Ordinary Her

It is always quite funny, how a few words could shatter a person’s heart and put an end to a wonderful relationship. Mira for one always found that choosing one’s words, especially when it seemed like nobody was listening, was good advice. It was late in the afternoon, that beautiful day, and Mira was getting a drink for her boyfriend’s friend Ander, who came to visit him; when she overheard the sentences or more like the string of words that would forever end their six-month relationship;

“Nah, Mira isn’t as beautiful or sexy as my other exes, she just has a wonderful personality”.

Damn, she didn’t think any word ever could stop her as those words did. Mira had always known she wasn’t traffic-stopping beautiful or even extraordinarily sexy, but she had at least hoped that her boyfriend would think she was beautiful enough. Mira had always been insecure, which was probably why she hadn’t dated anyone in her 24 years of living on the earth. For most of her life, Mira had been a size 20 and it wasn’t until she came down to a size 12, when she was 23 that she thought of having any sort of relationship with a boy. Mira was always considered a bit tall for a girl, her six-foot ass and almost 350 pounds of weight didn’t help do much to improve her insecurities. It wasn’t until she lost all that weight that she thought she could be in a relationship or even be around people long enough to not be made fun of. Having a not-so-big belly after months of working out and dieting; did she even think to give dating a try?

However, she had shed all that weight before she met Brett, though she was still insecure, as weight loss couldn’t automatically change that fact, even though she had honestly thought it would. She had met Brett, at a Christmas party which she had been forced to go t with her best friend Annie and her only sister Nica, she had met him at the bar looking gloomy and uninterested just like she was, causing them both to hold a conversation which had been witty. They had talked, exchanged numbers, and talked some more through the holidays and he had asked her out on the second week of the New Year. She hadn’t been sure of dating; but had been talked into it by Annie and Nica, who thought it was some sought of New Year psychic alignment, as the proposal had come a week after she had been recruited for a new job. With the pressure from her sister and best friend, she had accepted, although she liked Brett a lot and enjoyed talking to him, she honestly knew nothing about dating and was afraid she wouldn’t meet the par. On several occasions, she had consulted dating books and videos on what to do about certain situations. She made sure to go out whenever he wanted even though she didn’t particularly like leaving her house for any reason other than work or hunting for food. She got him gifts whenever something important happened in his life and made sure she looked presentable whenever they had to be together. Had sex with him a month into their relationship even though she wasn’t sure about losing her virginity. Her years of reading romance and exotic books did help to prepare her for the sex part of her relationship though not so much. She had been a good girlfriend, personality-wise that is;

“Nah, you can’t seriously mean that Brett” Ander whispered back to Brett

Well at least someone also thought he was being ridiculous with his statement’ Mira thought but then again she would rather chew off her foot than say those words out loud to them.

“Come on dude, you remember Lisa right, remember how hot she was.....” Brett continued trying to remind his friend, and Mira honestly wondered if she had missed some parts of their relationship where he could have hinted that she wasn’t good enough for him; Brett lowered his voice, not being able to hear clearly, and Mira quietly opened the door fully and bent down, moving closer to the living room,

“Dude are you kidding, you do realize that she not only cheated on you but left you on your birthday” he whispered loudly, which made Mira remember Brett had told her how painful his last relationship had been, but they never really spoke much about it; Before Brett could chip anything into the conversation, Ander continued loudly “dude, you couldn’t get over her for a long time” scolding his friend

“Shhhh, what if she hears you” shifting in his chair “what the hell am I supposed to do then man” he whispered back, looking towards the kitchen, Mira was really glad she was well hidden from the view of the living room. She wanted to continue listening but their whispers had gotten even lower and moving closer would only put her in their view; Choosing that moment to enter, Mira moved back to the kitchen, moving on all fours, picked up the drink from where she had placed on the floor, stood up, then made a loud noise with the kitchen door and walked back into the living room, putting on a fake smile, she gave Ander his drink before going to sit on a single chair, she could not bring herself to sit back down close to Brett, where she had originally sat, neither could she bring herself to confront him or say anything about the conversation she just heard.

