Headstrong

HEADSTRONG

A fictional short story based on the song and video of “Headstrong” by YayRaven featuring Missy . You can view the "Headstrong" music video here: https://youtu.be/sMARvugNSoE

It happened 12 years ago. And a lot had happened since then. Sonia married a good man and became a mother to two healthy and adorable sons. Her husband, her sons, and her coveted job as a civil engineer for the water company kept her very busy. As she sat in the café anxiously waiting for her friend to arrive, she found herself in a state of deja vu that caused her to think back to that specific time in her life 12 years ago.

Her friend, Ava, had married one of their fellow students, an American from Texas who was quite popular on campus with his strong Texan accent and American humour. His link to the United Kingdom was his sister. She had married a Londoner and as she greatly missed her brother, she suggested he join her to study at Imperial College London. Ava was now living and working on the huge ranch near Austin, Texas owned by her in-laws and her husband was working with a company that maintained a huge dam that supplied electricity to Austin and other nearby areas.

It was 16 years ago that she and Ava had met each other while sharing a dorm room in their first year of studies. They also met their boyfriends at the same time at a freshers party. But, unlike Ava and her successful lasting relationship with the Texan, Sonia's relationship with her ex-boyfriend was more dynamic with more drama. He was her first boyfriend, her first lover and she had grown deeply in love and emotionally attached to him during their 5 years together.

Ava and Sonia always kept in touch. They would Whatsapp, email, and sometimes call each other on the weekends. They both sent birthday and Christmas gift parcels to each other and when the kids came along Ava would send the boys gifts too. Then, roughly 6 months ago, Ava and her husband finally had their first child. Ava had been trying for many years and the subject of not getting pregnant and the false alarms had become almost a constant moan in her communications. So the good news of Ava’s pregnancy and the birth of her little girl was a relief for everyone.

Ava and her husband were now visiting England to show the precious baby to her grandparents and relatives. But, they chose to arrive at Heathrow airport to stay 3 nights in London to meet up with Sonia and to meet her husband and kids for the first time. Monday morning they would take the train to Warwick along with his sister and her family for a big family reunion. The following Saturday, Sonia and her family would be driving to meet Ava one more time before she returned to Austin. They would be staying overnight at Ava’s parents' sprawling country house before driving back home to London.

Out of all the plans they made and discussed, this short meeting at the café wasn’t on the list. Ava had texted Sonia once she arrived safely at the hotel in Picadilly and then Sonia returned the text with a phone call. During that phone conversation, it was discussed how quick and easy it would be for Sonia to take a train to London Victoria, and with Ava’s abounding excitement, they agreed to meet each other for lunch and coffee at "the café."

This café was special. It was a popular place for Sonia and Ava to relax, drink and eat after they would arrive at the Victoria coach station at the end of a break. They also had double-dates there.

Sonia, originally from Birmingham, grew up with her mother and 2 other siblings in a council flat. She was the first to graduate from University. She had to rely on her mother’s sacrifices to help out with college expenses, in addition to a student grant and loan. Knowing this, Ava would always offer to pay for her meals at the café and wouldn’t accept it any other way. Ava was one of the best persons Sonia had in her life. Yet, Sonia felt a bit guilty as sometimes she would have feelings of jealousy towards her best friend, especially after the break-up with her ex 12 years ago.

Ava’s life was always perfect. Both of her parents did well as they were both successful doctors, highly educated, and enjoyed a good social standing. They lived in a posh neighbourhood. The only time things weren't great for Ava was when she was trying so hard to have a child. But, now that had all changed. Now Ava's life had gone back to being as perfect as it had always been the majority of her life.

Sonia's father and mother divorced when she was very young and she didn’t see much of her father after that. Sonia was her mother's only daughter. Sonia always did well in school and her mother instilled in her to study hard in order to get a good job and to live a good life. Her mom was very proud of her and always gushing about her precious Sonia.

The same café had also been the place Sonia and her ex would meet to talk and spend time together. They even had a special corner they always sat in, sometimes waiting for it to become empty if it was occupied by anyone on their arrival. It was a short 5-minute walk from the station to the café and the cafe' was a popular spot to eat, known for it's good but reasonably priced food.

As the time was roughly 2:30 p.m., the café was no longer busy on Sonia's arrival, so she sat at one of the most convenient empty tables. But, as she waited for Ava to arrive, she realised she was sitting and looking directly at that special corner. Not expecting to be feeling such emotion, she looked around to choose another table to sit at as she was finding it surprisingly difficult sitting there. She was finding the memories and her reaction to them a bit discomforting.

