George
We Love Who We Love
She looked at him sleeping, her heart swelling with love. They had been together for so long. Ever since third grade at McKinley Elementary with Mrs. School as homeroom teacher. They called her Mrs. School because her last name was McKinley, too. It was not until later she realized that teachers were not hired because of their names. Her logic evolved.
But George stayed with her. They did everything together, went everywhere. Each night they would discuss the events of the day before they went to sleep. She would say:
“What about that Madeline? I heard she now likes Matt instead of Jim.”
Then George would remind her that we love who we love. We have no control over that, and just because they were faithful to each other did not mean that other people had to stay together, too.
“I could never leave you for another!” She would tell him and give him a big kiss goodnight.
She had kept true to her promise. Middle school, high school, college and the ten years she had now worked as an assistant at Parsons — though that was not her last name. They had stuck together. They had each other figured out. She just knew that George was the one for her.
They had gotten married in April of her sophomore year at college. A very small ceremony. No family, no friends, just the two of them. In some ways it had seemed silly, but she needed them to declare their love forever. They had matching rings. His big and bulky to fit his arm, hers slimmer and with a single diamond, the date engraved in both of them.
Life was easy with George. She would tell him stories about people at work over dinner. About Mr. Johnson who had a new kitten that was black with a white dot on the nose. George was not really into cats. About Mrs. Bullock whose granddaughter was on a debate team, though none of them knew what was so special about being argumentative. About Ms. Lynn who was getting married in the fall for the second time and could not decide if she should wear white. She should not, they agreed. It would not be appropriate.
Now he was asleep. Soon she would be, too. Lying here together in her bed that had traveled far with her as well. All the way from her room at her parents’ house through her dorm and rented rooms until she had saved enough for this studio apartment. It felt like home.
Saturday night she would have to take George down to the laundry room to give him a run in the washer and dryer. His white and blue striped overalls and matching hat was starting to look a little mucky, and his plastic round cheek with the red dot had some lipstick smeared on it. There was no way around it, it was time for a bath. They would have the laundry room to themselves. No prying eyes. She would stay with him the whole time, of course. Talk him through the cycle as she always did. Make sure his wedding ring stayed on top of the dryer while he was in there.
She stretched her arm and turned off the light on the nightstand. It was just Wednesday and tomorrow was another day.
Pair this one with the “new” old Nothing Compares 2 U by Prince
