Page 62 of Salute, To Bravery
Violet
H er hair, her vanilla perfume, everything about her was captivating.
Everyone was captivating, inspiring, and phenomenal, but Ophelia stood out to me.
It was like she understood everything and all of my actions as if she were doing them.
When I placed my input during the group, it was always Ophelia who jumped in and built on it.
It was always Ophelia making eye contact with me while I was talking.
It was always her. It felt like it was only her and me when we made eye contact, like a slow-motion scene in a movie.
I got butterflies just thinking about it.
Ring. Ring.
I looked at my phone, and it showed a silly photo of my dad. I took a deep breath, calmed my mind, and answered the phone.
“Hi,” I said to him.
“So, how was therapy?”
“Getting right to the point, aren’t ya,” I joked. “It was nice. I felt like I was seen, just like you said I would. They understood the hardships and the kindness of life as well. They were all so inviting, to say the least. I also… met someone,” I stammered.
“That’s amazing,” he said instantly.
Relief fell over me. “Thanks. Yeah, we’re going to hang out later this week.”
“What’s her name?”
“Ophelia, Ophelia Raven is her name. She’s so kind and open, and even sweet. She was like a breath of fresh air; she was like the sun,” I rambled on.
“Oh,” is all my father said. “You met someone. That’s okay. I’m not mad, Goofy.” Goofy was my favorite character growing up, so now he called me that to remind me of the good part of my childhood.
“Okay,” I uttered cautiously.
“Violet, I’m not mad. I have another call coming in. Talk to you later, okay, Goofy?”
“Okay, see ya.”
I looked back at my phone, realizing I had several text messages from Luna.
Hey, when are you going to get back to me?
How long is therapy supposed to take????
Just answer me already!
Fine, be like that!
I quickly clicked on her contact and called her.
“Finally! Took ya long enough,” Luna answered the phone. “Weren’t you supposed to be done hours ago?”
“Lunch turned into dinner. It was good, all of it was good, and I met someone. Someone who made me feel excited to live, who made me feel good. I haven’t met someone like that in a while,” I said.
“Oh. My. God. You found your soulmate!”
“I wouldn’t say that. We’ve just met—”
“And you already feel a connection. This is so exciting! Who are they?”
“Her name is Ophelia,” I said. I felt myself blush.
“Like the movie! That’s amazing.” A smile crept onto my face.
I loved how Luna always supported me in everything I did.
Especially when I went into the National Guard.
She was so excited that I had found my calling and that I could serve my country.
It was hard on my relationship with my dad since he was in the army and saw horrible things.
It was hard not to have my dad’s support, but he came around. He always did.
“I don’t think my dad approves, though,” I drawled.
“Who cares? It’s your life, not his. He can go—”
“ I care. I care about his opinion. He saved me from that foster home, he saved me from that fire. I owe him my life .”
“Then live it. That’s what Zaidan would want. He wants you to live your life and be happy. Besides, he always comes around.”
“Fine, you win.”
“I always do,” she said. I could sense the evil smirk on her face on the other side of the phone. “I do love you, girly, and I miss you, but I have to get back to studying the connections of the brain.”
“Sounds fun.”
“It is.” I could hear the sarcasm in her voice. “Goodnight.”
“Goodnight.”
I placed my phone on the charger as soon as I made it upstairs.
Going back to the kitchen, I put some frozen pizza into the air fryer. Once the pizza was done, I put it on a cutting board and ate it at the small patio table. After I finished eating, I walked into my living room with mint ice cream to watch some television.
Soon, I realized I was crying over this show again. The episode ran its closing credits, and I was a complete mess, so I put the ice cream back into the freezer and went upstairs.
I went into my room and started the shower, gathering all of my things. I grabbed my hair towel,a new body scrub I’d been wanting to try out, and hopped into the shower.
I lathered the shampoo into my hair and then rinsed it out, doing the same for my conditioner. I did a body scrub, and then shaved my legs. Tiredness fell over me as I started to lather soap onto my body and rinsed it off. In no time, I was in bed meditating and falling asleep.