He wasn’t always this way. Willus use to be in love, and have that passion that can be seen in movies like The Notebook. Her name was actually Emily, and she gave him butterflies back in the day.
He first saw her with flour on her face sweeping the floor at the local Pizza Parlor. He applied that day, with no experience but all of Brooklyn could smell his desperation. It took only six hours for her to agree on one date, on the condition that he would stop asking. He laughs when he thinks back; he claims that it was his “cheesy charm” and good looks that won her over. She would say it was the fact that she was always laughing, knowing that he was unlike anyone else.
They lived the life that could be taken out of a romantic movie. They took over the pizza parlor once the owner passed, and had a wedding, followed by two children. They had the love that everyone wants, and grew old together. They went on spontaneous subway rides without a destination, and still had candle night dinners. Life was perfect, until she left without a word.
This killed Willus, and the only reason he didn’t jump out the window from the fifteenth floor of the apartment was because of his kids. They were his everything, along with his work. He planed on dying alone, and his kids would not take that as an answer. His daughter was the one who dropped her grades to a low C, just so he could come in to meet with her teacher Ms. Johnson - from there the rest was history.
She was everything that Emily was not. She was stable, and enjoyed planning. He got his second chance at love and was on his way to propose to her when this picture was snapped. In the right coat pocket is the ring, and in his left hand the newspaper. He read it daily, and the cover page caught his eye.
The picture was of Emily walking away from a fire. The newspaper said all the survivors were at a shelter a few subway stops away. Willus stepped through the subway gates not knowing what to do next.
