Shattered Dreams

Shattered Dreams

By: Krista Mitchell




Summary: A story about a girl who was lost until she found love. She became the woman she never imagined she could be, the woman she wasn’t supposed to be according to her parents, her family. Expectations and Dreams are shattered as she becomes her own person, grows up, falls in love, and faces things she never thought she would have to face.

Chapter One- How we met

Often in life we take turns we don’t expect, we do things we never thought we would do, we make decisions that change or somehow affect our lives. I did, and what’s funny is most people regret a lot of the things they do in life; me, I have no regrets. I grew up, and fell in love, who could regret that? My names Elisa, I’m 26 years old and am married to the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Dont get me wrong...we've had our ups and downs like every couple does, and we've experienced things you couldn't ever imagine a young person experiencing. However, we've also lived, learned, and loved. Most people dont do that until ther thirty or forty; and that is why I cant regret having made mistakes and having learned from them.
Riley showed me how to love, something that was so hard for me to do after all the hurt I had experienced in my life. Let me share my story with you.

I remember the day we first met. I had almost been working at my job for 2 1/2 years. It was a weekday, and we were busy as usual. I was finally able to escape the register for my lunch break; but was surprised to find the break room full of people. I closed the door quickly, grabbed my stuff from my locker, and nervously went back into the break room. I really hated Thursdays, they were interview days, and I could never really enjoy my lunch because I had to be social with all of the possible newcomers.

“ I’m sorry, I just need to heat up my lunch, and then I’ll be out of here.” I said quickly, as I opened up the microwave and put my pizza in. Great, 4 1/2 minutes with these people, I thought to myself.

“ How do you like it here?” a blonde woman in a nice business suit asked me.

“ Its alright I guess. It’s a job. Why do you guys want to work here?” I leaned against the counter.

“ I need a job.” The same lady replied.

“ This seems like a fun place to work, you guys get to see all kinds of animals and stuff.” Another girl replied.

“ Not really, mostly just dogs.” I opened up the refrigerator and reached in for my pop. I wondered if any of these people would actually get hired. Ninety percent of the people that come in for interviews don’t get hired. Some of the people seemed really nice though, and there was this really hot guy. We don’t get too many of those here at the pet store, so I was kind of hoping for once that we would. He was kind of shy, and very cute; he had blonde hair, brown eyes, nice athletic build, and a cute crooked smile. Everything about him seemed perfect!

“So how long have you worked here?” He asked quietly.

“Too long,” I laughed. “But um…2 1/2 years.” Is he really talking to me I thought to my self?

“ Well then…you have to like it a little.” He smiled. There was something about that smile that made my heart beat faster.

“ Wait, until you work here and you'll see what I mean. I work here because I need the money, and I love animals, and the people I work with. Well, most of them. That's why I'm still here." I was quiet for a second, and noticed that most of the other people in the room had faded off into different conversations.

" Do you live around here?"

" Yah....Pretty close. it takes about fifteen minutes with traffic. What about you? "

“ I'm from Texas, but we moved down here about nine years ago and i live maybe five minutes away.”

“ Texas! So you’re a cowboy! I love cowboys.” Oops, did I say that out loud?

“ Yah, I guess I am. I miss it a lot though. Texas I mean.”

“ So, you don’t like Washington? Texas is hot; I’ve always wanted to live in the country and stuff…but Texas. Man, your crazy!”

“ Its not that bad! Washington’s too cold. You’d probably really like Texas. Especially the land my parents gave me. Its in the country and its near a lake. its really nice.” He smiled that crooked smile again.

“I love the cold, but I like lakes too. Texas though, thats far away. You really do wanna go back” I smiled back...but almost within seconds wasn't interupted by the timer and Joan our very "not so pleasant" manager coming into the break room. “ Well good luck you guys. I better leave. Nice to meet you.” I smiled at him.

“ Thanks. Nice to meet you too. Hope to see you soon.” He replied. I grabbed my pop and food, and left the room quickly.

Riley said he fell in love with me right away because I was the only one to not hit him with the door. I fell in love with Riley almost instantly too, because for once a guy looked at me for me, listened to me, and didn’t judge me.

November 9th Riley Christopher Johnson was hired. And though I didn’t know, he would soon change my life forever. I remember the afternoon he first came on, and how in shock I was of actually seeing him again. It was around three in the afternoon, and a beautiful sunny day. I was wearing my capri's, work shirt, and white tennis shoes. My blonde hair was pulled back in a pony; and again another busy day. I had dealt with three cranky customers already and was not having a very good day. I didnt even see him come in, and he had snuck up behind me.