Sonia had lived with a harrowing secret from the time of her breakup, and at that time she had felt she was on the brink of losing her mind. It was something that always remained a bit of a worry. Because of what happened, she had even vowed to never be in a relationship ever again, but her husband was gently persuasive and not bad looking. Through his persistence, she agreed to meet up with him and enjoyed their first date.

Sonia always felt she wasn’t in love with her husband as much as she had been with her ex. Despite this, she was content with him and with the children, and seeing how much of a good father he was made her appreciate her marriage even more. The years after her sons were born she grew closer and more affectionate towards him. They never had huge arguments as she did with the ex. They never made passionate sweat-inducing love as she did with her ex. Her husband didn’t make her laugh as hard or even cry as hard as the ex did.

The breakup caused her to change. She was no longer as headstrong and had toned down her stubborn nature. She was never too demanding or eager anymore to insist that everything is done her way. Moreover, she knew her husband would give in to her. His way was to always try his best to please her and to never upset her, even in the slightest.

Sonia’s university years were some of her best years. She had an exciting and eventful relationship with her boyfriend throughout University. Sonia’s mother was upset when she found out that Sonia had a boyfriend. She told Sonia over and over he would ruin her and stressed that her degree was more important than any man. Her mother was afraid that the boyfriend could mess up Sonia’s goal in life. But, Sonia was determined to prove her mother wrong and she kept up with her studies with intense determination.

But, after graduation things took a dramatic change. Sonia was recruited literally from the university grounds. She immediately landed the job at the water company. Her good grades and her first degree from a reputable university and probably because she was a woman, undoubtedly helped her in landing her dream job. But for her ex, it was a different story.

Sonia's ex never landed a job after graduating and after a year he was still looking. His degree wasn’t too bad as he graduated with a 2:1 but it just was not as good as Ava’s. Ava always felt he wasn’t taking his studying as seriously as she was and they would have arguments over it as Sonia would never give in to his demands to let him see her completed assignments.

Ava was her constant best friend and the best study partner during university. And when Ava got married and moved out of the country Sonia would cry those first few weeks when thinking of her friend especially after they spoke over the phone. She was Ava's maid of honour at her wedding and her ex was one of the grooms, but the topic of marriage was something the ex always avoided.

It wasn’t long after Ava's wedding that Sonia's ex had moved into her flat. She was excited about it at first and hoped he would land a job quickly but still, his job-hunting efforts were in vain. Basically, he was living off of Sonia. He started out very well applying for jobs and got a few interviews, but he continued to be unsuccessful. Ava tried her best to assist him in applying, but her ex soon found it all too tedious and quickly lost interest. He would tell her excuses when he missed an application deadline. This caused heated arguments. She wanted him to try harder and then he said he was thinking of going for his Masters, but Sonia knew he had no ability to pay for it. Despite this, they would still find time to go to the café and enjoy each other’s company on weekends. The conversation there would always include looking at job vacancies that suited him.

But, the arguing increased. They were arguing over money and the amount of time he was spending at the pub and night clubs. Sonia’s life revolved around her job and it would sometimes take her away for a few weeks. He’d be left in the flat alone. When she returned back after one of the trips required by the water company, she found a written note taped to the fridge. He stated that had gone back to live with his parents and that their relationship had grown apart. Sonia was extremely distraught and called him often begging him to come back. She promised to make things better. One night he said he was coming to visit than called back to say he changed his mind and asked her not to call him again as it needed to come to an end.

That very night she sat at her dressing table looking at herself in the mirror. She was angry. She was hurt. She couldn’t imagine living without him. Then suddenly he was there standing behind her and smiling. She felt his fingers caressing her head and neck. She was overcome with elation. She felt her heart pounding and was nearly breathless but then with a sudden jerking movement, he pulled his strong soft hands away and was gone.

Sonia came back to her senses but the experience disturbed her. It felt so real. She thought she was losing her mind. She panicked at the thought, felt determined to clear her mind, and regained her composure. She would never tell a soul what happened that night. Before she married her husband she had heard her ex was dating a co-worker he met while working as a supervisor at a grocery store.

“Hello, Sonia.”

Sonia sat there as if in another world.

“Sonia, are you alright?" said Ava with more intensity, "Hello, Sonia!”

Sonia jumped up as if she was greatly startled. The widest smile spread over her face as she grabbed and bear-hugged Ava as hard as she could.

“Oh, Ava, I’m so happy to see you!”

Sonia couldn't hold back the tears that flooded down her cheeks.

The End