It changed when I met you

Marianne opens a love letter that has been sitting on her doorstep since the night before. She had a feeling that it was a little bit strange that anyone would drop such a thing at a neighbourhood that is so noisy . The letter was in a beige envelope with a bouquet of roses and so she peaked through the door.There was a shadow of a male figure that wore a white shirt, black pants and white air forces. It was so mysterious that Marianne decided to read the letter that wrote “ I remembered the nights where it was just people loving life. You were usually the one that organized most of the event and so the way you were so outspoken caught my attention”. After reading the letter, the young lady was so touched that she placed it on one of her night tables. Marianne hoped that the beginning of a new story would save her from going to meet with the reaper. After some time, she calls her best friend to explain what happened in the letter and what went down at work.

“ Girl, the dating game has changed so much since your days with jack-a-jack!” laughed the best friend.

“ Remember, what he did to me literally last year, Jenni?” exclaimed Marianne.

Jack-o-Jack was someone who had the exact personality as the con-artist from Fall from Grace. He was the lover that the family adored but the dark truth surfaced on the night of Christmas in 2017. After a few drinks, a couple of childhood friends spilled the most disgusting information which was that Jack-o-Jack was a brothel owner who made money off of trafficked women.

The next morning, there was a sound of heavy knocking with the door slammed aggressively onto the wall. Marianne wakes up, hearing the yelling of an older woman from the living room. She grabs her night robe then rushes down the stairs and it was her mother, sitting on the couch. The old memories raced her mind from the broken bottles covered in blood to being abandoned at a bus stop with no one to be found. It was a surprise because the mother showed up purposely looking rough, carrying a huge bag along with a bottle of gin. They both started talking about what they had done for the last ten years and that’s where the argument began.

“ I’m a grown woman. I pay my bills, groceries, clothes and everything else that doesn’t involve you over-controlling, Vannie.” yelled the daughter.

“ Have you looked at yourself, lately? You have barely meat on your bones and that long hair of yours makes you look like a raggedy woman.” said the mother with a devilish smirk.

The lonely woman went to an elementary private school where the less fortunate, middle class and the rich spoke about each other’s success and of their downfalls. It was a school that wasn’t friendly to minorities especially when they don’t fit the racial stereotype. Marianne was a Southeast Asian girl that constantly struggled to find herself but never failed to voice what was evidently wrong. There was a time in geography class where the teacher pulled little Marianne out of class, asking if she was capable of understanding simple French.From that moment, Vannie ’s daughter slowly had her confidence crumble whenever it was a new year. The education system was in a love and hate relationship with the young girl because of the sense of comfort coming from teachers who truly cared of her well-being. Korean drama and anime were two things that brought comfort to her regardless of what happened at home or at school. By watching Asian tv, the characters have taught her the values of the Asian culture without having her parents do it since the mother never wanted to be around her own people.The parents weren’t the best at showing simple communication or genuine love due to the past issues that kept brewing even before their daughter. The problems were a never-ending cycle like the passive aggressiveness, the violence after bed time and plenty of other issues that can’t be explained. It was a series of events that Marianne kept on absorbing even though she shouldn’t ever because she was only a child.

Marianne shakes her head and resumes to reality where a hand was on her throat. Opened her eyes to her mother screaming “ I was so glad to leave you at that bus stop years ago!” Both of the women ran around yelling from the top of their lungs, swearing, throwing vases which left the house covered with lines of blood. Marianne sat on the floor, struggling to breathe then looked everywhere and thought “ Why did she come back after all these years?”. On the other side of the living room, Vannie was singing a song along the lines of “ mothers know best” and that’s when the poor daughter realized that family isn’t everything.

“Remember, you can never escape from me.” said the mother.

Keep in mind, this is the same woman that abandoned her daughter by saying that she’ll come back before the creeps appear near the bus stop. Little Marianne stood there shivering with just a purple windbreaker , hoping that a relative could magically scoop her from the cold. Back then, phone booths were one of the many devices that people relied on and so Marianne called everyone she knew for hours and hours. The blood swimming in her body felt like it was just a large blood bag waiting to be used by some nurse. The frost bite was so deadly that the last thing she saw was an older man, carrying novels and wearing big leather dress shoes.

The old man carried her with all the strength he had since the winter wasn’t so kind to him like it did before. A bus driver stopped the bus to help the old man and the little girl without needing to pay since he knew how much the elder had gone through.

“ What did you expect from your daughter, honestly? You literally left her to die in the cold all by herself! “ yelled the cousin.

“ But that’s all in the past because look how much I’ve changed... Jonathan, c’mon!” laughed Vannie.

“ Totally, rocking that broken look” said the cousin.

After a while, the daughter finally found the strength to get up and clean everywhere with all the broken plates. The mother and her nephew left the living room and moved to the backyard with the leftover vodka. With every drink, they kept on rocking their bodies back and forth along with throwing the plastic shot cups into the pool thinking it was a large table.

