“Yeah?”

“Can I at least stop by tonight to give you your present?  I think you’ll really like it.”

“No…how about we just do the whole birthday thing another day?”  Tina began to feel exasperated, and now she wanted to yell at Eric for taking up her time.  “Okay Eric, I really have to get going now or I’m going to be late.  Bye.”

“Bye…” said Eric sounding disappointed once again.

Tina knew from the bottom of her heart that Eric was genuinely a great guy.  He is everything a girl would want – he was considerate, kind, had a great sense of humor, financially stable, romantic, affectionate, and most of all, he absolutely adored her.  However, she knew that her future wasn’t with him.

Tina sat in her car and while waiting for it to warm up, she sat there thinking to herself.

‘Why aren’t I in love with him?  He’s the greatest guy and the best boyfriend anyone could ever want.  What’s wrong with me?’

After Tina’s thoughts, she drove off upset at herself for not being in love with Eric.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Just as Bette walked into the library, her younger sister, Kelly, was heading towards the door when she spotted Bette.

“Hey Ms.  Porter!”  Kelly said with a smirk on her face.

“Shut up Kelly!”  Bette said in a jokingly voice.  “Can you help me find something outside?”

“What are you looking for?”

“I lost the charm to my bracelet,” Bette replied sounding disappointed.

“The lock?” Kelly asked in shock.  She knew Bette loved that bracelet, and always took care of it.

“Yeah…if I don’t find it, it’s really going to piss me off!”

That bracelet was more than just a simple piece of jewelry to Bette.  It was a gift from her grandmother when she was just a little girl.  She told Bette that the lock had a key, and whoever held that key would be the one to take Bette’s heart.  In her toddler years, Bette believed the myth her grandmother told her about that bracelet.  Now, at an older and wiser age, she didn’t believe in those fairytales anymore, but she held on to it because it was her grandmother’s.  As realistic and cynical as Bette is, deep down in her soul, she believed what her grandmother said, and she was waiting for that person who held the key to unlock her heart; to let her love unconditionally without regret.

“Did you find it yet?” A desperate sounding Bette asked while starting to panic.

“No, sorry.”

With the already little hope Bette held in life, what would happen if she couldn’t find her charm?  That little smudge of hope, happiness, and a “happily ever after,” would all be gone for Bette.

“I just don’t know where it could’ve gone.  *****!”