Pulchritudinous

The rain streaked down her cheek making it hard to differentiate from her tears. Her hair was soaked at this point. Sticking to her face and dripping with desperation. Her eyes the bluest I've ever seen them. Maybe the darkness of the sky or the situation made the blue stand out more-- either way, they were bright as a spring sky and blue as the crystal clear ocean. Her upper lip quivered from the cold temperature. I felt as though she was trying to say something, she wanted to, but didn't know how. Out of all the worlds she knew in the world, she couldn't find one to grasp. Her favorite green dress was now a damp gray, saddened by the rain. She didn't have her jacket on because it was hot in the car and putting it back on wasn't her first priority. Her eyes locked with mine, wouldn't let go. It's as if the world stopped and we looked into each other's eyes forever. I had nothing left to say. So I turned to walk towards my now ruined car. "Ben," she barely choked out, "I'm sorry, Brooke," I squatted down into the driver's seat, closed the creaking door, and started the ignition. "Bye Brooke," I whispered as the first and final tear painted my face.

"Did you know that pulchritudinous means beautiful?" She giggled as she spouted words from the dictionary. "No, I, like every other normal human, did not know that." I laughed to reassure her I was just poking fun and stacked the last dish on top of the pile. "Dishes are done," I shouted. She just hummed in approval, too caught up in what she was researching. "Why do you do this anyway, Brooke? Reading the dictionary isn't going to make you any smarter." I knew that would make her pay attention to me. "It's not about being smart, Benjamin, it's about learning everything you can while you can." I walked back towards the kitchen, "It just seems like a waste of time to me. And my name's not Benjamin." She always calls me that. "This planet, this... culture, is made up of so many phenomenal and beautiful words. We should learn and appreciate as many of them as we can. Like I just did. 30 words created by God for us to utilize and love." I grab an apple from the bowl resting on the windowsill. "How the hell do you do such fast math? And it's not technically 30 words, some of them are repeats." She shoots me a condescending grin and I smile. "Words are us. We are words. Get over it." And that's all it takes. Brooke's strong words to end an argument. Well... not argument, but, a difference in opinion. "Pulchritudinous. Huh. Kind of ironic," I say. "How so?" she asks as she takes the apple from my hand and takes a bite. "For a word that supposedly means beautiful, it sure is ugly."

I walk down the bitter streets, sodden with snow and ice. The weather has been no friend to any of us lately, what with all of the snow followed by loads of rain making it extremely tricky to maneuver outside. "Hello, Pamela, is Brooke in?" I say into my cell phone that's sure to turn into ice any second. "I'm sorry, Mr. Jones, she's in a meeting. Can I take a message?" I sigh, releasing a bit of warm breath into the stubborn, frozen air. "No, it's okay, I'll catch her later. Thank you," I say, and hang up the phone. I slide it into my pocket, followed by my tense hands. I continue walking down the street towards my office. Walking into the building feels like an entrance into Heaven. I'm almost knocked backward by the rush of warm air hitting me all at once. I get almost too hot, and feel the need to get to my office as soon as possible to remove my jacket. "Hey, Jackie, any messages?" "Yes, sir, one from your girlfriend, Brooke." I feel a smile crack onto my face. "Thank you, send it over to my office." "Yes, sir."
     "Hi, honey, gonna be late at work tonight. So sorry. Get yourself dinner. Love you."
Brooke seems to be working late an awful lot lately. As I sit in my leather chair, tuning out the world, thinking about Brooke, an intern walks into my office. Her name is Lauren, and she is very... attractive.
"Hi, Mr. Jones, I was wondering if you could answer some questions for me." I comply, "Sure, Lauren, come take a seat." She shuts the door behind her, and as I reach into my desk for my papers, I think I hear her click it locked. I look up to see her face has changed completely. She has gone from innocent, doe-eyed, eager-to-learn Lauren to sexy, I-need-you-now Lauren. "Lauren...." Before I can continue, she hushes me by sitting on my lap and covering my mouth with one of her cool, long fingers. "I've wanted this for a long, long time, Benjamin." She called me Benjamin, which immediately snaps me out of my daze. "Lauren, get out of my office." She doesn't move a muscle, "come on, Benny, loosen up." I basically throw her off me to stop myself from doing anything stupid. "Lauren, get out!" She doesn't say another word, and proceeds to leave my office, angrier than ever.
"Brookie, please talk to me." I glance over at her, then back to the road. She's staring straight ahead, won't put even a pupil towards me. She may not be able to look at me but God, I can't take my eyes off of her. She's wearing her--and my--favorite green dress to look nice for what was supposed to be a professional business dinner. But that was effectively ruined. After many moments of silence, she breaks it, "Can you just tell me the truth, Ben? Are you cheating on me or not?" I sigh in exhaustion, "Brooke, I have told you five times, I am not cheating on you. About a month ago, Lauren came into my office and hit on me, I pushed her away and forced her to leave. That's it I swear." She won't take her eyes off the road. "Then why did she say what she did tonight, Ben?" "She's an idiot! She's a drunk, stupid girl. I'm not cheating on you. I would never. I promise." She doesn't say anything. There's more silence. But for a longer time. And she still won't stop looking at the road. Finally, she breaks it again, but this time... I rather she hadn't spoken at all. "Well I cheated on you." She unwillingly confesses. Now it's me that can't help but take my eyes off the road. "What?" is all I can manage to say. "I'm so sorry, Ben." I don't want to hear any more about it. I just want her to not talk at all. It's ironic, though, because now even with both of our pairs of eyes on the road, we managed to crash right into the tree that appeared from nowhere. Maybe it was a combination of the icy rain or the fact that my girlfriend just confessed she was cheating on me after interrogating me on the same subject.

The rain streaked down her cheek making it hard to differentiate from her tears. Her hair was soaked at this point. Sticking to her face and dripping with desperation. Her eyes the bluest I've ever seen them. Maybe the darkness of the sky or the situation made the blue stand out more-- either way, they were bright as a spring sky and blue as the crystal clear ocean. Her upper lip quivered from the cold temperature. I felt as though she was trying to say something, she wanted to, but didn't know how. Out of all the worlds she knew in the world, she couldn't find one to grasp. Her favorite green dress was now a damp gray, saddened by the rain. She didn't have her jacket on because it was hot in the car and putting it back on wasn't her first priority. Her eyes locked with mine, wouldn't let go. It's as if the world stopped and we looked into each other's eyes forever. I had nothing left to say. So I turned to walk towards my now ruined car. "Ben," she barely choked out, "I'm sorry, Brooke," I squatted down into the driver's seat, closed the creaking door, and started the ignition. "Bye Brooke," I whispered as the first and final tear painted my face.