The Girl With The Crimson Hair

Hey guys! the first semester of my second year at uni is over for the christmas holidays which means everything is handed in! This is a creative piece of writing i did for one of my classes Genre and Form. I really enjoyed writing this so i'd love it if you'd give it a read! xo

The early morning light pushed its way through the curtains as Eva woke from her peaceful slumber. Her eyelids fluttered open and she rolled over to check the time displayed on the watch that was on the cabinet beside her. It was 8:30am. Fuck, I was meant to be awake half an hour ago. Cade will be waiting for me. Goddamn Eva! Eva threw back her duvet and sprung to her feet, dashing into the bathroom where she carelessly shovelled a toothpaste-covered brush into her mouth, while simultaneously pulling off her pyjamas and pulling the shower cord on. I am going to be so late. Minutes later she re-appeared in a towel, hair dripping wet and pulling things out of her wardrobe trying to decide what to wear. Cade always likes it when I wear green. She picked out a dark green corduroy skirt and matched it with a black knit sweater. Easy but still stylish. Eva smiled and put on her chosen outfit in a hastily fashion. What am I going to do with my hair? I can’t leave it wet but I only have 20 minutes to meet him was what was currently circling around Eva’s brain. She settled with half drying it and shoving half up into a messy bun. She then quickly put on some mascara and a touch of lipstick, grabbed her bag, which she was literally throwing her essentials in to, zipped up her boots and slammed the door behind her.

She arrived at her and Cade’s arranged meeting spot, a small and quaint café in the heart of Brighton’s town centre, at 9:25am. Cade was sitting outside, sipping on his usual, and by the looks of it, his second medium cappuccino. He glanced upwards as Eva approached. “Hi Eva.” He said, giving her a smile and then a kiss on the cheek as she leaned in for a hug. “Hi hun, I’m so sorry I’m late. I must have been in a deep sleep and didn’t hear my alarm go off.” Eva meekly said. Why isn’t he more annoyed? This kind of thing always gets him riled up. He would usually tell me if something I’ve done has bothered him. “How’re you doing?” Cade took another sip of his coffee, and gazed gently at Eva. “I’m fine.. you?” she hesitantly asked back. Why is he being so strange? This is not like him at all. “Yeah, good.” Then after a short pause, he continued with “Well, no, actually. We need to talk.” Oh god, what does he want to talk about? Maybe he wants to break up, or he’s met somebody else, oh god oh god no. I hope I’m wrong. Cade cut off Eva’s panicked stream of thought and came straight out with “To cut a long story short.. I’ve met somebody. I’m so sorry Eva. I’d never intentionally want to hurt you, you know that, right? Right, Eva?” His voice started to quiver as he finished speaking, but he coughed quietly as to regain his composure. Eva stared blankly at his face, barely even blinking. Fuck. I wonder who she is. Tears began steadily falling from her eyelashes and caressing her cheeks, before dropping from her chin. They both sat there in silence for a while. “Eva, please say something.” Cade nervously asked. I can’t believe this is happening. This can’t be happening. “I don’t think there’s anything else to say, Cade. This is it. You’ve met someone else and there’s nothing I can do about that. I think I should go.” The strength in Eva’s words surprised her, although the very apparent tears were still streaming down her face as she got up from her chair. “Please don’t go like this Eva. Maybe we should talk about it. It isn’t anybody you know and it all happened so quickly, I...” Cade’s words trailed off as Eva started walking away and running her hands through her hair, trying to hold back the sob that was stuck in her throat. Cade got up too and quickened his pace in order to grab her arm. He lifted up her chin and tried to look her direct in the eyes, which was seemingly hard as she was trying her best to avoid him, squinting her eyes shut and biting down on her lip in order to suppress the sob, which was now almost at the point of escaping. Eventually, she wiped her eyes with her free hand and turned her head sideways to look at Cade. He begun “Eva, listen. I’m sorry, I’m so so sorry. I love you, I do, really, but I can’t deny that I have feelings for somebody else. I have to let you go, it’s the only fair thing to do. You’ll always be that girl that I met in the quiet section of the library, you know. When you accidentally knocked over a trolley full of books and everyone turned to look at you. I’ll always remember. You’ll always be that girl with the Crimson hair. My girl.” He told her. Lies. All lies. Eva gave a small laugh, but her facial expression quickly turned back into a frown and she pulled his hand away from her face, pushing him back slightly in the process. Cade looked hurt. I can’t believe he’s feeding me this bullshit. And why does he suddenly look so hurt? He isn’t the one who now has to go back to an empty flat and sit there in self-pity and go through every tiny detail in his mind to work out what it was that he did wrong. “Bye, Cade.” Were Eva’s final words and before Cade had a chance to reply, she began walking back home, her pacing irregular as she was stopping every now and then to catch her breath from the sobs that had now taken over.

