A Missed Chance {Part 3 of 3} - Short Fiction

*Disclaimer: This a short story that I wrote for my English 203 class. The story has been submitted and graded. I decided to share this on here because I am proud of the work. If you missed the first three parts you can read them here and here. Enjoy the final installment!***

   The day that Eli will never forget is the day she came to say goodbye before she left for law school. He remembered every detail of that day, it was a rainy Tuesday in late in summer, she walked in around 3 o’clock, and her normally smooth hair was frizzy because of the rain but he didn’t care, he still thought she was the most beautiful girl in the world.

  

  “You ready to go?” he asked as they sat at table and split an order of the restaurant’s top rated bacon cheddar cheese fries.

    “Yeah, I’m terrified to go. You sure you don’t want to drop everything and run away to New York with me so that I won’t be out there all by myself?” Sami laughed; it had become a running joke between the two of them, that Eli would just drop everything and go to New York with her.

    Eli laughed too, but his was more halfhearted because he wanted nothing more than to do that, but he knew that if he loved her he had to let her go. “You’ll do fine, and if you hate it, you can come home, and I’ll be right here waiting.”

    “Good, I think you should audition for some shows in the city. That way I can see you perform, and you might get noticed by a label, you’re good enough to be.”

    “I’m not that good; I’m thinking it’s time that I start looking for something real, maybe music should just be a hobby, instead of a career.”

    Sami shook her head, “You need to stop selling yourself short; you are way too good to hide your music in dive bars and your basement. And you are too passionate about music to call it a hobby. Trust me Eli, you’ll regret it if you don’t chase after your dreams.”

    “I don’t know maybe I'm realizing that I have other dreams too,” Eli said.

    “Go after all of them, who says you can only live one dream?” Sami had always been Eli’s cheerleader and even on the day that she needed him to give her a pep talk here she was giving him one.

    “What am I going to do without you?” he asked.

    “You’ll be fine, and when you need me I’m only a text, tweet or phone call away, I promise,” Sami said with a reassuring smile.

They talked a little bit longer but soon it was time for Eli to clock in for his shift. Sami started giving hugs and saying good-bye to her other co-workers. But finally it was time for her to really leave and say good-bye to Eli. She went over to him and melted into him as they hugged. Tears ran done her face, and she whispered, “I love you, Eli.”

Eli couldn’t muster up words without giving away the fact that he was moments away from tears himself, so he kissed her on her head. She then walked out of the restaurants door, and all Eli could do was stand there and watch.

    But now 12 months later, here he was looking at the girl he always loved. “Hi, Eli,” Sami said the smile plastered across her face, “Come here, after a year, I think I deserve a hug.”

    Eli walked over and pulled her into the tightest hug. “God, I’ve missed you? How’s school, do you love it?”

    “More than I ever thought I could! How have you been? How’s your music?” She asked her eyes filled with questions.

    “I’m good; I’m actually the manager here. As for my music hasn’t really changed, I’m still playing gigs, but now I’m also in school so I can teach music to kids.” Eli explained, after watching Sami, leave he decided to take his future more seriously too.

    “Wow,” Sami said and part of Eli felt as if she was disappointed, like she had expected more from him.

    Then he saw him, another man, wearing khakis, and button-up shirt came up wrapping his arms around Sami’s waist. “Hey Babe.”

    “Hey, so this is my best friend Eli, Eli this Clark, my boyfriend.” And just like that Eli realized that the girl he loved didn’t love him. To her they would always just be best friends, because it was true he wasn’t what she wanted. His heart felt as if it had been ripped out of his chest, but he stood there with a smile as he met the man that took his place.