Best Foot Forward

Rosie walked towards her ex-husband, who she no longer recognized. Roger's heart leaped up with excitement and yearning. The only woman he ever had feelings for was approaching him -- him! As Rosie lowered the ring down to Roger, he raised a trembling hand hoping to get one final skin contact with her. Rosie withdrew her hand in disgust and instead dropped the ring into Roger's wooden bowl and walked away. Roger followed her with his eyes as she walked back over to Justin.

The perfect couple embraced, kissed and Roger saw Justin's hand drop down to Rosie's bum and give her buttocks a naughty squeeze. Then it was the reversal of when they got out of the car. Justin held Rosie's coat as she slipped her arms out of it. The coat was placed in the car. Justin opened the passenger side door. Rosie took Justin's hand for support and slipped inside. Justin closed the door, walked round to the driver's side, got in, and drove off. Roger kept his gaze on the car as long as he could until it got to the far end of the street and turned a corner, out of sight... forever. Roger would never see Rosie or Justin again.

Roger turned his head back to face the highway ahead, wrapped his blanket around him tight, and buried his head in his arms, losing himself in deep thought. After it had become clear Justin the teen boy had defeated him, all Roger had been trying was to somehow remain relevant to Rosie in some small way. To be even some tiny part of the bigger picture of her emerging new life with her new man and now that chance was lost forever......

Or was it? He reflected: I do still have some relevance. Oh yes, I do. For as long as Rosie remains Justin's happy wife, I'll always remain the man who found the best possible match for her. I found a hot kid like Justin for the woman I love. I'm relevant. Yes, I am... I'm relevant... Roger was about to doze off, lost in his thoughts of lingering relevance to Rosie, and then......

Jingle! The sound caused Roger to snap his head up in alarm and open his eyes. He saw a skinny, freckled, young ginger boy of a very shabby appearance walking past in tattered construction worker's coveralls smeared all over with streaks of white paint and steel-capped safety boots on feet that looked disproportionately large on the short, around 5ft kid. He was most likely a builder's apprentice. He had one hand in his pocket already. Roger caught him just in time putting the other hand in the pocket. Shit! The cheeky little brat's stolen the ring Rosie gave me, was his first shocking thought.

Roger looked down in his oak bowl and smiled. The ring was still there and next to it lay a shiny coin. The small, scruffy apprentice boy had taken pity on the ex-businessman, Roger, and raised the poor wretch's income by 10 pence.

The End