Disclaimer--Characters belong to Steve Franks. No copyright infringement intended. Any similarity to events or persons living or dead is purely coincidental.
Author's Notes--Dedicated to all the Lassiters among us on Valentine's Day. And, sadly, this year, I'm one.
Spoilers--Tuesday the 17th
Tomorrow--Carlton Lassiter reflects on the end of his marriage.
Slowly, everything disappeared. Whatever tiny pieces of hope he'd illogically clung to vanished, one by one, over the past four years. Therapy. Meditation. Mediation. Yoga. Acupuncture. And, finally, starting all over with a clean slate.
None of it mattered anymore. All he'd done was waste four long years of his life, holding onto something he'd squandered, something he'd misunderstood. Maybe even something that was never his to begin with.
He sat at the table, looking at the otherwise unassuming blue folder. So that was what it all boiled down to. A few printed pages. A legal document.
He pondered that irony for a moment. He'd spent practically his entire adult life with the law, and now it would help dictate his future in a way he'd never anticipated when they'd said "I do."
He'd just been grasping at straws. Chasing rainbows. It had all been so inevitable, somehow predestined. It wasn't an easy pill to swallow. It had been one he'd fought against for ages, but there was little left to do now. He had no energy left to till at the windmill. All he could do was succumb, to let "nature" take its course.
His heart wanted, so badly, to continue its rebellion. It pounded rapidly, deep in his chest, reminding him that it was still there; that, if it could have its way, Victoria would come home at long last.
But, his heart had run out of chances. All attempts it had made had been met with utter and complete failure. It might still pine for her, but now his brain was joining the fray and it was stronger than his heart at this moment. After all, it had gladly taken the backseat while his heart held out hope. But it knew now that his heart was finished. That the happily ever after for Carlton and Victoria simply wasn't to be. Not only was the war over, but everyone else had already packed it in. Everyone but his heart.
As hard as it was to accept, it was time to let go of the past. It was time to let go of Victoria and of his dreams of reconciliation. It was time to look forward to the future.
His hands were surprisingly steady as he signed on all the appropriate lines. In a way, it was almost like he was merely a witness. It was probably his heart, in shock at his brain's swift takeover, clinging to the last vestiges of what might've been, giving one last weakened battle cry.
The last four years of his life had been in such shambles that it seemed incongruous for it to end like that, in a neat stack of orderly pages.
As he closed the file, the glint off the silver pen caught his attention while he sat quietly by himself.
By himself.
It was official now.
He started to realize--and, damn, his brain was making sense--how he'd actually gotten what he'd hoped for in a round about way. A clean slate. It hadn't been exactly how he'd imagined, but it was, simply, a new, fresh start.
The die had been cast.
Yesterday was over and today certainly sucked, but his brain assured his heart that he still had tomorrow. He wasn't entirely sure his heart believed it yet, but he held out hope.
After all, his heart was so good at that.
End.