12 Green And Red Flags
It was new, that warmth you feel around others. that warmth you feel from loved ones. Alex just froze, not knowing how to react to this show of love. He went blank, his mind unable to work or process this new complex thing known as love.
"Alex?" Jenny who was crying slightly spoke softly seeing how Alex just froze. She didn't expect someone out there to think they weren't loved. Was Alex her only friend? well, that was said at the moment, she had many friends, but she could only speak with them over the phone. But Alex was her only ever male friend.
She felt it was sad seeing someone say they couldn't be loved, yet the way Alex just smiled it off as if it was nothing. that broke her heart. but after a moment of hugging him, she was caught off guard by how fast his heart was beating. So, she called out to him. but she looked up, she only saw Alex looking down at her with this lost and confused look, while from his left eye, a small tear fell.
"You're crying..." She said while putting her palm on his face, lightly removing the tear running down his face. but Alex didn't seem to care for it, his mind had shut down, and having trouble finding what he should do.
"So, tomorrow I order a mask, and when it arrives I think I should pop up on the stream," Alex said while looking to the side, avoiding eye contact with her. Jenny seeing this just hugged him tighter, leaving him feeling complex.
"I'm ready to speak with you whenever you're ready..." She said softly, to which I took a deep breath for a moment before nodding lightly.
"Thanks..." I said lightly, Jenny just nodded with a smile. She ordered an Uber, turning down my offer to have someone drive her home. As she left, I watched her leave before returning inside, lost in my mind.
"Well, this is complex. Clizby, what do you think about all of this?" I asked Clizby who had seen everything play out.
"Love can be a beautiful thing, yet at the same time a deadly weapon. It's normal for a person to seek love, but it's important to be on guard against it. Being someone who never felt it, the crushing feeling of it being used against you would be great." Clizby said calmly,
"The best thing I could tell you is this. take the time to write down what you want, your bottom lines, things to avoid, and rules you wish you and the other partner to follow. never blindly love, someone who blindly loves would be blind to the dagger being stabbed into their heart." Clizby said while I nodded in understanding before going to my room, where I went online.
I went to Reddit, where I came across many posts about the concept of love. failed marriages, betrayers, and so many more. I read through hundreds of them, feeling pity for those males and females out there whose hearts were shattered.
I felt fear for the first time, hearing the pain these people went through. how they would go through cycles of pain and heartache. but I went on to listen to their words, their regrets, and many others. I made a list, one of green flags and the other of red flags. I wasn't searching for love or anything, I just wanted to learn more about love and what to look out for.
Green Flags was a saying that I saw on Reddit. it seems to be a term used to highlight positive actions or traits.
A red flag is a term used as a literal warning of some danger. Danger meaning that the relationship would not be healthy and you should be on high alert.
Green flags were something easy for me. these are the first things I listed out.
1. They respect your boundaries and don't pressure you to do things you're not comfortable with.
2. They treat you as an equal partner and value your opinions and preferences.
3. They communicate openly and honestly with you and don't play games or hide things from you.
Those were just a few out of the dozen I listed down, but for the Red flags, it was far more as I found online many things could lead to the downfall of a healthy relationship. So, I had to list the most important thing first, to the least important thing
Number one and most important is a lack of respect for boundaries. I was still growing and was becoming someone I could respect, so I would need some boundaries and space to find myself. I was new to all of this.
2. Unwillingness to communicate or compromise. How can we be in any form of a healthy relationship if we can't talk? I can understand if one doesn't like to talk much, but there is a limit to this as well.
3. Disregard for your feelings or well-being. How can we even be considered friends if you don't care for me? at that point, you should stop acting and show your true colors.
there were a lot more, but I didn't sleep all night as I was busy working on this list. like I said, I wanted to be someone I could respect. I wanted to become the best possible version of myself I could become...
