Valentine's Orphans

After an extended radio silence, I got an email out of the blue yesterday from the girl to whom I'd lent my Game of Thrones books all those many months ago.  She'd found them in her house during some cleaning and was offering to deliver them to my doorstep.  As soon as possible.  And while I was at work.  The request made me a bit uncomfortable, as I wasn't sure what to make of it.  Did she hate my guts?  Or was this just the routine settling of accounts?  Given the uncertainty, I declined her offer, suggesting instead to meet somewhere in the middle to retrieve them.  Well, as you know, a woman is not to be denied, so when I returned home today I found the books on my doorstep.   That they were nestled snuggly in a basket reminded me of babies being left on the doorstep of the orphanage--the unwanted cast aways of a failed relationship.  Although I'd purchased them, I don't really consider them mine at this point since they've been out of my possession for longer than I'd initially had them.  On top of which I have a new set of books from the Apothecary.  But of course, the girl didn't consider them hers either, so they were returned to their "biological" parent.

Anyway, not wanting the little orphan books to be left out in the cold, I picked them up, brought them inside, and then spent the better part of the evening trying to extract the meaning out of their unexpected delivery.  That the girl offered to return them to me herself instead of putting them in the mail suggests things are civil between the two of us.  As does the fact that she didn't just throw them out or burn them into oblivion.  Although, her lack of interest in meeting face-to-face suggests otherwise.  But, the fact that she took the time to put them in a basket suggests otherwise still.  On the other hand, maybe all the "nice" gestures are somehow a passive-aggressive way to show her disdain for me.  But I thought we parted ways mutually way back when last July.  Ah!

Realizing I could stay up all night concocting different theories for this most-likely innocuous return of personal property, I decided to just leave it be.  Especially since ultimately her motivation is irrelevant given that the net result is allowing her to pull an Eternal Sunshine and purge the last remnants of our relationship from her reality.  And that the purge happened so close to Valentine's Day suggests a positive alignment of the stars for her romantically that she didn't want to jeopardize with "old business."  The freedom of closure to a relationship is a priceless thing, and I'm glad she was able to find it just in time for an unencumbered Valentine's Day.  May cupid's arrow strike true for her.

--KM

"I hit the sidewalk, and this is how it starts; caught in a wrinkle when things are fallin' apart."