The impeccable timing of the reappearance of Tyson....

Saturday, I lost my job. I have been putting in applications for a week around the neighborhood and still haven't heard back from a single one of them. The only solution I see is for me to move to Virginia to be with Craig. Maybe the two of us can make it work if we are together. I'm not talking about the relationship part because we have that on lock. I mean the financial, economical stability part of it all. Today I put in four job applications for the area down there as well as six applications for apartments. Hopefully I will hear something from someone soon. The plan is for me to go down there for about a week or so and get a job and then come back here and get a UHAUL with all my stuff in it and move down there. Mark said that he should be able to cover the rent for September and find a roommate before October. Wow....this is really scary. It's all happening so fast! What am I thinking? What if it DOESN'T work out? What if I CAN'T find a job or a place? What if I CAN'T get a car? What if it DOESN'T work out with Craig? What will I do then? No sooner do these thoughts come crashing down on me than do I bump into Tyson for the first time since the exchange in the hallway."Don't come crying to me when he beats the hell out of you and you see that I was right from the start! I can't stand the thought of that happening, but you obviously don't give a flying fuck about yourself!" Those words resonated in my memory as his eyes met mine in the parking lot of our apartment complex.
"Hey," he mumbled with a nod.
"Hey," I mumbled back at him.
He didn't look away. He held my gaze.
"So...what's new?" he questioned.
"I'm moving."
"Oh yeah? Where to?"
"Virginia."
His body tensed. He secured the lock on his bike and started toward me. "It's come to that, has it?"
"Well, I got fired yesterday and I've applied everywhere around here with no callbacks. I don't have a car to look elsewhere. What choice do I have? I'm leaving next Wednesday." "If you hadn't de-friended me and disappeared from my life you would know all this." I shot back at him in my mind.
"The cafe down the street is hiring. You should try there. They hired me but I only worked there for two days."
The petty small talk was killing me.
"I still have my part time job working two days a week at the motel up the street."
"Oh?" he raised his eyebrow. "So it's not over yet. You could still make it work."
His face softened. "Dammit, Leila. I miss you. I really do. I know that you've seen Little Girl recently and I know what you've said about me. Maybe I deserved it."
My words came back to haunt me. "Tyson is a little bitch. Point blank."
"I was angry that you left me. I didn't mean them."
He held up his hand in protest. "Bottom line is this: I miss you and I don't think you should go. Fuck that. I don't WANT you to go. You can't. It's not right! For fuck's sake, Leila. He's habitual! He's done HARD time more than ONCE for this! Why are you being so head-over-heels stupid for this guy? You deserve so much better than that!"
"What am I going to do, Tyson? I can't make it work here. I've tried. I've given it everything."
"We can talk it out! We always have! That's what we do! Fuck, Leila. Jesus Christ!"
"Well, I'm upstairs. Everyday. All day now."
"Yeah. We have to do the exchange-the-pipe-for-the-coffee-table-thing before you leave." He was changing the subject to lighten the tension in the air. "Uhm. Hannah lost your pipe so she got you a new one. But it's bigger and better than the one she lost so you make out in the end. I'll see you. I will. I mean it. Shit's been crazy."
"Well. You know where I'm at..." and I walked up the stairs to the second floor.
The door closed behind me and I collapsed against it. Why him? Why now? Why, on the day I decide to totally change my life and take the plunge into the unknown, do I run into Tyson? After all this time. What is the universe really trying to tell me? Is this a test? What am I being tested on? Tyson and I have that soul-mate-at-the-wrong-time connection thing. He's right. He usually is as I am usually right when it comes to matters in his life. Everything is so rushed it's bound to fall apart. The very ground I walk on is going to crumble beneath my feet. I can't take this shit anymore. What did I do to piss off the powers of the earth? Why is shit always so complicated? Why does the universe get such a kick out of torturing me and fucking with me? Why oh why am I out of smokes at this very mind-fucking moment in time?!?!?

Don't forget to feed the fish on your way out....thanks....