Nothing Compares
Leslie hadn’t felt pain like this before. With Dave, sure, it had been hard, but she had gotten over it quickly. It had helped that Justin had been there to hurry things along. With Mark, she hadn’t even felt love from him- not really- she just longed for him so badly- a one-sided longing.
But with Ben, it was two-sided. The longing came from both of them, and that is what had made it so painful.
In reality, she knew she had made the right decision. She had known Ben for, what, a year? She had wanted City Council her whole life. But it made it so much worse that she had had to consider which one to keep. That was how much he meant to her.
They had still been new. They hadn’t had a Valentines Day, or an anniversary. They hadn’t gotten the chance.
***
That was the mood Leslie was in when she ended up in the bar on a Tuesday night. She had told Ann that she was sorry, she couldn’t hang out. Not tonight. But she hadn’t wanted to stay in the house, either.
She didn’t want to sit on the chair- that was where they had kissed and kissed, her sat in his lap and his hands in her hair.
She didn’t want to cook in the kitchen- that had been for them, too. She couldn’t go up the stairs without thinking of them giddily running up there, heading to the bedroom.
She would be able to do all those things, in time. And she had a campaign to think of- she had bigger fish to fry.
But right now, all she wanted to do was go out and cry.
“It’s karaoke night,” someone told her when she went into the bar. She had ordered a shot, downed it, immediately asking for another. Then she was up on the stage.
She knew what song she wanted to sing. There was only one, really.
The music started, and she started to sing. She could hold a tune, but right then, her lip was quivering too much for her to sing properly, and it came out shaky and sad.
“It’s been seven hours and fifteen days… since you took your love away…”
She sang, and soon everyone was joining in. Sort of a strange song for everyone to get involved in, but there they were. Leslie felt like she was united in her sadness.
And so she kept singing.
***
Leslie left straight afterwards. She didn’t care if people saw her- it would be months before the news of the campaign came out. She had had her moment, and now she could go home and focus on work.
Maybe, one day, she would find someone who compared to him. And she was allowed to feel sad. But now she had had her moment, she needed to focus up.
She had a lot of work to do.