BROKEN PROMISES

Broken Promises

Mayday, mayday, mayday...… I've lost the right engine and I'm losing altitude fast. Please clear the nearest landing strip for an emergency landing.

Intercom

This is your Pilot speaking please remain calm and do exactly what I say.

Place your trays in the upright position buckle your seat belts and prepare for an emergency landing. Stewardesses, you have two minutes to assist all children and elderly passengers with their positioning. Get back to your seats and prepare for impact. A frantic father begs “Please, get us there safely, I have to get home to my daughter.” “Sir calm down, we’re doing all we can.” The sounds of turbulence take over as you hear the cries and scared voices of nervous passengers.

"Janae…. Janae…Janae! Wake up class is over the professor is gone."

Aw man another nightmare, will they ever stop? Janae thinks to herself. "Hey guys, we meeting at the Library at five again?" ask Jeff a friend of Janae’s. Sarah replies "You know it!"

As Janae gathers her thoughts and her belongings, she heads to the restroom, in walks the spice girls from hell. "Hey, Janae the nerd," "Hi Crystal rocks for Brains." “Did you get the notes from class today, um no why?" "Eric flirted with me during the entire professor lecture." "Well, I didn’t take notes because I fell asleep, we’re meeting at the library at five if you’d like to join us." “Me, hang with the revenge of the nerds? No thank you I’ll pass!"

Janae leaves the restroom and heads back to her dorm when she is approached by Alex. "Hey Janae, how’s everything going?" "Everything is good on my end” Says Janae. "Cool, later on, would you like to get something to eat?" Alex asked. “I can’t I have a lot of work to do, maybe next time." Alex replies "yeah okay maybe next time, you look nice by the way.” Janae replies "Thanks, see ya."

Janae finally makes it back to her dorm where she’s feeling more comfortable in her own space. She takes a nap before heading to her study group. As she takes a deep breath, she falls asleep. She starts to dream of memories about her father when she was little.

"Dad…. dad come play with me," "okay honey give me a sec." "Dad hurry," "yes ma’am I guess I’ll do this later." "Give me your hand sit down we’re going to eat. What do you want to eat dad?" "Well, I have the filet mignon," "Um Fi-let minion?" No honey Filet mignon, never mind I’ll have the steak please and a glass of merlot. "

Ring, ring, ring…. the sound of her phone wakes her up. Ring, ring, ring …. She sees her friends calling and realizes she’s overslept. She quickly hops up grabs her stuff and heads to the library. "You late Janae," & you ugly Sarah now let’s get in these books."

Over the next couple of hours, they study and compare notes finishing up their work. While packing up their stuff Sarah says "Let me give y’all this tea, Brian asked me for my number the other day, we talked a couple of times and now he wants to Netflix and chill." "Netflix and chill is code for sex, I hope you know that, right?” says Ashley.

They all laugh, "so Janae how is your love life?" Sarah asks eagerly awaiting her response. "A lot of guys always try to talk to you but you don’t give nobody a chance, "that’s because all they want to do is Netflix and chill. No one has ever asked me out on an actual date." "Well didn’t Derrick invite you to a barbeque, Derrick’s idea of a barbeque is him putting his meat in my grill." Bahahaha, ewe you a mess.

"Here comes your little puppy dog Alex Janae!" "Alex walks up to the group and speaks to everyone. "Hey, yawl, hey Janae," the group responds sarcastically "hey Alex." "Janae now that your study group is over maybe we can grab something to eat?" "This isn’t a good time."

Alex confidently says "Put your number in my phone". Janae reluctantly grabs his phone and quickly inputs her number so he could go away. "I’ll text you later," "sure." As Alex walks away everyone in the group starts to whisper and gossip, "is he stalking you Janae?" "No Alex is cool, he’s just persistent." "Janae, he did ask you out." "He’s not my type he’s just too nice." They all get up and head their separate ways, "goodnight see yawl later." Janae goes home finishes up a few projects and goes to bed.

To her surprise, she wakes up the next morning without any nightmares and having had a decent night's sleep. She grabs her phone and notices a good morning Text from no one other than Alex, A.K.A Mr. Nice Guy. She ignores his text and continues with her morning routine. She goes on with her day just as any other day.

As she walks out of her class, she notices Alex approaching her with a bouquet of flowers. She starts to blush, which quickly turns into embarrassment. Out of embarrassment, she says "what are you doing?" Alex responds "these are for you, I thought you might like them cause there your favorite color and flower." Janae responds “there nice; this is just too much." She then turns and walks away without taking the flowers. This upsets Alex and he immediately with a firm tone says "Janae wait!" Never having heard Alex taken this tone she's caught off guard and freezes. She turns towards Alex as he approaches closer and closer. He says with a polite but firm tone, "if you like the flowers you should take them, I didn’t mean to embarrass you but I’m interested in us. I always ask you out, but you always turn me down. I know you like me and I like you too, so give me a chance. All I’m asking is for one simple date and that’s it. If you don’t enjoy yourself, I promise I’ll leave you alone." She takes a moment, takes a deep breath, and caves in appreciative of his ability to take charge. "Yes, Alex we can go. Alex smiles hands her the flowers hugs her and tells her "I’ll send you the details later, Thanks."

As she walks away, she notices everyone staring enviously at the romantic interaction which just took place. She smiles to herself relieved and confused never having the sensation of butterflies before. This was all new to her but she liked it. Janae gets home and settles in. She receives text messages from her friends asking about the romantic interaction. She thinks to herself “wow word gets around fast.” She responds by texting “mind your business L.O.L.”

Hours go by as she sits and reflects over everything that has happened. Out of nowhere, she receives a text from Alex with the details of the date, "Tonight I’ll pick you up at 8:30. P.M. Dress nicely we’re going somewhere upscale." It’s now 6:30 and reality begins to set in. She thinks to herself oh my Gosh I’ve never been on a date before, what do I wear? She frantically opens up her closet and tries on different dresses. As she tries on the dresses, she can’t help but reminisce about her father who is the only man she’s ever respected and loved. She goes into her journal takes out a letter and begins to read. As she reads it, she can’t fight back the tears, she remembers the love letter her dad wrote when she was just a child. She recalls the time her dad wrote the love letter; it was while they sat at the table in her room as she served her father filet mignon and merlot. Her Dad says "thank you honey this was such a nice dinner." He grabs a crayon and writes a love letter and gives it to her.

After she reads the love letter still in tears and frantic, she starts to try on clothes again, not able to decide on a dress, hairstyle, or lipstick to wear.

After trying on all her dresses, she finds the perfect match. She gets dressed, grabs a blanket, fruits, vegetables, and the letter which she places in her purse. Overwhelmed with emotion she gets in the car and starts driving to her destination. On the way, she stops by a winery and picks up a bottle of merlot as well as two classes. After an hour and a half of driving, she arrives at her destination, Oakwood cemetery. Still sniffling, in tears, she gets out of the car, walks over to a tombstone. She lays out her blanket, plates her fruits and vegetables as well as pours two glasses of merlot. She stands up pulls out the letter and begins to read.

"To Daddy’s little girl,

You are my greatest accomplishment. You are beautiful, smart, and funny. There will come a day when you will meet another man and before that time comes, I want to make sure you know how a man should treat you. When your old enough I promise to take you on your first date………….

Love Daddy"