This is a story I wrote very quickly for a class I recently participated in. The prompt was to look at a recent text and take a line or so from it as a way to jump into a story. The text message I chose was from Ray when he was flying back from Texas. It read: “Taking off. Exit row.” Below is my flash story.

Taking Off

I heard the familiar ding and glanced down at my phone. The text was from my boyfriend Jeremy, who had written, “Taking off. Exit row.” It was 3:30 pm in Texas and I knew that he would be arriving at my doorstep in California in three and a half short hours.

I was not happy. I wanted more time to come up with my break-up plan. This wasn’t easy since I strongly suspected Jeremy was making this special trip to see me in order to pop the question. Yes, that question. And the bottom line was I wanted to jump in before he got down on one knee so I could tell him that I’d met someone else. I didn’t want to humiliate the guy after all the time we’d been together. I just wanted out.

I took a bath in preparation, got dressed, and was just putting the finishing touches on my make-up when the doorbell rang. I checked my watch. There was no way Jeremy could be here already unless he’d lied about when he left. I hurried to the door and stared out the peephole. It wasn’t Jeremy but Harrison, my new boyfriend. What was he doing here?

I opened the door with a big smile only to find Harrison looking glum. “I owe you a face-to-face, Sally. I can’t continue our relationship. I just went back to my old girlfriend.”

“What?” I said, shocked.

“There’s nothing more to be said. I just wanted to tell you in person.”

I watched as he got into his car and drove away.

Returning inside, I found myself instantly regrouping. Okay. No Harrison. Did that make Jeremy’s proposal more interesting? I weighed the pros and cons and, after much deliberation, decided to put on a prettier dress and doll up my hair a bit, prepared to be happily surprised when Jeremy produced the engagement ring.

A while later, the doorbell rang again. I peeked out and saw Jeremy standing there with a bouquet of red roses in his hand. I checked my hair once more in the nearby mirror, then opened the door.

Jeremy wasn’t there. Instead, on the top step lay the bouquet of roses next to an envelope. Hearing a car engine start, I watched Jeremy drive away.

The card inside the envelope read: “So sorry, but I can’t do this anymore. Please accept these flowers as my sincere apology.”

Back inside, I put the roses in a vase, then headed to my bathroom where I scrubbed off my make-up, pulled my hair up in a ponytail, and changed into sweats. Looking at myself in the mirror, I said out loud, “It’s okay to be alone.” I knew that was my higher self talking. Still, I couldn’t resist a comeback. “Well, I hope so since I got jilted twice in one afternoon.” As I headed back to the living room, I realized I wasn’t the least bit sad. I was relieved.