She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She was sitting across the room, at a table full of other women, laughing and enjoying fruity drinks. Except her. She had a shot of scotch. Even in the dim lighting of the bar he could see the cinnamon brown shade of her hair, and the hazel green of her eyes. She looked at him and smiled; it was a wonderful, infectious smile that lite of her already sunny complexion.
They're eyes only met for a minute. But in hers, he saw a future. A future he wanted. A future he could never have.
Walking over and buying her a drink. A long conversation about the ex-boyfriend who had driven her to that godforsaken bar. He'd ask her to go to dinner the next night. They'd kiss outside her apartment with her roommates sneak peeking through the window. She would invite him in the next time. A week later they were inseparable. She loved to make him laugh. He wanted to give her the best of lives. Ring shopping. A proposal back at that dingy bar; that was the happiest night of his life.
They're wedding would have her whole family there: his brother was the best man. They got married in the spring, it was beautiful, sunny and fresh. She picked their first house, because she liked the paint coloring in the kitchen. On his birthday she gave him a card with an odd, fuzzy grey image and they both laughed through tears of joy. He saw his son's heart beat for the first time and felt the weight of that responsibility eagerly. Holding the tiny body for the first time, feeling like his heart would burst from sheer joy. That feeling never got old; it recurred with his daughter and other son.
They would grow old together living in that house. Almost every room was repainted over the years…except the kitchen. She would always love that color. He would console her when she saw her first grey hairs in the mirror one morning. He would threateningly open the front door for his little girl's prom date. He would give his oldest boy his own car the day he left for college.
Maybe they'd go on a cruise together once all the kids were gone. She wanted to go on a road trip across the States; he finally caved, fearfully of the memories it would bring up. Maybe he'd have to get glasses as he got older. Maybe he'd take up golf when his joints started getting too stiff. Maybe he'd lean over her shoulder as she held their first grandchild.
He would be with her through everything. The doctors visits, the chemo, the surgeries. The day he lost her he went back to that bar. It was just as musty, ill-light and smell as he remembered. He felt sorrow and loneliness, like that first night they met. But it would be different; he had led a full life.
XXX
"Hey Dean, I think I found something on what we're hunting"
He turned away from her smiling face.
"Okay Sam. What'd you got."
