42 Quirks

Continued from Them - Part 3

He stood there dumb-founded, the words not really registering upon him. She was leaving and he stood rooted to the spot. His mind was filled with a thousand questions all of which wanted an answer at once. His mind was filled with an impenetrable mist. He was lost in the fog. He was searching desperately for some kind of an answer. And by the time the mists cleared, she was gone. He stood there, looking at the ring in his hand.

***

She strode up rapidly toward the exit, dabbing her kerchief at her eyes attempting to remove the last traces of tears. But the harder she tried, the faster they came and then they didn’t stop.

His denial had been his undoing. The fact that he so vehemently denied proved that there was indeed someone else in his life. And he had been shocked when she first threw the accusation at him, hadn’t he? If he was telling the truth he needn’t have looked so shocked, right?

Oh why? Why me? Why does it have to be me? Didn’t I love him enough? Why did he have to go to someone else? What did the bitch have that she didn’t? She was definitely a hundred, thousand times more beautiful than her. Even he had said so. And even he admitted that she had a more beautiful smile than the bitch. She also had a better figure than her. Then why?

The strains of a latest movie song filled the air. She faintly recognized it as her cell phone ring-tone. She wiped her tears as best as she could, cleaned her nose and answered the phone. It was Sam.

“Hey, sorry I couldn’t call earlier. I was a little stuck in a meeting here. What’s wrong with your mobile?”

“Nothing. Why?”

“He was trying the whole of evening, but it seemed your mobile was ‘out of coverage area.’ Even I keep getting the same response. Where have you been?”

“Nowhere in particular. Why, what happened?”

“What happened? Haven’t you heard? He’s been promoted to Project Manager!! He wanted you to have the news first. But your cell phone must have conked off. So he called me. They forced him to host a small party and he said he would be late. So he asked me to call you and inform. I was stuck in a meeting with my boss so I couldn’t call earlier. You there?”

“Uh? Yes…”

“He’s slogged mighty hard for it, you know. The boss was impressed. Now he can easily book that flat he’s been looking at the whole of last month.”

“Flat? What flat?”

“You mean he hasn’t told you yet? Uh oh, big mistake! I was supposed to keep it a secret until he told it to you. Damn, me and my big mouth!! Listen, don’t tell him I told you. He’ll kill me. Come to think of it, he should have been there by now. Hasn’t he come yet? Hello… hello…”

She heard nothing more. Clutching the phone in her hand she ran. She knew he wouldn’t be there. Nobody would stomach such an insult and stay. But in her heart she hoped he would stay. She already knew what she had to do.

She reached the park bench. He was nowhere to be seen. Her heart sank. And then she noticed a lone figure sitting on the grass. It was he. He was sitting desolately, plucking the petals off the bunch of roses. She walked up to him. He saw her and immediately stood up, the joy on his face evident, but masked by caution.

She bade him sit on the grass. He obeyed.

He was still clutching the ring. She took his hand in hers and slipped on the ring. He looked at her and smiled. Everything was forgiven. The moment of madness had passed, faded. She leant upon his shoulder and rested her head upon it. He moved his fingers through her long hair. She attempted to speak.

“I…”

“Shhh… Don’t say a word. The new girl at the office is on the phone. I thought since you had left, I might as well flirt a little…”

Well, life was full of surprises.

—–

Author’s note:
That’s all that I have for the moment. I intend to continue it later, from this point, but don’t see where to go… Maybe I need one of those flashes-of-inspiration things that people keep talking about…

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 15th, 2007 at 7:56 am and is filed under Love, People, Stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.