in his throat and the tears did fill his eyes.

"I did not choose that one in a billion. I am a fool." he whispered.

His friend nodded and they sat in silence before the glittering city wondering what came next.

You Will Stumble Upon

The lightning lights up the dark room and the thunder soon rolls through, shaking the windows of the house.
She lays there in the bed on her side, staring out the open window to watch the lethal bolts of energy crack the sky.
Her heart hurt. It was interesting to feel it hurt after such a long stretch of nothing.
She was a dead stick for a long time and even to feel this pain was something better than nothing.
The pictures she had stumbled across set her heart to pounding and then she was back in time.
Standing in the darkness wrapped in his strong arms while the beat away the spirits that plagued them. They knew in that moment their bond was unbreakable. She quieted his demons and he set hers free. That night was one of discovery and learning and there was more to be had but it was not meant to be.
The room lit up again with white light and she could remember the feel of his skin under her fingertips, the strength in his arms and the calm that surrounded them.

She remembered a quote she read, not remembering the author but it hit home. Hard home run.

One day whether you are 14, 28 or 65 you will stumble upon someone who will start a fire in you that cannot die. However, the saddest most awful truth you will ever come to find is that they are not always with whom we spend our lives.

One tear slid down her cheek to soak into the pillow as the storm moved off into the distance and the night grew dark and silent once again.

She Was Beautiful

He paused in his rush to get to the office as he saw the woman sitting in the sunshine on the low stone wall.
Her hair was purple but not in the crayon color purple but a purple that had various shades of red threading through. It was a vision of cool fire to see on that late spring afternoon.
She sat with a book in her hand, headphones in and sunglasses on her face.
Something about her made him pause, but today only a moment and he rushed to get to his meeting.

There she was again. Two days ago he had seen her sitting there in the sun and today is no exception But the sun is not out today and the gray clouds crowd in on the high rises all around the small park.
So many people rushing to something at this lunchtime moment but all he could do today was stare.
Her hair was just dark today but he knew the fire was there in those strands.
Sunglasses gone and he could see her beautiful face He wondered what color her eyes were. He hoped they would be green and they would see his soul. That battered thing that he rarely let see the light of day.
His phone rang and he jumped. Glancing down he realized he was late for a meeting. Phone to his face he ran off towards his own high rise in the city.

A week had gone by. The sun was out again with a heat that told summer was coming. She was there again today. Alone. She was always alone with her book and her lunch. No one even glanced at the pretty dress she wore with the black boots that looked like army issue. She never looked up and kept her attention on the book in her hand.
She was beautiful in the quiet way that lonely unnoticed people are beautiful to those who notice them.
He noticed her. All of her. He needed to see her eyes and so he turned off his phone and walked to the beauty on the wall.
Her eyes were green. His soul smiled.

Individuals

There comes a time when you must open your eyes to the truth and realize those who left your life had their reasons.
The interesting thing is that the reasons are usually never what you think they are.
And those reasons usually have nothing to do with you personally.

Then comes the moment when you run across that soul once again. They cross your path.
A spark of hope comes to life. Then you think only of the good things. Only of the pretty picture without flaws.
How it could be this time. But you are still ignored. Still pressed away into their lost memories.

When you find truth it is up to you to decide what to do with it.

For a moment there was pain. Regret. Sadness. Feelings of not being good enough. A why not me sort of flow within the soul.
That moment faded away quite suddenly and there was just the past that remained.
That inevitable place that we need to teach ourselves not to dwell in.

Then the dawning comes....

Individuals in my past have proven to be neither friends nor enemies of mine, but we are strangers who share memories,

Good or bad, they are memories.

No new ones will take their place for strangers seem to pass through like a breeze.