GHOSTED

The taxi crept along the street like a sleek black panther. Hugging the curb, its engine purred so deep and low it sounded like a predator's growl as it came to a halt.

Arianna stepped out of the cab and paid the cabman, glancing at her phone to check the address one more time to be sure she was at the right place.

"Dredge junction", this was the address so where was Vince. Her eyes wandered the streets in search of her boyfriend who was supposed to be here. She looked at her watch, maybe she was early, the time was already noon, Vince had told her that he would be here by 11:30.

She wore her backpack and sat on an empty bench by the roadside as she waited for her sweetheart.

....

The day was slowly becoming darker, poor Ariana, she was getting tired of waiting but she believed her Vince was going to come. She slept off with the hope that she would be woken up by him.

"Hey lady wake up", an elderly woman said hitting Ariana, the Old woman could not fathom why a beautiful young lady would be sleeping outside by eight o clock in the night.

Arianna opened her eyes slowly, she looked around, why was this woman waking her up, and why was it so dark? These were the questions going through her head. She bent her head slightly as she thanked the woman for waking her up. She couldn't even start to imagine the horrible things that could have happened to her if the old woman had not woken her up from her slumber.

Checking the time on her phone, Arianna sighed, Vince had ghosted her after she had given him $2000 for a free couple weekend getaway though as she thought of it, it didn't seem so free anymore. She boarded a taxi and went straight home.

A bowl of ice cream while binge-watching Korean dramas ought to do the trick, she thought to herself as she brought out a bowl of her favorite ice cream, strawberry. To her dismay, it didn't help to keep her mind away from what Vince had done. He didn't send a single text message or even bother to call her.

Arianna found herself asking,

What is wrong with me?

Why does this always happen to me?

Why must my heart get shattered at every given chance?

She was 24 and all her relationships ended the same way with the guy breaking her heart but that had never phased her. Arianna had a goal, she believed out there was her prince charming, who would sweep her off her feet and love her like no one ever has, and they'd live happily ever after, just like the fairy tales. She was going to find him no matter what even if it meant dating a lot of wrong princes first.

With her goal in mind, Arianna wiped her tears but they refused to stop flowing, she knew her goal but it still hurt to be treated the way Vince had just treated her. Scoop by scoop she ate her ice cream and balled her eyes out until she floated into the land of sleep.