Eva arrived back at her flat, dumped her bag on the floor and flopped onto her bed. My heart is breaking and he’s got himself some new woman. How is this fair??? She rolled over and checked the time on her phone; it was almost 10am. So I’ve got to get through the whole day feeling like this. Great. In an attempt to not have an emotional breakdown, Eva made herself a large mug of tea and decided to play a record while she kept herself busy doing the mundane and very boring chores around the flat. Is this really what my life has amounted to? Crying silently to myself while I do the housework? This is all like something from a movie; not my actual life. Ha. Eva gave out a small, melancholy laugh and continued to sort, tidy, hoover, clean and tidy some more until every task possible, was done.

A couple of hours had passed by now and Eva made the decision to head out. She was thinking of going to her favourite bookshop that has a bar situated right at the back, perfect for her to sit and wallow in her self-misery while she had a good book in one hand and a glass of wine in the other. It’s definitely not too early to start drinking, is it? Eva wondered. I mean, it’s a Friday and heck, I deserve this after the way Cade has treated me. Eva’s facial expression immediately turned into something that looked positively sour and unimpressed, as if the word ‘Cade’ had left an acid-like taste in her mouth. She slowly moved her hand upwards to touch her lips, shut her eyes and shook her head. I will not let this ruin me. I guess he isn’t who I thought he was, but that’s no reflection on you Eva. Remember that – and don’t let him think he has control over your emotions. He doesn’t. Not anymore.

Eva got her things together for a second time that day and made her way to the bookshop that was in one of Brighton’s Lanes. Once inside, she ordered herself a large glass of white wine and found herself a hefty copy of Alice in Wonderland to read. She found a little booth to herself, took a large sip of her Pino and got herself comfortable. This is exactly what I need. Ca- she begun, but quickly adjusted her words – that tosser isn’t worth my thoughts, let alone my tears. Just enjoy yourself Eva. And hey, you might end up meeting somebody else too.

An hour or so had passed and Eva was now on to her second glass of wine. People had been coming in and out of the bookshop all the while she was there, but there was one guy who had been sat at the other side of the room and every now and then she would catch him looking in her direction. I wonder what this guy is peering at. Is he looking at me? Is he trying to look for someone he’s meeting here? Eva couldn’t quite work it out. After another fifteen minutes had gone by of this mysterious man looking in her direction, Eva put her book down, stood up and walked towards the ladies bathroom; she wanted to see if he followed her so she’d have a little more indication as to what, or who exactly he was looking at this entire time. After five minutes had passed and she had fixed her hair and touched up her lipstick, she steadily opened the door and glazed her eyes across the room. She couldn’t see him anywhere. Maybe I’m just imagining things and he’s still sat in his seat. Maybe I’m just going crazy after what happened earlier today. She made her way back to her booth where to her complete and utter surprise, was the guy, casually just sat in her spot, with his book and a cup of coffee. Eva spoke, but her words weren’t coherent in the slightest. “Erm.. what.. what are you...”
“The name’s Theo. I noticed you kept looking over at my table, at me and my dashing looks, no doubt. Oh, don’t worry, I’m flattered. Really.” Theo spoke at her while not lifting his gaze from the book he had clasped in his hands. He nudged his glasses further up onto the bridge of his nose, and after a couple of seconds, gave Eva the satisfaction of his eye contact. Who IS this guy? Me looking at him? Is he seeing things? And now he’s sat at my table? Eva was completely speechless and her face didn’t move, not even an inch, as if it had been set in stone. This must have caught Theo’s attention because his face now became slightly worried-looking and he quickly spoke again “Hey, I’m only kidding. Are you alright? Truthfully, I saw you and thought you seemed… interesting. I can leave if you want...” Eva found her voice and piped up with “No, no it’s ok. Sorry, I’ve had a rough day. Stay. I guess some company would be nice.” Eva gestured for him to budge over and made herself comfortable again. “One thing though. You said I seemed interesting. Interesting how?” This time before he spoke, Theo bookmarked his page and placed it in his lap in order to give Eva his full attention. “Well” he begun “I saw you come in, you’ve got such fiery hair, I kinda couldn’t not notice that.” He gave her a smirk, then continued “and then I saw that you were reading Alice in Wonderland. Like I said, interesting.” Eva found herself not actually listening to what he was saying but watching the way that his lips were moving, examining his jawline, tracing with her eyes what his broad shoulders would look like without his shirt on. She snapped back into reality and felt an inner burn in her stomach and her face started to flush. She looked up at Theo, his eyes were twinkling and he gave her a Cheshire cat grin. “Getting lost in our thoughts, were we?”