" Hey you." He smiled.

“ No way!” I smiled back. I think I even blushed a little.

“ Hey,” He said quietly.

“ Wow, the cowboy got hired!”

“ Yah, I guess so. I’m going to be a stocker, but they’re making me do all these books first.”

“ Oh don’t worry about those. You’ll probably get through one or two and then they’ll realize that we need you too actually work instead of doing those stupid things. I mean, at least you get paid, but still.”

“ Yah, I guess there’s eight or nine.”

“ Well if you need help, just let me know.” I smiled.

“ I will defintely do that.” He smiled back and headed off to do the books. Everytime I could get away to do go back or help a customer I would and I would find some excuse to talk to him. He did the same to me though...everytime I walked by he would ask me a question.

The days we worked together seemed to go too quick. I found myself actually excited to go to work everyday. We talked a lot, and it was nice. There was something about him. I had flirted with guys at work in the past, but this one was different. He wasn’t like any of the other ones. I had liked a guy named Nathan who was also a stocker there. However, Nathan showed his true self when I caught him flirting with my friend Madison. He wasn’t ready for a commitment at all, and I wasn’t going to risk anymore hurt. My heart can’t take it. So Nathan was out of the picture. Jonathan and I flirted sometimes too, but he was more like the older brother I never had. And are flirting was strictly platonic. I wanted more then a platonic relationship with this guy. I actually would go to work early everyday, because he always came to work ten minutes early or so, and staying out with him in the parking lot and talking wasn’t too bad either.

Every 6 months are store does an employee appreciation day, and we get thirty percent off anything we want. And that’s one of the days I remember the most. I wasn’t working that night and he was. As I was browsing aisles I found him facing on one.

“ Hey, what are you doing here on your night off?”

“ Its thirty percent, I had to come in.”

“ Well miss, do you need help finding anything?” Was he flirting with me? I couldn’t believe it, a cute guy actually possibly flirting with me.

“ I might.” I smiled.

“ So what is it I can help you with?” he smiled back.

“ This is going to sound really weird, but I want to buy a sweatshirt for my cat.”

“ This one?” he grinned as he pet my Gracee.

“ Yes sir, why do you act so surprised?” I picked up my kitten and gave her a kiss.

“ Poor cat, what are you doing to her?”

“ She doesn’t mind, I swear. She showers with me, and we go for walks. She needs it to keep her warm.” we walked over to the clothing aisle.

“ I can’t believe were doing this,” he laughed, as we struggled to dress my baby, who was whining quite loudly now.

“ She’s just moody right now. She’ll get over it. She really needs this though, and it looks like it kind of fits right?”

“ I think it’s too small.” We both laughed as we struggled to get her into the other shirt.

“ I think she looks gorgeous.”

“ And pissed,” he walked the other aisles with me and we continued to talk.

“ This might sound weird, but would you ever just want to come over and hang out at my house with me sometime.” He didn’t even hesitate after I asked him.

“ Sure, that’d be a lot of fun.”

“ Really?”

“ Yah. So when do you want to hang out?”

“ Well...if your up for it, are work Christmas party is coming up...this Sunday actually. We can hang out before it and then go together."

" That sounds great." he smiled, as he loaded two bags of cat food into my cart.

" Thanks for helping me out."

" No problem. I don’t mind." he reached for my cat and began to pet her.

" You really love her, don’t you?"

" I love animals, it gets me in trouble though; with my mom and stuff, because I get too attached. She’s a good girl, and I had to really work on my parents for her."

" They don’t like cats?"

" They say a dogs enough. But the dogs the families dog, I’ve always wanted something of my own." I held her tighter, and gave her a kiss on her forehead. He continued to walk the next couple aisles with me, just talking about our lives, and work, and school. I got so much stuff; I had spent nearly eight hundred dollars before my discount. After I had finished paying he continued to help me by carrying out the cat scratcher and loading everything into my tiny car. I couldn't help but wish I was still inside buying more because it would've been more time with him. Unfortunately, I had gone almost broke, so it was a good thing I had left the premises.

" Thanks for helping me Riley! I had a great time tonight, talking and stuff."

" Me too, your a fun customer to help, so anytime just hit me up, okay?" he smiled that smile again.

" Okay. Thanks." I hugged him quickly and hopped in my car.


