Do You Know Love?

Enjoying brunch at their favorite café, Sensi and Kora’s eyes aimed at Clara in silence as they enjoyed their meal of French toast, bacon, and eggs while sipping mocha. After completing their meal and waiting for the waitress to bring their check, silence still held on to the moment.

Another ten minutes later, Clara still refused to tell them why Jason left and the court granted him custody of Ariella, their cute cocker Spaniel.

After months of warning her, they knew that he was frustrated. They also wanted to know if she was willing to reveal the truth and if she learned anything from the breakup.

Jason Wills was a diamond in the rough. He is the perfect pearl in the oyster. He is the guy all females dream of meeting, one with a beautiful kind heart.

“Are you going to tell us or do we have to order the damn court transcript!” Sensi demands after the waitress leaves with her card.

Clara rolled her eyes, then said, “Would you believe that he told the judge that he doesn’t do cruelty and that’s why he wants Ariella back!”

“Yes, we do!” They sang like a chorus.

She stared at them in shock.

“Girl, don’t you know kindness and love when you see it?” Kora asked glaring at her.

“That man worshiped the ground you walk on,” Sensi reminds her.

“Yeah!” Kora adds. “What the hell are you afraid of?”

Clara sighs, then says defending her actions, “Your idea of love is different than mine.”

“Forgetting to feed the dog almost every day is not love,” Kora reminds her.

“Like you remember everything?” she threw back.

“Nobody does, but if he doesn’t eat, he will die!” Sensi informs. “You never forget anything for yourself. Not even what color nail polish you need on what day. You change your nail polish, wig, and hair color three times per week!”

“I am not supposed to love myself?” her defense continued.

“You already do, but you need to share that love with the ones around you, that give you theirs, which you take for granted,” Sensi notified.

“You don’t take care of your dog, and you have a man who cooks and cleans up and you still don’t return the love you take,” Kora reminds her.

“Like I said, your idea of love and kindness is different from mine,” she repeats.

Kora and Sensi stared at each other in frustration.

Silence allowed them to absorb what she just said, and then Sensi asked, “You are living the life your imagination wants, right? Instead of living the one that is facing you?”

She glared back at her and Sensi continued, “Love and kindness aren’t real in your imagination. But it is in the real world.”

“All of us are different. So is love for us,” she clung to her idea of love.

“Do you love the stuff Jason does for you and your dog?” Kora asked glaring at her in confusion.

“Yes!” she quickly said.

“Do you want it to stop?” Kora went on.

She nods.

“How do you plan on keeping all that love and kindness going?”

She scratched the back of her blonde wig as if lice were in it, then divulged, “He never complained before, so why is he complaining now?”

“He went away for one week on a business trip, and the dog he gave you as a gift, almost died of hunger because you forgot that for him to live, he needs food!” Sensi reminds her angrily. “He was shocked at your thoughtlessness, which pushed him over the edge. He loved you as you are. But your cruelty to that cute puppy, he refused to take.”

“So that’s why he told the judge he doesn’t do cruelty,” Kora said staring at her in rage.

Silence paraded momentarily and she said, “Love is hard in your world. In mine, I don’t have to keep watering and nurturing it.”

“You don’t know love,” Sensi said in shock.

“Everyone’s love is different,” she repeats, again.

Kora and Sensi took a long, deep sigh.

“Reality hurts that much, that you can’t see, understand and appreciate the value of love and kindness?” Kora asked.

“In my mind, love is different,” she held on to her idea of love.

“Who the hell are you? A dead plant?” Sensi questioned. “All of the affection and generosity that you take, for it to stay you have to water it giving it a reason to stay and return.”

“If he really loves me, then why do I have to do all of that?”

“Are you on some kind of medication? Or did you hit your damn head somewhere before coming here?” Kora asked. “Because girl, you can’t live and survive in the real world with that kind of thinking!”

“That’s why none of her relationships last. It’s one-sided,” Sensi said in realization.

“Didn’t your mother tell you that love is a two-way street?” Kora asked her.

“My mother didn’t have to earn, grow, or water my father’s love,” she held on to her decision.

“Didn’t he leave her to raise all four of you by herself?” Sensi asked. Recalling that after her father left, Clara spent most of her teenage years at their home.

Clara’s eyes widened as reality and truth invaded her body like the Nazis invaded Paris on June 4, 1940. Huffing and puffing she said, “You mean my idea of love is wrong?”

“And your mother too,” Sensi reminds her.

Kora articulates, “Love is like a plant. For it to grow, it must be watered, nurtured, and cared for if you want it to flow and grow.”

“Plus, your heart needs kindness for love to grow,” Sensi stressed.

“And your heart lacks kindness. That’s why you can’t grow or hold on to the love you got all of your life,” Kora adds.

“I held on to you,” she reminds them.

“No, you don’t,” Sensi nailed into her hard heart. “We hold on to you, hoping you will change and realize love’s value.”

“You really don’t know love!” Kora asked glaring at her in shock.

“Animals do,” dropped from Sensi’s thoughts as she stared at Clara.

“You mean all of what Jason was doing for me, it was his idea of love?” Clara asked.

Kora and Sensi’s eyes touched, then swayed to her facing them on the opposite of the table. They sighed deeply and Sensi said as the waitress handed her, her card, “When you get to know love and start living in the real world, that is outside of your imagination, call us!”

They both got up and walked away.

Every human I know wants love. Every human on the planet has received love. The meaning and value of love differ for each of us. That small insignificant issue will determine who keeps the love flowing and who loses it. Annelise Lords

If your heart could speak, what would it say?

What if all of us know love and its value? Would our world be better?

Thank you for reading this piece. I hope you enjoyed it.