“So Mira what’s good with work,” Ander asked, looking at her with a smile on his face

“Oh, she got herself a boss that kills her ass at work” Brett answered before she could get words out of her mouth, wasn’t like she had the capability to answer him. Well, at least he listened when she talked, ‘that was a good sign’ she thought staring at the television as if she could even see it. But who was she kidding though, Brett wasn’t a bad person, she knew that; and neither was he a bad boyfriend. The reason why she had been comfortable in doing things, leaving her comfort zone, and learning new things for him, was because he had made her feel comfortable and content in the relationship. They never really had that mind-blowing chemistry she read in her books, but she always thought those were purely fictional and didn’t happen in real life.

They regularly went out together to eat because Mira didn’t like or know how to cook, and he would occasionally take her out to eat and meet his friends, they were usually together at his house or with his friends; when they were not working or had something urgent to do. He would buy her cute things like bracelets or earrings found cute. She knew he wasn’t cheating on her, Brett wasn’t that kind of person, he believed strongly in fidelity; she was very sure he wasn’t cheating.

From his words, it felt more like he had settled, with her. Damn; she thought, that hurt more than she could have ever imagined. She wondered how tears weren’t dropping from her eyes at that very moment, but then again she was used to smiling through her pain. Having people talk about her weight both behind her back and her face and having to smile through it all was a natural occurrence throughout her entire high school and university experience.

“...... the party would most likely happen this weekend,” Ander stated

Realizing the conversation had already moved from her, gave her the idea that she had been lost in thought for a while, and with the same fake smile still stuck on her face. Not at all caring how the conversation got to where it was, she knew she couldn’t be there any longer, she was on the very verge of crying and there was no way Mira was going to break down there. Standing abruptly, she addressed them

“Sorry guys, I just remembered I have to call my sister,” she said, just as quickly walking towards the kitchen

“Babe, slow down, you could injure yourself, what could be so important......” Ander’s voice faded as Mira walked further into the kitchen ignoring and shutting the door behind her and resting her back on it. Picking up her phone which she had left there when she had been in earlier, she dialed her sister’s number with urgency, praying desperately for her to pick up.

“Bee, if I remember correctly we definitely spoke like an hour ago, what could have happened within an hour that couldn’t wait till tomorrow”. Nica said as she answered the phone.

Not sure if it was her sister’s sarcastic tone or having to act so normal when she wasn’t, tears began running down Mira’s eyes. Sliding down to the floor, she tried to stop her tears.

“Hello, bee can you hear me,” Nica said louder, Mira’s tears got heavier, as she tried hard to stop herself from crying, as silently as she could. That didn’t work, as her sniffing only got louder

“Are you crying?” Nica asked in disbelief “We spoke an hour ago” she said confused “how can you be crying?” even as Mira cried louder “Tell me what the hell happened, everything from the last time we spoke, till now” she shouted through the phone, Mira couldn’t even bring herself to move the phone from her ears “do not leave out anything, not even a single moment” she finished in a louder voice”

“don’t let me come there and find out for myself Mira, you and I both know that is not a good idea” she stated after waiting a minute with no response from Mira.

Upon hearing that statement, Mira began explaining everything to her sister, with tears and occasionally teary hiccups, Mira finally manage to give her sister full details of everything that had happened in the last hour, which honestly felt like so much more.

“Nica, are you there” Mira questioned, as it has been silent for more than a minute after she had finished explaining.

“Give me a minute. I’ll call you back in two to three minutes, stay where you are, and don’t do anything okay” Nica said after listening to everything Mira had said. “I’ll tell you what you’re going to do, once I can make this call”. Hanging up before Mira could say anything.

Mira stayed where she was, trying desperately to wipe her tears and stop her tears, while simultaneously wondering what her sister’s plan was.