Shattered Dreams / Stories From the Heartland Loft

Chapter -27

Shattered Dreams
The Box Returns
By; mike hurley

They stood at the corner of Orchard & 3rd, waiting for the light to change. It was 2:20 am, & no cars. But they both watched Shane, as he walked down 3rd St, toward his apartment. Moments before he hugged them both, and felt like Henry Kissinger negotiating a peace treaty between two countries. Neither Ty or Amy wanted Shane to leave.

Now they were all alone & forced to suffer the uncomfortable reality that 'Ty & Amy' no longer existed. They were but remnants of a lost relationship. Amy had tried repeatedly to start up a conversation with Ty, only to have him turn to Shane and answer, .......totally ignoring her, like she was a ghost, or someone he never knew.

Ty stocked his fridge with Amy's  favorite foods, he wanted to get new sheets for her, but had little to say to Amy. He had little desire to carry on a conversation with her.

Amy had such a wonderful time with Shane; dinner, & dancing & talking non stop. Amy realized it could be construed as a date. She did like Shane a lot. In a different reality & if she had never met Ty, Amy would positively agree to go out on a real date with Shane.

But Amy was in her reality & she loved Ty, no other man would ever change that. So Amy loved Shane as a good friend, and that was all.
They had become friends,.....period. Shane would never cross that line either.  Ty was the common denominator of their friendship. Amy loved how Shane adored Ty as his best friend. She admired Ty for choosing Shane as his best friend. Ty had a knack for sizing people up and knowing how he stood with them. Amy felt caught in between his two extremes.

Ty had no interest in Amy, but was being nice to her to please Barbara.  Amy could not get her mind around that whole concept. It seemed so immature on Ty's part.

Every hour with Ty was draining Amy; she constantly tried to be happy, considerate, helpful, interested in his new life by asking questions,........that he ignored.  Amy forced back tears through a fairy tale smile.

Amy was a woman & tears were a blessing and a curse. Soraya said Amy was in a battle for Ty's heart. The only problem was Amy had just started fighting & she was already exhausted. She had no idea how much longer she could put up with his indifference, and anger.

She felt like a spider on his wall; her days numbered until he saw her......

Ty broke up with Ellie 2 hours ago, they walked in the rain to get ice cream, Amy was exhausted, and Shane had been gone for only 2 minutes & she missed him terribly. Ty was happy around Shane, now Ty just stood there by himself, with Amy a stranger on the same sidewalk. Was she being presumptuous, walking home with this man and sleeping alone in his bed. It was obvious he didn't want her here. The whole situation was surreal to Amy.

Ty was the same man she knew, but hid behind security fences. Was she a monster?? Did she scare Ty??

But as the light turned green Amy looked up into his eyes and was reminded just how bad she hurt him. Ty was devastated when she left his things in that box. At the time Amy had no
Idea how a simple cardboard box could do so much damage to a man's heart.

Amy was exhausted but she walked next to Ty, convinced again to fix what she had destroyed.

Amy promised her tired heart, that she'd stay and fight for his love, no matter how long it took. She would fight not only for Ty's heart, but for that look in a man's eyes when he wants a woman. Amy would give anything to undress in front of Ty, and make love with him.
She wanted to see him stealing glances at her again. A woman needed her man to want her.

They walked another 20 minutes in complete silence. Amy was tired & had no energy left to ask him question after question, trying to engage Ty.