Well, with that I got ready and headed off to my training. but today I didn't go to my uncle and instead went to get my gun license. to say the least, I skipped many things and only went over gun safety rules, and how to use a gun, and within a few hours I had shown off how quickly I could master the gun. I even broke a world record at the gun range.
So, that day I got my gun license, as well as a new simple gun. once I got the gun, I was given a job to do. by now, my uncle knew of my capability. at least the capability that I showed him. He pretty much thought I could run 40 miles an hour, and had strength at around 1,200 lbs. As for my reflexes, it was something I had trouble hiding.
My first job was simple, there was an up-rising rapper who have been getting death threats lately due to something he said online. I will get paid 2k for the job and would get paid extra from my uncle depending on how well things went.
So, I went home while getting ready for the day. My job would start at 8 pm. As I returned home, I was caught off guard when Jason called me...
a few hours back, Jason was sitting in his office, his mind wandering with Alex's words. In the end, he stood up and went to go speak to his wife. it took some time, but he wanted to speak with his wife so that they could come to some kind of agreement like husband and wife. but this was more of a test to feel the water.
"Hey, love. I was thinking, can we go out to Hawaii on our next vacation?" He asked, to which Lana frowned, not wanting to go to Hawaii.
"No, like always we are going to Dubai," Lana said
"But we go to Dubai every year... I never really liked Dubai, can we do something new this once?" He asked, leaving Lana stunned she looked at him for a moment, before getting up and walking away. this left Jason stunned for a moment before he lowered his head in disappointment. but Lana came back before he could do anything.
"If thats what you like, then of course... anything to make you happy." She said with a smile, which clearly showed she didn't want this, but for him, she was willing to do so. Jason normally would have taken his words back and done what she wanted, but this time he steeled his heart and hugged her.
"thank you," He said before kissing her and walking off to make the arrangement, leaving Lana standing there with a frown. normally, Jason would take his word back, but she would act as if she refused, and after some back and forth, she gave in, allowing Jason to do what she wanted... but now he didn't even ask her first.
She was annoyed, but she went to the bedroom, where she went to lie in bed and started crying. it didn't take long for Jason to enter the room and find her in tears, seeing this he quickly went over to her side and tried to calm her down.
"What's wrong? why are you crying?" He asked seeing Lana acting like she wasn't crying and was all right.
"It's nothing, I just have a small headache." She said softly, Jason's heart felt like it was being punched. it was clear she was crying because of him,
"your head was okay a moment ago... tell me what's wrong." He said with deep care and worry. but Lana wouldn't say anything, forcing him to keep asking her many times until she unwillingly spoke.
"I don't know... I just feel like you don't care for my opinion at all. every year we talk about it and I always make sure you're okay with something. I just feel like this is a sign of our love for each other dying. I'm just not ready to face that." She said covering her face with the blanket,
Jason was left stunned for a moment... she was right, every year she always asked him many times to make sure he was okay with it. meanwhile, he always did what she thought she wanted even though she wanted to switch it.
"If you don't want to go, then let's go to Dubai this year. I'm sorry." He said softly, to which She just shook her head.
"I didn't know you hated it, so let's go to Hawaii. how can I do something you hate?" She asked making his heart warm.
"but you said you hated Hawaii." He said. He remembered that in the past, she once said how she hated Hawaii and didn't want to go back there.
"It's okay, for you I will go to hell and back... what's a small Hawaii? how could I just take this chance away from you when you have been putting up with my trips all this time... I'm so sorry." She said before bursting into tears once more, Jason hugged her tightly. what a kind and loving wife he had.
"No, let's not go to Hawaii. I will let you pick a place, and if you can't pick then let's go to Dubai." He said lightly, stopping her from refusing.
"I love you..." She said to which he removed her tears before kissing her lightly.
"I love you more." He said before leaving her alone and walking away, but as he left the room he froze going over everything that just happened.
'Was I gaslighted? no, she cared...' He thought while looking towards his room, and after a moment, he went to his office and called Alex. Maybe a second point of view would help him understand things.
