I woke up the next morning and looked at the clock. It was 8:30. I laid back down in bed, closed my eyes, and I remembered what happened the night before. It all hit me like a slap in the face, and suddenly I felt lonely. I remembered how mad I was yesterday. I remembered how Zack was actually crying because of me, or maybe this was all a dream. I will walk into Zack’s room, and everything will be ok. That was a solution that anyone in this situation hoped for, though I knew it wasn’t possible.
That morning, I made a huge decision. I knew I couldn’t stay at Zack’s house; it was going to be too painful. I decided to get a job, find an apartment, and in the time being, I would live in a hotel.
I snuck out of Zack’s house. I took a few steps away and turned around. I was leaving the only one I loved. Tears slid down my cheeks as I headed towards the bank.
I went to the bank and took enough money to last me a couple of months. After that, I headed to downtown New York City to look for a job. I pretty much knew what I wanted to do. When I was younger, I had always wanted to be a writer. Though, I’m also skilled with the camera, one thing good I inherited from my dad.
To my surprise, a popular magazine had job openings in the area I wanted. I walked into the building. The building was a nice one. The floors were marble, and I stepped lightly not wanting to scratch its beautiful surface.
“Hi, I’m Kellie Cooper. I was wondering who I speak to about the job opening,” I said to the secretary.
“Oh, hi, you speak to me. Now, which job are you hoping for?” the secretary smiled.
“The photographer position,” I replied.
“Well, tell you what. If you go, take some pictures, bring them back, and I like them, then you have the job,” the secretary said.
“Oh, thank you so much!”
"What was your name again?"
“Kellie Cooper.”
“Okay.” The secretary wrote my name on a pad that was in front of her. “I just have to make sure you are not some criminal of some kind. Do you have your résumé?”
“Yes, here it is.” I walked out of the building very excited. I knew exactly what pictures I was going to take, the infamous sundown pictures. I know it’s not original, but my sundown pictures are very unique. I guess I have a good eye.
About an hour before sundown I headed towards Central Park. I sat down at a nearby bench, looking at The Lake. I looked at the crystal blue water as it shimmered in the sunlight. I sighed; again, I felt lonely. Maybe, what I did wasn’t right? I was regretting the whole thing, until I saw Zack with none other than, Kate. I quickly hid behind some bushes. I could hear a snatch of conversation, “I’m sorry she’s gone,” Kate was saying. I knew they were talking about me. “Though, she obviously caused you pain, so let’s not talk about her. Let’s talk about us!” Kate said happily.
That was all I heard, because I realized that the sun was setting. I jumped up and got behind a tree. The leaves were perfect. Two branches of leaves hung down with a gap between them. I set the picture, so the sun was right between the branches, though you could still see the branches, and the sun was casting it’s yellow-orange rays on the water.
As it got darker, I used my digital camera to make the objects darker. I took some more pictures, and sat down on a bench to watch the rest of the sunset. “Pretty isn’t it?” someone said behind me.
“Yeah it is.” I turned to see Zack standing over me. “What are you doing here?” I asked nastily.
“I came to say I’m sorry!”
“Sorry isn’t good enough. You broke my heart and now it’s in pieces and no one’s there to pick it up!”
“Well, then, I also came to say good-bye.”
“Good-bye?”
“Yeah, Devin, me, and my parents, we’re moving to Philadelphia,” Zack said sadly.
“When did they decide this?”
“This morning. You know Kellie, it was almost as if you cared!”
I gaped at Zack. C’mon Kellie, say something. But nothing came out.
“Kellie, let me tell you. I made a mistake. Humans make mistakes. I realized that I don’t want to be with Kate, I want to be with you. Since you have refused to accept my apology, I guess I have to deal with it,” Zack said and walked away slowly. Kellie, go after him! I thought, but I didn’t go anywhere. My feet seemed to be glued to where I was standing. All I did was stare after him as tears rolled down my cheeks.
I was actually losing Zack. He was moving to Philadelphia and I would never see him again.
I got my pictures developed the next day and took them back to the magazine building. “Here, these are the pictures you wanted,” I said to the women at the secretary desk.
“Yes…” she said and started to look at them. After a minutes or so, she said, “These pictures are amazing! I love them!”
“Oh my gosh, do I have the job?”
“Yes you do.”
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
I was so happy after that day. Though some part of me wished I had Zack by my side. It made me sad that I wouldn’t see him again. Like Zack said, I guess I just have to live my life to the fullest and deal without him.