Chapter Two- Our First Date


I couldn’t believe The Christmas Party came so quickly. It was Sunday, and I was going to meet Riley at his house in another thirty minutes. I straightened my long, blonde hair, checked my makeup for the fourth time, and changed my outfit for the fifth. I wondered what he was going to be wearing, and if he was nervous. I hopped in my car and headed over to his house. He had given me great directions so his house was easy to find, and I got there a little bit early. I looked at myself in the mirror again really quick, and headed to his front door. His mom opened it quickly, smiled and invited me in. There house was warm and I already felt like I was apart of them.
“ So you are the one we’ve heard so much about.”

“ Only good things I hope.”

“ Lots of good things. I’m Corrine by the way, and this is my husband John.”

“ He forgot to mention how beautiful you are,” his dad reached for my hand, “ nice to meet you.”

“ Nice to meet you also.” I nervously sat down on the couch.

“ Hey,” Riley said as he walked into the living room.

“ Hey.” I stood up quickly.

“ You look great!” he smiled.

“ Thanks. You do too.” I smiled back.

“ Well, we’ll see you guys later.” He looked at his parents quickly and we headed out.

“ There really nice.”

“ Ahhh, when they want to be.” He smiled. We headed back to my house too watch a movie before we left for dinner. Riley’s car had broken down and he was working on fixing it. We had arrived at my house about eight minutes later, and headed to the living room. That evening the household was quiet. My sisters were at church, my dad was doing parking lot at church, and my mom was with her best friend Stacey. We both shared a pop, sat down and talked, and laughed. It felt great to actually be with a guy and have them expect nothing from me, have them actually enjoy talking with me.
There was something about him that was special and different. Something drew me to him, and I still can remember to this day what he wore that day and how amazingly sexy he smelled. I remember how I felt when I saw him…and for me it wasn’t normal. I had butterflies, and I remember actually wanting to kiss a guy and be with a guy.

“ Your quiet.” I said quickly.

“ I guess I’m kind of shy around girls I like.”

“ No your not, you were flirting like crazy at work.”

“ Right back at ya missy.”

“ I wanna know things about you. Like your favorite color, favorite thing to do,”

“ My favorite colors blue. What’s yours?”

“ Mines blue too.”

“ What do you do for fun?”

“ I don’t know…mostly play paintball I guess…work on my car, hang out with friends and stuff. Paintball and Car though…you know, top priorities. Definetly over friends.”

“ yah…never heard of it.”

“I guess I’m gonna have to take you some time then.”

“ I guess so.”

“ So what about you? What do you do?”

“ Its kinda stupid….Mostly just watch movies, hang out with my friends, dance. I don’t know. I write.”

“ What do you write?”

“ Love stories…horror stories. I don’t know…my friends tell me there pretty good."

"I guess I'll have to read some of your stories then, now wont I?"

" i dont know. I dont know if you'd like them."

" well you wrote them...so I probably would."

My heart was falling faster and faster. This kind of scared me. I'd never wanted a guy the way I wanted Riley. I was actually starting to feel even, like I wouldnt mind if he kissed me. The night could only get better, and it did. As we layed down on the couch close to eachother and began to watch the movie. We were quiet for awhile but I noticed he reached for my hand. I was nervous, because what if my hands were sweaty or what if I wasn't doing it right. I'd never held hands with a guy before; and what did this mean exactly? Were we dating?
I could hardly pay attention to the movie...all that was on my mind was him. The movie was scary too. It was starting to get dark outside..and I still could not focus. I remember his hand even slipping away from mine occasionally, but I didn't mind. Normally, I would have ran but I really liked this guy fro some reason, and I guess it was okay. The movie ended and we both got up to head for the Christmas Dinner. Neither one of us said anything about what had happened, and he probably had felt bad. However, I really didnt mind. I actally enjoyed every feeling I felt.

" Riley, what do you want out of a relationship, or out of this relationship? Like, what do you see in me?"

" I want a long term relationship. I've had girlfriends in the past, but none were that serious. I'm definetly ready for a serious relationship. and what do I see in you? you have a big heart. I've never seen someone as caring or loving as you. Everyone here likes you. and your fun. and I guess your kinda cute."

" thanks, your not too bad yourself." We were quiet for the rest of the drive except for a few things here and there and arrived at the Spaghetti Factory perfect timing. He took off my jacket for me, pulled out my chair. He was the perfect gentlemen.

Riley was everything I could see my future having, He was perfect for me in everyway.