Liv and Gage

Liv woke up that morning just like she did every morning. Her alarm clock went off at 8:30, she turned on her tv to catch her morning shows, and then walked to the kitchen to start the always needed pot of coffee. As she waited to pour her first cup it suddenly hit her, “Gage was so mad at me last night before we went to sleep.” She had totally forgotten that they had a fight but it all hit her as soon as she had time to actually open her eyes. Like any normal college girl in a relationship, Liv hated fighting with her boyfriend. It was always over something stupid, at least according to him. “It’s funny how he always thinks it’s not a big deal, when really I’m over here losing sleep over it,” Liv thought to herself.

Liv and Gage had been together for awhile now and the fights had been happening more frequently lately. It was both of their senior years after all and seeing as though it was February, decisions needed to start happening. You see, Liv was from Oklahoma and Gage was from South Carolina. He had come to school because he wanted something different and Oklahoma seemed like just the place for that. The hadn’t wanted to face the reality that they were from totally different parts of the country but now that graduation was a mere 3 months away, reality seemed inevitable. It was never talked about, never mentioned, never dealt with…until last night.

After going to dinner together and heading back to her place, Gage had said the words that Liv was dreading hearing, “I think we should talk about what we’re going to do next year.” As soon as Gage said those words Liv had lost it. She loved him, she really did and she didn’t want to lose him. Walking back to her bedroom, trying to control the tears, Liv was a mess of confusion and mixed emotions. She had always planned on trying to find a job close and getting her feet on the ground before moving off somewhere. She didn’t necessarily want to live at home, but having her parents close by seemed like a good option at this point in her life especially because she still wasn’t entirely sure what she wanted to do. Gage was the same way, except for the fact that home for him was on the East Coast, not the Midwest.

The discussion had started at 9:00 pm with the fight starting promptly at 9:13 pm. Both Liv and Gage had tempers that battled each other, neither one wanting to back down. Gage was proposing the idea that she move out to South Carolina with him. She could easily get a job out there, get her own apartment, and start a new life for herself. And then, when the time was right, they would get married and start their new life together. While this all sounded good to her, Liv wasn’t sure she wanted to leave the comfort of a life she had known for 22 years behind. To her, this statement meant that she needed time to think and discuss this before making an actual decision. To Gage, this meant that she didn’t love him and wasn’t going to do it. The fight had gone on like this for three hours and finally Liv had just told him that if he wasn’t going to calm down and listen to her reasoning, he could just go. So, there she was in her kitchen at 8:39 on Monday morning. Alone and waiting for the coffee pot to fill.

What awoke Liv from reliving last night’s events more than the silence of the coffee finished brewing was the distant sound of her cell phone. Gage’s ringtone sounded through the house as she ran back to room to grab the phone before it went to voicemail. “Hello?” Liv said breathlessly as she pressed the green phone on her keyboard. “Liv I am so sorry. I hate that we fought and didn’t sleep at all last night. We’re going to work everything out. We have three months and more than two options to work with here. Please can we just forget that last night even happened?” Gage was good. He always did this. Pushing things that couldn’t be pushed away under the rug. More than anything she wanted to forget that last night happened but for how long could they just ignore the inevitable? “Sure babe, everything is fine. I overreacted and shouldn’t have. We’re fine though.” Liv knew things weren’t fine but more than making things fine she wanted them to have a good day and a good rest of the semester. They had to treasure every moment they had with each other and if that meant moving past discussions and decisions that needed to happen, then that was how it was going to be. “Have a good day today,” Liv said, “we’ll talk on my lunch break. I love you.” After they hung up, Liv finished getting ready for her long day she had ahead of her and walked out the door. The feeling in the pit of her stomach had not gone away though. And she had a feeling, it was going to be about three months before it did.