36 Questions to Fall in Love...in 36 days!

Chapter 53: Frustrations and Holes

26 November 2023 🥀

"—like they were recorded in the toilet."

That Saturday night, I lay in bed with the  curtains  drawn open so that the moon and stars were naked before me. I listened to Night Air for the zillionth time.

Her words came back to me, making me laugh into the night as I proceeded  to play the other songs of the musician.

As I listened to the songs it was clear that she was  not wrong. It was like a completely different person wrote the song.

It was still the same smooth velvety voice but it was like the previous albums were produced with a gun to his head as some terrible songwriter forced him to sing.

The instruments. The trumpets, the bass guitar, the flute and drums all clashed in ways that made his voice  drown out, like the sound of someone singing as the toilet flushed.

Even the terrible songs made me think of her.The other songs didn't make me dance but I had a few laughs and side comments.

I wanted her with me. Laying by my side and discussing how everything that went right with Night Air seemed to go left in his other songs.

I thought about Leonardo and Olivia's fight that took place right before my eyes. I felt helpless, watching the people I cared about fight. I was completely clueless and confused, unable to dissolve the situation.

Everything that happened for a reason seemed to be slowly falling apart in ways I never thought could happen. Watching my two best friends fight like that really tore at my heart.

What happens when the things you believe happened for a reason fall apart? Do you keep building, picking up the reasons again and again?

It was clear that girls in all of their beauty, charm and comfort were also deeply frustrating.

I saw the frustration in Leonardo's eyes, as he relayed what was happening with Olivia and him. I saw how his eyes looked just like how mine looked.

Frustration.

Burning,pulling and taking from us.

I asked simply for one conversation but Thandiwe was having none of it. It was  like she'd rather we not share another word with each other.

Girls were frustrating!

Despite all that, I also saw the fight in Leonardo's eyes. Like a fire in the depth of his dark eyes, even though he was  angry. It only meant that he found a girl who was worth the frustration.

  Love wasn't the absence of frustration in fact it was quite the opposite. The frustrations were there, present and unavoidable.

"You're worth the frustrations Thandiwe."

27 November 2023🥀

I got a call from Leonardo's grandfather. It was unexpected, weird and an honour.

"Leonardo has given up...on love. He's given up on Olivia."

The line went dead quiet after Mr July spoke those ominous words. Everything  paused. The silence was broken when Mr July explained everything in depth, the pain clear in his tone.

"Wha- that's impossible " I didn't know what to say after everything. I was shaken by the foundations I thought would always stand.

"He needs you right now." Mr July said. "He needs us."

"Anything. We can't let Leonardo make this mistake."

More words were shared between us and when he hung up, the line went dead.