It was true that he had been very mean to her all those months back, but when it was good, it had been wonderful. Lindsay had really believed that he was the one and his betrayal had sent her spiraling. She never could understand how someone who had been so good to her had been able to call things off in such a hurtful way. But that was all in the past, she told herself. Josh would be hers again, she could feel it. Perhaps it was woman's intuation but Lindsay firmly believed she and Josh would be back together today. Lindsay had no way of knowing what Josh's life had become in her time away at school. He was not the man she remembered, not by a longshot.
Josh's day started out like most days, waiting. Endless waiting was a big part of his existence. You can't rush people who take care of you, he told himself day after day. He knew the realities of his situation but Josh didnt have to like it. Who in his position would? Since the day when his new life began, he had accepted the conditions of his circumstances but he longed for a normal life, one that was now completely out of his grasp. When he waited, he often thought of Lindsay, his beautiful ex girlfriend who he had foolishly broken it off with, just months before this craziness began. He had done it for all the right reasons, he reminded himself. But now, he spent many lonely hours longing for the girl he had never truly stopped loving. He had dated a few other girls since Lindsay went off to college but those girls were not like her. He missed her terribly, despite the fact that he knew she was better off and that now especially, he knew he had saved her from a miserable situation.
On this particular morning as he sat on his bed waiting for his 15 year old sister Heather to make an appearance, Lindsay was very much on his mind. He wondered if she had found someone new. Her school year had been over for a couple of weeks so maybe she had come back from California. He hoped she was doing well and yet it pained him to think she had found another guy and had forgotten him. He pondered what it would be like if she were still in her life. Then he laughed to himself as he imagined what she would think if she could see him living like this! Josh knew from Kayleigh, the girl that he had been dating when this all started, that no girl could accept a boyfriend under these circumstances. How could he blame her. He had only changed a little when she told him that she coudnt face what was coming . Josh accepted it because he knew she was right. It was hard for him to imagine any girl could be strong enough to handle this!
As he thought about Lindsay and Kayleigh and his old life, he could hear his sister in the bathroom, getting herself ready for her last day of her sophomore year. Godamn was she noisy, Josh thought to himself. She was in her morning ritual which included everything you could ever think of that a 15 year old could do to herself before school! He wanted to tell her to keep down the fucking racket when she finally came in to tend to his needs, but she would probably not take too kindly to his harsh words if he were to speak his mind. Besides, she usually had at most 5 minutes left for him and he didnt want to waste what little time he had fighting with her. It would be a long time till 3 when she would be back for him again. ( that was assuming Heather would come right home from school and lately she had been less and less interested in getting home to handle her big brother chores.
Finally, Josh heard Heather's piercing voice calling to him. She apologized that she was running late and that she was going to take the dog out first and then be back for him but she said she would only have a minute for him. Damn! Josh wanted to scream. Just a few months earlier, Heather had been very sweet about all this, but lately, Josh was becoming a burden to her busy teenage schedule. He needed to talk to his parents about this. She was getting out of hand and was shirking her responsibilites. There was no way he was going to have everything taken care of in just a minute . He heard the door open and then Heather rushing down the stairs and out the front door. More time to wait. All he did was wait nowadays. He thought some more about Lindsay and had no idea she was at this minute thinking of him too. He missed her terribly and at that moment. they did not realize it but they were sharing a moment of longing for each other. Lindsay was getting ready to do something about it.