Grace & Hayden : Part II
[Continued from Grace & Hayden : Part I]
New years night was around the corner. New years eve was not just the turn of another year for Grace. It wasn’t just the countdown. It was not only the day to mark new resolutions and hope for a better year. It was the day and the moment when her boyfriend of 8 years, with who she had built her whole life, had walked out citing differences. When the fireworks lit the skies at the strike of 12, he looked at her and said he wanted to split because things weren’t working out. And he walked away, leaving Grace in the middle of the freezing cold and amongst thousands of strangers. Grace had been left before by family and partners. Still, that night was the nail in the coffin as that wasn’t just a relationship. That relationship had been everything she had worked towards in her life. Years had passed since that moment yet she could not erase that pain of being left alone.
To deal with the pain of the memories that the new year’s eve brought, Grace always ensured that she went away on a trip by herself. She wanted nothing to remind her of her regular life. That was a personal moment that no one must be allowed to cross. Nothing had changed her ritualistic new year’s trip, but this time there was a tug which said ‘let’s change plans and stay back. For a change, let us do something at home’.
The intuition was strong enough to tell her that the pain from the older memory can be managed. She wasn’t sure and went back and forth in her mind. Was it fear of the unknown place, was it gut instinct, she did not know! When she mentioned the confusion to Hayden, he said she shouldn’t stop and must go ahead. Although they never met after the party, by then she trusted Hayden enough to not cross question his decision and decided to go ahead.
The new year and a solo trip, sounded interesting to Hayden. His friends had no plans and he wanted to go out and spend time. Maybe it would be a good idea for him to join Grace. He could take a few days off and celebrate new year at the place Grace mentioned. The plan sounded enticing. The house party at his friend’s place did not seem as interesting as taking the bike out to an unknown place. He made his mind and asked Grace right away if she could join, and as he expected, she was enthralled. Although their friend-date hadn’t happened, neither of them cared much because they would still have a good weekend with each other. Grace suggested maybe they should invite others too. She knew that too many people means an encroachment into her personal space and her painful memories, but she was ok with it, for she felt Hayden would like company. But much to her surprise and his, Hayden wanted it just to be the both of them since he wanted to completely recover from the heartbreak and somehow he did not want someone else to come in between them.
The following days Grace only got busier. She had for a long time in her life put work first, but with Hayden’s subtle support, she began looking at the brighter things in life. She was chirpier and, in general, more positive in life. Perhaps it was the acceptance, that he hadn’t thought for long to say an ok to her. Abandonment issues were slowly trickling away, and that brought a whole new zeal into Grace’s life. And for every smile she had, she thanked that Hayden was in her life.
Things were looking good for Hayden too. He met someone new at his workplace who caught his attention. Someone, he shared a lot of things in common. What started as hanging out as friends became a subtle crush for Hayden. The pain about his recent break up almost diminished with newer feelings replacing the old ones. Both Grace and Hayden were going through one of their best times of the year, and they were both confident that the trip would only make it better.
Once in a while, Grace would taunt Hayden about the friend-date that never happened, and he would just reply that she was always busy. He was right, and she felt guilty. But she knew she would make it up on the trip.
Over days the replies from Hayden reduced to a word or two in stark contrast to the long messages they would send each other before. Hayden was busy with his new found interest not realising that when one gains, one loses. Grace attributed that to Hayden being busy at work unaware of the fact that he was busy in trying to woo someone. With the vacations coming closer, she also found no time to stay engaged in casual chat.
[Continued in Grace & Hayden : Part III]
