Love Comes in Different Forms and Shapes

Katie and Alex are getting out of the “friend zone.” They are starting to spend more time together. Both hearts are finally beginning to heal. They had their first official date (one without the kids) at Katie’s place. Where honesty played an important role. The young mysterious woman told Alex about her past, her marriage and him. ‘Him’ is Kevin Tierney, Katie’s abusive husband. He used to hit and punched and kick Katie, weekly. Sometimes, hard enough to make her vomit blood. She had to live the way he wanted her to live: no friends, no job, no driver’s license, no freedom. She took care of the house. Kevin would call her daily, just to make sure she wasn’t out of the house. He had rules and Katie lived with the devil himself in person in hell. Her scape took years to be completed: she needed money and since Katie was not allowed to keep the change of anything she bought, she had to steal from him. She never called the police because Kevin was the police. He called her Erin. All that Alex wants to do is protect Katie and make her happy just as his dead wife wanted him to be: joyful and safe. Now that Erin is gone, Kevin is miserable, he wants to kiss and hold her, but at the same time, hit and kill her. 

For Kevin it was just a game, guess what, game over!

Alex did not ask Katie about her past because, he believed it wasn’t important. If she wanted to tell him, fine, then it was a big deal, otherwise its stuck in past and will stay there maybe even forever.

“Everyone has a past, but that’s just it—it`s in the past. You can learn from it, put not change it. Besides, I never knew that person” (Sparks 121).

There is a reason why some things are in the past. Maybe they are memories or maybe they are just a dark part of the past. The past. Where many people live, but shouldn’t because what happened yesterday, a year ago, what happened a decade ago doesn’t not define the soul in the present. The person of today gets to live a better and happier than the person living in the yesterday and the person living in the tomorrow. 

Katie is still embarrassed about everything that happened with Kevin and her marriage, she avoids to topic even with Alex. She still lives fear and regrets.

“(…) you see yourself as someone who couldn’t get away. I see the courageous woman who escaped.   You see yourself as someone who should be ashamed or guilty because she let it happen. I see a kind, beautiful woman who should feel proud because she stopped it from happening ever again” (Sparks 150).

Where are men like Alex? What happened to chivalry? Where are all the prince charmings? Are they all extinguished or they simply don’t exist? Alex helped Katie see everything from a different point of view and perspective. He might not have lived in that hell, but he sure did in other. Sometimes people need advice and outside help, to help them. It is necessary, even if some don’t want it. People stop blaming themselves and start moving on.

I think, with the help of Alex, Katie will finally move on and set some roots at Southport, North Carolina. She will heal completely and move on. Katie will learn to love herself before loving someone else.