Flash Fiction AW Sunday Challenge - The Wall

This weekly challenge gives a prompt and 90 minutes to write about it. This week it was "The Wall"

He asked me to marry him today.

We started our casual date walking around the mall. We window shopped and people watched. He always knows just what to say to make me smile. We sat down at a table for two in front of the fountain with our Starbucks lattes.

Then I saw his mood shift. He grabbed my hands and held my eyes with his.

"Nessa, can we do this every weekend?"

"You mean go to the mall?" I asked.

"Yeah, baby. Let’s go to the mall every weekend, for the rest of our lives."

I straightened in shock. I was speechless. I didn't think he had planned it. Did he just say what I think he said? Then my hazard lights flashed at me.

"We've only been dating six months," was my instinctive reaction. I wanted to lasso the words and pull them back. But it was too late, they had escaped.

His eyes fell closed, the curtain coming down on a stellar performance that got undeserved dreadful reviews. His lips pursed as he thought, looking around to see if anyone heard him make the worst fumble of his career. He slowly withdrew releasing my hands and pulled away. When he finally looked at me again, I tried to apologize.

“I’m so sorry, Marcus. I…”

“Forget it. You’re right. You ready to go?” His attitude bulldozed me.

I nodded and took his hand. We were silent for the ride home.

I sat on my bed with a box of tissues replaying it in my head all day. What was I thinking? Marcus is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Why do I always put up the wall? Am I ever going to get passed it? Are we going to be able to recover from this?

I have to make this right. It’s time to break the wall. I grabbed my maracas and sombrero. Souvenirs from our trip to Mexico.

I drove over to his apartment building. I picked up some pebbles and stood under his third floor bedroom window. I raised my hand behind my head to throw the first stone and froze.

The silhouette of a man pulling a woman close to him splashed on the shade.

I opened my hand and let the pebbles fall. I placed the hat and shakers on the windshield of his car and walked away.

My wall had served me well.