In The Nick Of Time

By Likegoodwinecopyrighted October 2011
Another short story for you. There is almost no sex to speak of in this short one. Enjoy!
Your votes and constructive comments are appreciated, as they will help me grow.
Thanks to Scalia for his patient editing

My name is Mark Farrell. I am a 28-years old mechanical engineer working for T-Bolts Inc. I had just returned from a five days business trip up North, and was sitting in a booth at one of my favorite haunt. I had wanted a quick meal before the 5 o'clock crowd appeared. Even thought I was getting married tomorrow, I still had a lot of work to do at the office wrapping things up on a current contract. .

Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Sandra, the best friend of my fiancé, Evelyn, walking toward the next booth. I don't like Sandra very much: I didn't hate her, but I don't like her either. I tried my best not to be noticed and it worked.

I hurried to finish my meal when I heard Sandra talking to somebody I couldn't see.

"Hi Honey! How was your... Holy crap! What happened to you? You look like you've been crying," said Sandra.

That little bit of drama kind of raised my interest. I decided to stay a bit longer and hear what she was talking about.

I didn't catch what was the answer, hearing only some mumbling. But I could hear perfectly Sandra's part of the conversation.

"Oh my, you're right! Ok, girl, talk to me! Open your heart and you know I will listen," invited Sandra.

I was totally surprised by what I heard next.

"I miss him so much, it hurts," said a familiar voice.

It was Evelyn. I wasn't too surprise that she missed me. After all, I've been gone five days and I was coming back less than 24-hours before our wedding. She was really unhappy when my boss told me that I had to travel just before my wedding. It's not that there was much left to do as the wedding has been planned way ahead of time. We even had a rehearsal just before I left, and it was a bit frosty. Not only was Evelyn upset that I was leaving her alone the whole week before the wedding, but even her bride maids – her sisters and Sandra – were giving me the cold shoulder.

I pleaded with my boss against that trip but he said I had to go. Our six-month project was only half done: yet it was already three weeks behind schedule. I had to put it back on track pronto or we would be losing big. He and I had a pretty good idea what was wrong, but I still had to go and correct the situation.

"Tell me more about him. I want to know everything," asked Sandra.

I was a bit surprised and ill at ease with the idea that Evelyn would share information about me with her good friend. I know that Sandra has been her confidant for many years, but it didn't sit very well with me. I don't go discussing her with my good buddies, do I?

"From the first time I laid eyes on him, my life was transformed," started Evelyn.

She's right and the same goes for my life. As soon as I met her I knew we were meant for each other.

"Each times he walked in a room where I was, it was like there was nobody else than us. Nothing else mattered than basking in his love and care for me," continued Evelyn.

I found that reassuring. I often wondered if the love I had for Evelyn wasn't too much for her. At times, I felt it was too lopsided and that I might just be scaring her away. To be honest, I sometime had a hard time breathing when I marveled at her beauty. These worries were put to sleep however when I asked her to marry me, and she accepted.

"We were never wild. Often, a simple walk on the beach, hand in hand, was enough to share our feelings for each other without uttering a word. And when we spoke, simple words were always full of meanings. We didn't need more than a few sentences to completely understand each other. One look and we shared as much feelings than other couples share in a year," she rightly said.

Evelyn has always been quiet. At the beginning, I was working too hard to fill up the silence with my words. With time, I learned that it felt good to simply hold hands with her and to share a few magic moments, a silent communion of two soul mates. Our relationship is not based on constant expressions of undying love, but more on a quiet understanding that our fate is to be together, forever.

"And the sex was so fantastic. I had good sex before him. But with him, with the depth of our love, it was a communion of two souls. Just to think about these magical moments, my body is just eager to make love again. Because that's what it was. We were not having sex. We were making love," passionately said Evelyn.

It has always been easy to make love to Evelyn. Her slender lithe body calls for tenderness. It's also true for me that I had good sex before Evelyn. But when I am with her in a loving embrace, I want to spend the rest of my life caressing her. I need to softly kiss her body from head to toes. I always wished to be able to spend hours feeling the softness of her skin, to rediscover anew each soft curves of her body.

"And what about the engagement? Tell me about the day he asked you to marry him," asked Sandra.

"I was hoping for it but I didn't really care. We were together, loving each other, caring for each other. Marriage was just a formality, a piece of paper to confirm what we both knew: we were together for the rest of our life. But he did ask me. I wasn't expecting it and I was speechless. I didn't know what to say. As soon as he asked, I was overcome by emotions. It took me awhile to recover my voice," simply stated Evelyn.

