Mixed Tape Part 3 - Finale

“Through the sleepless nights, through each endless day, I want to hear you say, I Remember You” – Skid Row

“Don't you remember you told me you loved me baby?” Karen Carpenter



Karl couldn’t call Laura now. Maybe he would text Michelle, and tell her it’s over. Michelle never minded being the go-between. She loved gossip so much this would be like a present for her. If nothing else comes from this crazy tape, he was certain that his life was more about pain and regret than it was about love. Each time he thought he landed the one that was going to last, it failed. When he gave his heart again and again he got burned each time.

“I could start dreaming but it never ends
As long as you’re gone we may as well pretend
I’ve been dreaming, straight from the heart.”

He didn’t even bother looking over at the boom box. It was songs like this one that added to his pain. This song could have been on a tape for any of the girls, or women, he loved and lost. He laughed sardonically at himself. Maybe, the theme of him finding a woman, falling head over heels, and losing her became so familiar that he started making tapes beforehand. He went over to the Apartment Box and started digging around for other unmarked tapes.

‘This is what the world needs,’ he thought, ‘Premade mixed tapes.’ He could sell them on the counter at record stores. They’d be labeled by need. There’d be “CHEATER” with songs like Keep on Loving You by REO Speedwagon “And though I know all about the other men, still I don’t remember. Cause it was us baby way before them, and we’re still together.” And there’d be the “STALKER” Pack with songs like Every Breath You Take. Bryan Adams would find a place too, just like he did on this tape, “Straight from the heart, Tell me we can make one more start, You know I’ll never go, as long as I know, it’s coming straight from the heart.”

Whatever. There's still this mystery. WHO is this tape for? Karl couldn’t avoid the fact anymore that whoever he made this for was someone he loved very much. And there was a chance if he felt this way about her, maybe she felt this way about him. And if not her, maybe there was someone else. If he could have these feelings for several of his old flames, maybe there was someone out there who was still holding a torch for him. But how could he find her? How would he know? Well, with Laura gone, he’ll have plenty of time to find out.

This time the phone rang. He quickly looked at it before answering. It was Michelle. “What?” he yelled into it.

“Karl? Where are you? Laura’s been looking for you. Didn’t you get my texts?” she rattled off.

“Oh, so you were the one that texted me from her phone,” he said.

“Yeah. But she is trying to get you. Where are you? Where have you been?” She said.

“Oh, yeah. I stopped by my storage unit,” he said, “I thought I’d look for a few things.”

“What? You still have that?” she asked.

“Yeah, I found a lot of interesting things here,” he replied.

“Well, I’m going to let her know where you are.”

“Fine,” he said, “I guess I’ll talk to her when she gets here.”



He hung up the phone and wondered, briefly, what he was going to say to Laura when she got there. Did he really want to tell her that he spent the day thinking about old girlfriends? Or should he tell her that he finally came to terms with her decision to move out of state for her promotion? That he was ready to be single again?

Maybe Laura gave up just as much as he did when they got married. Her dreams were professional. She never pretended they weren’t. Her goals have always been climbing the corporate ladder. It was kind of odd that they would be the one’s to take it this far. Perhaps he was so sick of getting shots on the shoulder when he wore his heart on his sleeve that he went with someone who didn’t go there with him. Love stories, power ballads, poems, she had no interest in these things. He safely left his emotional side on a shelf and it never got hurt there.

But now that she was choosing this promotion and a move out of state over their marriage, that meant he would be back out there. He would be looking for someone to help him bring that off the shelf, and love him. It’s no wonder he never made a mixed tape for Laura. He would never know what songs to add. She was very calm, cool and collected. She never needed him to dramatically express his love for her. She never complained about not enough spice, or too much spice, in their life together.

Karl suddenly realized that the boom box had stopped playing. He went over and opened the cassette door. He found that the boom box was eating the tape. He thought maybe this was for the best. Wherever this tape came from, it seemed to bring up more painful issues then good feelings. Maybe these beautiful women who hurt him so badly were not the answer he was looking for. Love should be love, not pain, not drama.

He gently pulled the tape out of the machine and began unraveling what he could of it. Laura walked in just as he was placing the fixed tape back into the machine.

“Wow,” she said, “looks like there a lot of things we can throw out.”

“What?” he said, “Yeah, I guess.”

“What are you working on there?” she asked, pointing at the boom box.

“It’s an old tape I found,” he said, “with some…Interesting songs on it.”

“Interesting?”

“Yeah. So I hear you want to talk.” He said.

“Oh, yeah,” she said, “I’ve been running around talking to everybody today. I wanted to talk to you before you heard it from someone else.”

“What’s that?”

“I got that promotion,” she said.

“I know,” he said, confused, “haven’t we been talking about that for weeks?”

“Yeah, yeah, we have.” She said, “But what I mean is I got the promotion here at the local office. I don’t have to move.”

Karl, looked up at her. Just for good measure he hit the play button on the boom box. Without saying anything he walked over to her while the tape finished Bryan Adams’ song.

“That’s great news,” he said. “So we’re, you know, we’re good, right?”

“How can I convince you, that what you see is real?” she sang to him.

“What?” he asked, stepping back.

“The song you’re playing, silly. It’s Survivor ‘The Search is Over’.” She said, pulling him close to her. “Yeah, we’re good.”

“Good. You know this song?” He asked.

“Oh Yes. A boy once gave me a mixed tape that had this and all sorts of songs on it. I must have listened to it every night for a year.”

Karl looked back over his shoulder at the boom box, wondering if it could be. Then he decided it was best not to say anything. He walked with Laura to the door.

“You know,” he said, “I don’t think I need all of this junk anymore. Maybe tomorrow I’ll start cleaning it out.”

“Well let me know what I can do to help. Maybe I’ll find that old tape around here." Laura said.

“Yeah,” said Karl, “maybe.”



END