A Stormy Night

It was a stormy night, rain falling heavily with thunder crackling in the night sky. Sierra was in her apartment miserably looking out the window, trying to calm her mess of emotions by watching the thunderstorms she always loved. She was trying to piece together everything she had seen to come up with a logical explanation but she couldn't. Her heart was a mess and the love of her life -- rather, the man she thought was the love of her life was currently in bed with her now ex-bestfriend.

How could the two most important people in her life betray her like this? Her heart was crumbling to pieces, it hurt so much that she felt she was suffocating. The thunderstorm outside window was doing nothing to appease her, it seemed like everything she loved and cared about were stabbing her in the back today.

"How could Johnny do this to me? How could he cheat on me? We've been together five years! How could Sarah do this to me? She was supposed to be my best friend, the one who was always there for me." she thought. "I thought he loved me.." she mumbled with tears running down her face as she searched through her apartment for that bottle of vodka she kept in case guests came over.

She finally found that sought after bottle in the cabinet above the fridge. She hurriedly opened and without bothering to get a glass, she took a big gulp. The vodka that would normally burn going down barely tickled compared to the insufferable pain she was currently feeling. She couldn't control her tears, they wouldn't stop flowing. The girl who would never cry because she didn't want to seem weak couldn't control her emotions.

She stared outside the window as she continued to down the bottle of vodka in an attempt to numb her sorrow. Soon the bottle was empty and she once again needed to find a distraction. She glanced at her phone and saw numerous missed calls and unread texts from the two people she wanted to hear from again.

She felt so alone in this world, as if no one loved her or wanted her. The raindrops looked looked lonely as well. She suddenly had an urge to go outside, perhaps the rain would help relieve her of her pain. She went to the elevator without bothering to put on a jacket and pressed the down button. It was chilly at night but she didn't care. She wanted to feel the cold air and she hoped it would help relieve her of the endless misery.

The elevator opened but it wasn't empty, there was a man inside. She got in and for the first time in her life she didn't care if someone saw the weak side of her. "It must be because of the alcohol" she thought to herself. She couldn't make out his features because her vision was clouded by tears or the fact she was drunk.

The man wanted to say something but he decided perhaps it was better not to. She looked so vulnerable, so broken.

The elevator finally reached the ground floor and Sierra stumbled out. The man watched her with a perplexed expression. He was unsure whether he should help her or not. He watched her zigzag towards the lobby doors and leave the building. He was on his way to the office to work overnight on a last minute project.

As he left the building he saw her just sitting in the rain, leaning against the building and staring up at the sky. "She will catch a cold like that" he said to himself. He continued to watch her for the next 5 minutes almost in a trance. He saw that she had no intention of leaving so he walked towards her and took off his jacket.

"I don't know what happened but you really shouldn't sit here like this in this weather." he said to her. "You should at least wear a jacket, it's cold out tonight. Here take mine." he passed her his jacket as she just sat there dazed. She didn't reply but he decided it would be best to pass her his umbrella as well. She glanced up at him and asked "Why are you helping me? Why are you being nice to someone you don't know?"

He shrugged saying "I couldn't just watch you out here in this weather without any warmth or umbrella."

The alcohol really started to take its toll on Sierra. She quietly said "I'm so alone, I'll keep the lonely raindrops company so we can be lonely together."