I was a nervous wreck that day, and the way it happened almost killed me. I always had some insecurity issues with Evelyn. I knew that I wanted her to be my wife, but I wasn't sure what she thought about marriage. Her shyness and her reserve made her hard to read on that subject. She was always evasive when I broached the subject .

The evening I proposed, we went first to our favorite restaurant then we came back to her place. I was thinking that if my proposal was rejected, I could just say the right things, keep a semblance of self-respect, and leave. I could always get totally drunk once back home.

When I got on my knees, Evelyn looked at me with the classic "deer in the headlight" look. That didn't bode well, but I was now committed. I asked her to marry me. She just stood there, saying nothing, just staring at me. I died many times in these few seconds. I had tears rolling down my cheeks and was ready to get up. I intended to tell her that she didn't have to answer right away, that she could take her time. I wanted to leave as fast as possible. The curious thing, tears were also flowing from her eyes. She told me first that it was totally unexpected. "What a turn down!' I thought then. Then she said 'yes'. Our tears of joy mixed together.

My hand reached for the box in my pocket. I had time to pick up the wedding band on my way from the airport. It was fabulous.

"I know that it still hurts a lot. But tell me about the trip," asked Sandra.

"I didn't want him to go. But he didn't have a choice. I knew it was only for a few days, but I didn't want to be apart from him even for a few hours," said Evelyn. And then she started to cry.

I remembered that she was very emotional when I left last week, but I didn't know that she took it so hard. 'From now on, deadline or not, I won't allow any work emergency to get between Evelyn and me', I said to myself.

"When he was away, I was half dead inside. My world was empty, devoid of meaning until his return. All day and all night, I was only thinking about him, wishing that I could feel his touch, that I could hear his voice, that he would be there and makes me whole again. I didn't know that his absence could hurt that much, until he was gone," said Evelyn weeping profusely.

I also had a hard time to get her off my mind when I was away. It was hard to concentrate when every moment in my days was filled with image of her. No job could be worth hurting my love for Evelyn. Every night, I was beside myself thinking that I should be there with her instead of being alone in a motel room.

Evelyn was still crying and Sandra was uttering some soothing comments. Finally, Evelyn spoke.

"It was my fault. I shouldn't have urged him to come back that night," she said.

"What?" I thought.

"No it's alright baby! It's not your fault," argued Sandra.

"Yes, it was my fault! There was a warning with the hurricane coming our way. But I urged him to drive back that evening. If he had stayed there, waiting the next day, he wouldn't have been driving in those conditions. I killed him," said Evelyn.

"What the fuck! I flew in and the weather was very nice. And I sure am not dead" I had an urge to say.

"You are not responsible for Brad's death," said Sandra.

"Brad?" I thought.

"He wanted as much to be with you as you wanted him beside you," added Sandra.

"Did you tell Mark?" asked Sandra.

"No, I hurt too much still. I can't," answered Evelyn.

"I still can't believe that you are marrying Mark. I told you, you are not over Brad. It has been only two years. Do you even love the guy? He is not half the man Brad was. I didn't know Brad that much. Gee! As soon as you met him I barely saw you. I met him only a few times, but I can tell you that Mark isn't Brad. How can you marry that guy while Brad is still very much the love of your life?" asked Sandra.

"Mark is very nice and caring. I know he loves me very much. I need it. I know I could learn to love him. I know that he will be a wonderful father, a nice husband, and a good lover. When I am with him, I almost forget Brad. He can bring back some balance in my life," said Evelyn, then she started to cry again

"Who are you kidding Evelyn? I don't say you are wrong about Mark, but you should have waited a little bit longer," said Sandra.

Evelyn spent the next few minutes in Sandra's arms, crying.

After a while, the waitress stopped by their table. She put a little jewelry box on the table as well as a note. She looked at Evelyn: "Somebody left this for you."

Evelyn took the note and read it.

"Oh no!" she simply said and started to cry even more than before.

Sandra took the note and read it:

"Evelyn,

I am sorry that I can't be Brad. I am just your normal living being with all its usual shortcomings.

Take care, really!

Mark"

The box contained the wedding ring.

'Curiosity killed the cat' as the saying goes, but in this instance it killed something else. It killed my dream of a loving wife.

I went back to work to fill in my reports. The next morning, my wedding day, I was on a plane back north. The project would finish on time, even if I had to fire everybody and do it myself.

The end