The Beating of the Rain

Olivia pulled her car in the closest parking lot in sight. It was 12:28 am, and each raindrop on her windshield was another memory that sprung up in her mind. Her cries weren’t just whimpering of quiet sadness. No, these cries were competing against the sound of the rain. The crying only seemed to get louder and louder as a way of finally letting the world know that it was unjust. Olivia closed her wet eyes and tried hard not to think of when her heart was set on a path that was impossible to go back.
It was the best vacation she had in a long time. It was on this vacation that she finally knew where she stood when it came to friendships and dating. I guess it was easy to go along with the approach of being content of not having a guy considering she never really knew the feeling of having her heart broken. She stepped on the terminal that would take her to the family van. Sitting down on the seat, she whispered a prayer. This was a prayer of love and purity for the continuous grace that her Father had shown her. It was in this prayer that she knew that everything she did was based around Christ first and foremost. “I’m ready,” she thought. “I’m ready to be the example in my school and youth group. Nothing will hold me back.”
How much had changed since that cold brisk day in the terminal. There was so much hope and reassurance. How could she have changed so quickly? How could she of done the very thing she never thought was going to of happened so soon. That was giving her heart away to someone that was undeserving of it.
“Hi, I’m Henry, I just moved in with the pastor a week ago.” Olivia’s eyes widened to the point where she thought they wouldn’t be able to take it any longer. “Calm yourself,” she chanted silently in her head over and over. “Just because he happens to be blonde and gorgeous doesn’t mean I have to make a fool of myself” she thought. Throughout the course of the night when she first met Henry, she couldn’t think of anything else. She really did not understand what it meant to have your heart beat 150 times a minute until she was with Henry. They played cards, talked about their families and shared the passions that God had placed on their heart. People knew by the end of the evening this relationship formed wasn’t taken lightly; instead it was going to be something on going for a long time.
It was 11:30pm when Olivia finally left Henry. The rain was coming down so hard, it was nearly impossible to keep both eyes open. It wasn’t until she placed her hand on her car door that she remembered she needed to say goodbye to Henry. Right when she was about to turn around to find him she heard her name called. “Olivia!” Henry yelled across the driveway. Every other thought left her mind and she ran to meet Henry halfway. Water was running down their entire bodies, their hair was soaking wet yet none of that mattered when she saw him. She just needed to know that he was right there. “I just wanted to make sure that you drive home safe. Please be careful. It’s really scary out there.” Those were his departing words as she turned to walk back to her car.
“Wait!” she cried. Olivia turned around and ran into Henry’s arms as if this was the last time she would ever see him, yet this was the very first time she had met him. This scene looked like it was taken out of a scene from The Notebook. Boy and Girl run into each other’s arms with no chance of letting go. It was in Henry’s arms that Olivia finally found the place where she belonged.
Olivia flinched quickly when she realized the path her memories were taking her. “I can’t think about this, I was such a fool. I am still one” she repeated to herself over and over in her parked car. If only she knew the trail that started from this relationship. If only she listened to logic and the people around her, rather than what she thought her heart was telling her. If only…
“What’s your problem Henry? One minute you act as if you care deeply for me, then the next you act as if I have the plague. What’s wrong? What did I do?” This was the typical conversation Henry and Olivia would have about once a month. The rest of the time was an ongoing roller coaster. People couldn’t keep up with it. They were happy and together or they were frustrated and upset. However, if Henry did one special thing for her, Olivia would forget about the ten other wrongs that he done minutes before. She was smitten. Her heart didn’t beat at the same pace as her brain was telling her to back away. She was falling harder and harder for him as the months progressed. Sure he acted like a jerk plenty of times but when they went to the mission field and he shared his inner feelings with her alone, she couldn’t help but feel that this feeling was too good to pass up. Olivia couldn’t stay away but she knew getting too close was lethal at the same time. Unfortunately for her she was already infected, the side effects were dangerous.
“Trust me Henry. I’m not going to break your heart. Let me be the one to help you take off these layers that you’re using to protect yourself. I won’t hurt you. I promise” Olivia remembered the moment she had uttered those words. She pictured his face as she said those words. Tears were slowly starting to form in his eyes as he listened to her. “If only I protected myself at the same time” she thought. She assured herself to Henry over and over, never realizing that it was herself that needed the most protecting. Did those words help build the relationship? No, what it did was that it showed Henry that Olivia was his even if he didn’t offer the same promise in return.
“I missed you since you’ve been in school” Henry softly said as he looked into Olivia’s transparent brown eyes. Her eyes told the whole story. Even when she went away to school and thought she was over Henry, she knew she was wrong when she looked at him for the first time she came back home. “I’m never going to get over him she thought. If I feel this way then we must be meant for each other.”
“I was so wrong,” she softly whispered as the remaining tears slowly rolled down her cheeks. How could I of been so wrong. She threw her head against the steering wheel and slowly rehashed the hour before her world came crashing down.
She walked into the youth room, eager to surprise everybody. The first person Olivia set her sights on was Henry. Henry; beautiful, fun, crazy and amazing Henry. He gave her the same look that he always did. It was the kind of look where she has to stop for ten seconds while trying to get her heart to slow down. Just when she was about to say hi to him, Marie pulled her to the side with a look of sadness and pity. “Did you hear the news?” Marie said. “No, what’s the news?” Marie pulled Olivia off to the side, to a place that was private enough so that people wouldn’t have to witness the heartbreak that was about to take place for Olivia. “Henry is getting married.”
Olivia turned the key in the ignition and put the car in reverse. The rain was beginning to let up and the sun was peeking through the clouds. With tear stained eyes, Olivia slowly left the parking lot. Leaving behind every memory of her once beloved Henry.