Later, there was the mysterious man dropping off another surprise but this time he waited on the porch. The old woman jumped out of her seat and rushed her way to the door until Marianne’s hand was already on the doorknob, glaring at her mischievous mother. The lady fixed her hair then proceeded to walk out the door just to see her secret admirer. This secret admirer was of tanned skin, black hair and insanely tall. He had a box wrapped in magazines with a blue bow along with a bouquet of white roses. To the lonely woman’s surprise, this man was actually someone who she knew back in college before life got a little bit too serious.

“ Surprise Ma’am! I assume that you don’t remember me?” said Samuel-Luis

“ Luis, I thought you wouldn’t ever come back because of... you know” exclaimed Marianne

“ I don’t know if you have read the letter… but i wanted to know if you’re seeing somebody, right now.” said Samuel-Luis

“ Buuut..?” asked Marianne curiously

“All I’m going to say is that whenever you’re alone, sitting in an all black room. Remember that’s how I see you surrounded with just stars.” spoke Luis.

The man fixed his posture by folding his white collar, adjusted his chain necklace and turned on his phone to see if he wasn’t looking crazy. Marianne looked at her admirer from head to toe , thinking “ How did I not notice him back when I was studying film?” . With the birds chirping and the dogs barking, they found themselves, holding hands so tight like they didn’t want to leave each other like before. The ambiance made this specific meet so special that even the animals stopped walking just to see the Disney love unfold.

“ I want to take you on a date to Ryu restaurant then let’s go-” said Samuel-Luis.

“ I’m not a piece of meat, Luis.” said Marianne.

“ Listen ma’am, I was going to say that we can go downtown and do a photoshoot at those places with insane led lights.” said Samuel-Luis laughingly.

She was so embarrassed at what she had said before because it triggered her conscience since her former lover wasn’t a charming prince. Finally, Marianne opens the huge present filled with mini bags of makeup, snacks and everything she wished for many moons . It was like the stars had fallen to Samuel-Luis’s hands with a letter that said “ it’s who you’ve been waiting for.” Just like that first letter he gave, the envelope was covered in sparkled white roses along with a blue ribbon. Some could say that it was heaven-sent and others would comment that it’s just rubbish.

The following night came, the young lady dropped her shopping bags and laid one by one with the happiest thought of what’s going to happen next. She places the last vinyl on the phonographs while humming “ don’t get caught, young girl” then puts on the jumpsuit she got from H&M. For the first time in years, Marianne loved herself and the way she was finally heard from all of those endless prayers. Opened the window, there was loud music playing from around the block and a voice chanting “ Everybody, I’m going on a date with my crush from college”.

“ I know, it’s not my cousin riding that bike drunk, again” said concerned Marianne.

There it was, Samuel-Luis driving his motorcycle and carrying an old school boom box with flashing led lights. He walked to her doorstep, screaming that she’s late and the night isn’t getting any younger. Soon enough, the future couple looked into each others’ eyes like there wasn't enough time for them to walk on this earth.

Marianne climbs onto the motorcycle, puts her helmet on then wraps her arms around Samuel’s waist. She put her head against his back, thinking how her best friend would die to even experience such a Hollywood-like romance like this.

Arriving at the restaurant, the table clothes were made with exceptional tapestry, the glasses looked like they could never break and the chefs were Marianne’s fairly odd parents of the night. The food was decorated with particular memories that supposedly only she knew. The couple talked about families, similar interests and even if there was going to be a next time. After a while, Samuel-Luis grabbed her hand with a box of chocolate but before he could say anything…

“ Luis, I will never let you breathe in peace and it ends now!” yelled a man dressed in a blue suit.

Everyone in the restaurant panicked and hid behind the furniture and in the kitchen. As the fight grew, Samuel-Luis tells Marianne to get her things and leave the restaurant with the children left in the restaurant before there’s a hostage situation. Of course, with her thirst of rebellion, Marianne walks rapidly to the stranger yelling “ Why would you do this to him? He didn’t murder your whole family!” The older people gasped at the thought that there was a possibility of someone dying on their poker day.

“ Grandpa, I don’t think that’s how it went.” said Samuel-Luis’ granddaughter

“ Trust me I know, you’re grandmother had the best soul even when we were kids” said Jenni

“ Who’s knocking the door now? I knew she would come back!” groaned the old man

“ Mr. Loughty, were you talking about your dear wife? Please,take your medication.” commented the caretaker.

“ Ah ah just because I’m schizophrenic, doesn’t mean that I’m not allowed to remember our love story! In this notebook, it confirms what I said is true!” yelled Samuel-Luis.

“ I... It’s like as if some part of it was a dream” shared the grandson.

“ I remembered on the day of our wedding, I stood up with my shoulder high and told your grandmother that everything changed once I met her.” said the old man happily.

“ Why’s that, grandpa?” asked the grandson

“ Back in college,she walked from her apartment, wearing those fancy jackets while holding bags of groceries. I remembered when her lashes would be covered in snow and her hair was always wrapped in one of those head accessories. She used to say “ You know, how my hair reacts to the damn cold” with such a serious face. I knew it from the moment she accepted my most embarrassing and shameful stories that night at the coffee shop.” said the old man proudly.