A Kiss for a Tree
Chelsea was running late. She had intended to be at Jessica’s place well before the clock struck midnight. Brian was going to be there and she wanted to make sure she got to him before any other party-goers. It was going to be her best chance to finally move their friendship to the next level. She had always dreamed of kissing someone as the New Year rang, and she had also always wanted to kiss Brian since the first time they were introduced so it was a double win if she could get his attention before the stroke of midnight.
Chelsea checked her purse one last time as she exited her apartment. She froze when she saw a small envelope taped to the door. It wasn’t post-marked and just had the word “Elseach” written on it with a heart drawn around it. Elseach was an anagram of her name, something only one person knew about. She and her childhood friend Justin had used them when they would play games as kids growing up in the swamps of Mississippi. He was Jinust and she hadn’t seen Jinust since she moved to the city five years ago. He tried multiple times to keep in touch with her to no avail. Jessica had told her he was in the city for the holidays but she hadn’t bothered to reach out.
Justin was actually her first kiss. They were five and he had carved their pretend names on a tree near their neighborhood. “Elseach and Jinust” it read. He told her that when they grew up he’d marry her. She laughed and he stole her first kiss.
Chelsea removed the note stuffing it in her purse without opening it and proceeded to Jessica’s. When she got there she was disappointed that Brian wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Jessica walked up with a drink in hand. “You okay?” she asked Chelsea.
“Seen Brian?”
“No but Justin is here. He’s asking for you.”
“All well and good but where do you think Brian is?”
“Chelsea,” Jessica pulled her aside, “Please tell me you aren’t still filling yourself up with fantasies about him?”
She blushed at her cousin’s accusation. “It’s New Year’s Eve. I guess I thought if we ever had a chance it’d be tonight.”
“Look, I’m your friend as well as family. He isn’t into you but Justin is, go with that.”
“I don’t want Justin. Anyway I haven’t seen him in a long time so I’m not sure why you think he’s so interested.”
“Well just trust me. Besides, it’s New Year’s Eve, try to have an open mind. We can wish for the stars but we still live on Earth.”
“Thank you very much for shitting on my inner dreamer.”
“Then stop falling in love with the wrong man.”
“Easier said than done.”
Chelsea moved away from Jessica and headed to the kitchen where she fixed herself a very strong drink. She looked around with her head on a swivel as she drank. She spotted Justin and they met eyes for a moment before she could pretend she didn’t see him, she was focused on her plan to run into Brian. She tried to move through the crowd of people but it was no use shaking Justin.
“Hey Chelsea, it’s good to see you again.” He went in for a hug which Chelsea blocked by raising her drink to her chest.
“Yeah hi Justin. Jessica told me you were here.”
He looked a little deflated by Chelsea’s cold reaction. “I hope you don’t think it weird but I left kind of a note on your door for you. I wasn’t sure if you would get it before the party.”
“Oh it’s…yeah I didn’t get it,” she lied.
He knew she was lying. “You know Chelsea, life affords us so few honest moments. No reason we should add to them by lying.”
“Do you think I’m lying?”
“You’re looking around the room while the man who truly desires you is standing right in front of you. You’d know that if you had actually read my note.” He lingered.
“What, you want me to read it now?” He nodded that he did so she took it out. It described how he never got over his first love, how he followed her on social media, often feeling jealous when she’d post pictures of boyfriends over the years. He wrote about how when he came to the city, and they finally saw each other again, he’d tell her everything. Wrapped in the note was a picture of the old tree, their childhood nicknames still carved and apparent. She looked up at him. “Is this true?”
“What do you think?” She looked at him with surprise, her heart skipping a beat. She’d never read anything like that before and her nostalgia consumed her. In seconds flat she saw him with different eyes, eyes so shifted that she didn’t notice that Brian had appeared and lifted his brow when he saw her, hopeful she’d meet his side for the final seconds of the year.
The countdown started. “Ten, nine, eight, seven, six”.
Justin stared deeply into Chelsea’s eyes as he spoke to her with an intensity she had ignored up until that moment. “A woman can learn all she needs to know about a man in twenty seconds, if she so desires.”
“You don’t say?”
“If he adores you, if he pays attention, if he relieves your tears rather than adding more, that’s how you find love. You shouldn’t have to search for him Chelsea, he will find you.”
