This isn't a story about Harry and Sally, who were in love where the operative word is "were." This is a story about circumstances. It is true.
Harry has been in love before, and one would assume that Sally had been to. Harry only knew that he still loved Sally. Sally has moved on. Sally still loves Harry, but not in the same way. Harry loves Sally as a close friend, but is still trying to hold on to the love they once shared- though they shared it at different intensity levels at different times.
There is a lot of history that is important to this story, but will really drag it down. The bottom line is that the relationship ended as a result of miscommunication. Repeated, serious, miscommunication. When Sally was fighting for Harry, Harry forgot Paris. When Harry was fighting for Sally, she had signed into AOL and had mail. Neither of them were Sleepless in Seattle at the same time.
They have since spent their time apart fighting over what went wrong. It wasn't any one's fault - it was circumstance.
Sally told Harry that she would have married him. Harry told sally if only he had been told how special he was she would have gotten the invitation. They passed each other in time- the only thing we can give to someone which can't be taken back, and the only thing we can't find more of.
Months after their love affair ended, they spent a day together, and as they had experienced for months, they had another difficult conversation. It seemed that every conversation got more and more difficult. Unintentionally, they hurt each other repeatedly. Unintentionally, these conversations led to the shedding of tears. Sometimes because they didn't understand - sometimes because Harry refused to. They still wanted to spend time with each other, though their purposes were, frankly, disparate. Neither could say that over meant forever. Both of them knew, deep down, that it would be.
Harry and Sally weren't perfect, but what fun was "perfect" anyway? Both of them were trying hard to be a friend to the other. It wasn't easy, but they were trying. It hurt, Harry said, for a reason because the people you love the most are the ones who are hurt the most. They are also the ones who are the happiest for you.
After a long day when smiles were had and tears were shed, Harry and Sally had dinner. They went to a new restaurant and tried to enjoy each other's company. This was despite mere moments earlier, they were holding each other in a pained frustration at how time had unravelled their passion - driving them apart. As you can imagine, when something is on the mind, it doesn't always go away so easily. Eventually, the facts came up again.
Earlier in the day, Harry had told Sally that had things been clearer things would have been different and that she would have been given his family ring. He had given it to someone else in the past, but got it back when it it didn't work out. Sally told Harry that had he asked, she would have been his forever. What does time really mean anyway?
For the same reason that songs make us weepy, there was something about the very direct way it was articulated to Harry that pinched a nerve. His eyes erupted in tears, streaming down his cheeks uncontrollably, at times slipping into his wine. Sally didn't understand what she had said - wasn't it something she had said before?
Losing his ability to hold his grief in, he got up, looking for somewhere to hide. We wasn't in his city, he wasn't sure of where he was going, he just had to get up and get away. Tears streaming down his face, he just had to gain some composure.
And, like a bad Tom Hanks/Billy Crystal/Meg Ryan movie he turned right into the last person who had worn his family ring. Prophetic doesn't even begin to describe it. It had been years since they had last seen each other, years since she had left him for another. They met in an awkward embrace reserved only for Life Insurance commercials and truly chance meetings where your instincts take over before you have time to realize "Holy fucking shit, what the fuck did I do to deserve this second dagger?"
"How are you," she asked.
"MPHM, UMBABLE" was the best Harry could muster under the circumstances. When you bump into your old flames, you worry about your hair, your dress, your breath. You don't tend to have to worry about the waterworks streaming down from your face.
"It is great to see you! What is new?" she asks, seemingly oblivious to the uncomfortable nature of the situation. She never was all that sharp.
Like any child who is trying to talk while stifling back tears, the words come out jumbled and remarkably slowly.
"ah, ah, ah-I am fiiiiiiiiiine," was the best Harry could do. His head spun, uncontrollably. The entire restaurant was like a ship adrift with a hole in its ballast.
"So, what are you up to?" she asked, obviously referring to Harry's career - which was difficult to explain at the best of times to someone who didn't know anything about what he did. Pulling himself together quickly, straightening his pants, wiping the tears away, and having a pleasant, yet strained conversation for a few minutes. He politely said hello to her new boyfriend and his parents, and then slowly moved back to his table where Sally patiently sat- interested, but not trying to pry.
Harry volunteered the information he could. He sat across from the woman he loved, and explained to her that mere moments after reminding him that she would have worn his ring proudly, mere metres away stood the last woman who had ever worn it. Now, neither of them wanted it.
If it wasn't so sad, it would be hilarious. The rush of emotions that swirled within Harry were not directed at either Sally or his former fiancee. They just came out - and where pointed at Sally because she happened to be there.
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