Daily Write - Two Choices

Amanda pulled her seat out slowly and sat down. She diverted her eyes to the table, folding her hands underneath of it. She had worked out this conversation in her head hundreds of times. But even that did not keep the words from awkwardly getting stuck in her throat. She started and stopped several times before she finally got the crux of what she wanted to say.

"Let's be honest with ourselves," Amanda said, voice low,"We are just going to end up hurting each other by the end of this whole thing. We should probably stop before that happens."

Duncan took the seat that was across the table, obviously not surprised that this conversation had come up. He had been expecting it. He had seen the look in her eyes for days now. That small fear that kept building up, eating at the back of her mind. He had watched it grow and grow, wondering when she was going to finally tell him what it was that was on her mind. He didn't speak, just took a deep breath and leaned back in the chair.

"I'm not saying that I haven't had fun," Amanda continued, her hand folding and unfolding while she talked, "Everything has been great. You have been great. But I know how this will turn out. And I would rather just we keep all the good memories and complicate things with bad ones."

Duncan didn't take his eyes off the small framed woman across from him, even though she refused to make any gesture at eye contact.

"I suppose there isn't really anything that I can say that would make you change your mind," Duncan said more as a statement than actual question.

Amanda shook her head, still keeping her eyes on the table. She felt that bad about doing this to Duncan. He had been an unseen breath of fresh in her life. He had been sweet and amazing. It was something about the way he did simple things, like say her name when he saw her, that made her feel so special. Like the world consisted of nothing but her. But Amanda knew all of that would end sooner or later. And the pain of that heartbreak would be far worse than the pangs of guilt that she was feeling right now.

There was only silence for a while. Amanda fidgeting in her chair and Duncan only sitting and looking at the top of her head. Then Duncan pushed his chair back from the table and stood up.

"It seems like you have taken time to think everything out. Though I wish that you had told me about this before. Maybe I could have convinced you to think differently about us."

For the first time since the conversation had started, Amanda lifted her gaze. The pangs of guilt only got worse when she looked into his face. He didn't look angry or upset. Only a subtle blanket of disappointment hung from his features. Amanda looked away again, not being able to handle that look.

Duncan made his way over to Amanda's chair and crouched down so she would be forced to look at his face. He gently grabbed her shoulders and turned her to him. He brushed her hair to the side, tucking behind her ear and pressed his lips against her forehead. He looked at her and gave her a small smile.

"You could be right. Everything could go the way you just said. But, I'm more stubborn than you have realized. So, the way I see it, you have two choices right now. You can let me take you out to dinner willingly or I will have to carry you to my car."