Chelsea was taken back to something pure about their bond as the countdown ended and everyone was cheering and embracing around them. “Happy New Year,” she replied as she kissed him.
Dogs and Whiskey
“Why are you here, Jessica?”
Jessica had rung the doorbell and when Mark answered he was not only astonished to see her but Petey beside her. Mark and Jessica divorced five years ago. He protested her taking their dog but she did it anyway. Snow was falling outside and Petey, a Pitbull, was shivering.
“What the hell?”
“I’m sorry, we had no place to go,” Jessica pleaded.
“Bullshit.” He stroked Petey whose tail wagged. “It’s been five years Jessica. What goes?”
“I don’t have time to explain.”
“Well try. It’s New Year’s Eve.”
“Look just take Petey. I promise I’ll explain it all later.”
Mark wanted nothing to do with her but he missed his dog. “Fine, go. Just go.” He slammed the door in Jessica’s face. “Well how ya’ been Petey?” Mark was elated to see him again. There was a time he never thought he would. Petey jumped all over him, kissing him. “It’s eleven forty three, Buddy, the New Year is close.”
Mark’s recollection became pronounced, “Eleven forty three” he said aloud once again. That was the precise hour of his car accident five years ago, five years ago when she left him, when he became confined to a wheel chair. Like tonight it was New Year’s Eve and like tonight she’d be there and be gone again.
Mark flipped on the TV to watch the countdown in Times Square. He patted the wheel of his chair. “Come on buddy let’s ring in the New Year together. Sorry, don’t have any bubbly for us to toast with but there’s always the toilet for you,” he joked. Mark took another hard swig from his glass on the end table. It’s wasn’t the good whiskey. It was the cheap stuff, the kind that burned his throat going down. He looked at his empty glass then poured some more from the bottle. He could never reason why he just didn’t drink it straight from the bottle since he always consumed it all anyway. He raised his glass to Petey who sat with a goofy smile looking at him. “Well here’s to the New Year.” Mark took another long swig.
He looked at the TV screen as celebrities and correspondents all garbed in designer winter gear flashed on the screen. “Look at them all up there talking about nothing really important! Meanwhile lives are ending in the blink of an eye blocks away.”
He took another swig of whiskey and looked at Petey. “So what’s your mom up to? After all these years why did she finally agree to share you?”
Petey whimpered. Mark rolled his chair around and went online to Google his ex. In the five years he had thought of her very little actually unless he was wondering about Petey. Search results came up. He learned on a breaking news site that his ex-wife’s parents had died tonight. On their way to an engagement they were in a terrible car wreck. He wondered why she didn’t tell him that. Why had she only dropped off the dog after all this time?
He realized she probably had no friends anymore. He knew he didn’t since the divorce, people choose sides but eventually abandon all couples who are hard to be around. He called her. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
She knew what he meant. “I didn’t want to burden you, especially tonight. It’s New Year’s Eve, a time to let bygones be bygones. It wasn’t right that I took our dog and I wanted you to have him tonight.”
“You’d do that for me?”
“Sure.”
“Sure.”
“Can I ask you a question?”
“Of course.”
“Did you leave me because of the wheel chair?”
“I left because you hated yourself. You can’t be in love with someone who hates themselves. No one can.”
“I killed a child in that accident.”
“It wasn’t your fault.”
“You weren’t there.”
“I know what happened. Even the parents eventually said it wasn’t your fault. They were the ones who lost control.”
“If I had been thirty seconds faster.”
“If I had been thirty seconds faster.”
“This is why I took Petey, because you couldn’t let go of it. I didn’t want him exposed to the pit you thrust yourself into.”
Petey walked up to Mark and put his head in his lap. He looked at the TV screen and saw it was one minute to midnight. Jesssica’s voice came over the phone again. “Maybe that was wrong. Maybe you needed to see yourself as he always saw you.” Mark looked down at Petey and then said, “Happy New Year, Jessica.”
“Happy New Year, Mark.” She hung up the phone.
Mark scratched Petey behind the ears as the horns blared over the TV ringing in the upcoming year. “A new year, a new start.” Petey lifted a paw and Mark took it in his own hand. “Thanks, buddy.”
