N I G H T S K I E S

a one-shot

"I'm leaving, Carls," he told me as he clutched the lily tightly in his palm, squishing the brilliant flower.

I just glanced at him before allowing the wind to carry my orchid into the skies, past the clouds and hopefully into the heavens where perhaps s h e would find it, wherever heresided.

I continued to look at my handsome husband's face for a long while, circulating his statement in my brain. Twelve years ago I would have fallen to pieces and begged our tech producer to stay, but things had changed drastically since then.

"Why now?" Was all I could muster the energy to ask.

"We're not the same people, Carly," my husband mumbled dully, his chocolate brown orbs twisting with pain so sharp it figuratively stabbed me.

I turned to gaze over the edge of the fire escape – I understood to a degree why my husband had shot me a text telling me to meet him here. This had never been our special place, but my husband and h e r had shared their first kiss together here one sultry summer night.

"When…when are you leaving me?" My voice sounded so cold, as though I had nothing left to offer the man who'd promised to love me until death do us part. But the way I looked at it, he'd died the day that she left us, though he would never admit it to himself.

"Now," he replied morosely, taking my frozen hand for a moment as he gazed into my lifeless orbs. "I just can't do this anymore."

I felt his lips touch mine, but there was no spark there any more. I'd attempted to help my husband with dealing with this crushing grief, but after awhile I simply gave up. I wasn't Atlas and I couldn't love him like I used to.

"I won't miss you," I responded in a chilly tone, ripping my hand out of his grasp. "I…I don't love you any more Freddie."

I expected him to fall apart as I forced those difficult words out. And oh they were difficult, because it's one thing to entertain those sort of thoughts and the other to brutally deliver them to your husband. I expected him to fight for our crumbling marriage, or to beg me to say, or something!

Instead, all I got from him was, "I know."

"What was this then?" I whispered, hurt by his admission. "Was I just some fling compared to h e r?"

"Don't bring h e r into this, Carly!" Freddie yelled, his fingers gripping the brick parapet beside us a little too tightly. Something flashed in his eyes, something I'd noticed for years but brushed off, wanting to believe that he truly cared for me.

"You love h e r," I voiced, my tone trembling with sorrow. Tears budded in the corners of my eyes, threatening to spill over.

"Look, I know this wasn't fair to you, okay?" My husband began slowly, his eyebrows furrowing as he fought to come up with the right words. "But I did love you!"

"That's always what you said, but you never loved me enough!" I screamed, tears beginning to streak down my cheeks. "It was always h e r!"

"Don't you think I already know that?" Fredward roared, his right hand curling into a fist. Before I knew it I felt stars and I fell to the ground, cupping my cheek as it throbbed. He'd hit me.

"You told me that you loved me…I gave you the perfect life…kids, a nice house…everything," I chorused sadly, my distrustful gaze flickering upward. He looked guilty; I knew that he hadn't meant to hit me that hard.

"Yes, you did, but sometimes that's just not enough," Freddie answered roughly, his caramel orbs swirling with mystery. I didn't even know my own husband anymore, I realized with a start. But perhaps I never had.

"So you're going to find her." It wasn't a question that spilled from my pursed, red lips.

There was only one reason that he would leave me, it always was. We'd had spats in the past but nothing like this, and a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach told me that it was really over this time. No, it had ended long ago.

Freddie only nodded once to confirm my statement. There were no more apologies coming from him. I was as if dead to him now, I could see clearly.

"I want you to sign the divorce papers before you leave," I told him, my voice shaking and threatening to crack. "Because when you leave, you'd better not come back."

"I won't," he agreed, extending his hand for the papers he'd already guessed were in my satchel. He knew me so well.

With a quick flourish of his wrist he'd signature in all the appropriate places, permanently ending our marriage. Eighteen years of my life lost to Mr. Benson, and did I ever regret it. I could almost picture us in the future together, holding our precious grandchildren and comforting one another, even as we faded into the abyss of death. But that wasn't to be my life anymore. I was free of him and for the first time in so many years I experienced…joy.

Freddie didn't need to know that I had already accepted an engagement ring from the love of my life, one I'd always known would end up my soul mate. Nevel Papperman was his name and now that my first husband was out of my life I could move on and be happy once more.

I felt his lips brush against my cheek one last time and then, with a sad smile, he'd disappeared down the fire escape. Fredward Benson was out of my life.

I would never see him again.

And if you must know the whole reason for that argument on the fire escape, it was because of my best friend. S A M.

I knew he loved her and yet I stole him away from my blonde co-host, needing to have his spunky support in my life. I always did have to come first, as everyone around me should clearly understand.

Now don't think under any circumstances that I hated my best friend. In fact, I still loved her dearly and felt bad for her sleepless nights and sobbing episodes. I really did.

But when Freddie and I got married when we were both twenty one Sam just sort of…disappeared from our lives. I guess we just didn't have time for her anymore and she couldn't handle it, so she left.

And, being Sam, she didn't have any money. When her mother died all she left her sole daughter was the mortgage and car insurance bills, quickly sapping away any available funds.

So, my best friend became a prostitute. And the last time I heard from her was when she was getting married to an awful man so that he could support her. I didn't attend the wedding and neither did my Freddie-bear.

And now, eighteen years later, I was regretting how stupid I'd acted. Because I should have known all along that I couldn't change fate. Sam and Freddie were meant to be together, no matter how much I would attempt to intervene.

So, I'd let them be happy. And I'd be happy…with the right man.

It's been eighteen years since the episode on the fire escape and things have sure changed. Nevel and I are perfectly happy with our eight children and massive mansion overlooking the Pacific Ocean. I can't recall laughing this hard with a man ever.

I think Freddie and I made the right choice, abandoning our marriage.

Because he found h e r.

She was close to death, lying in a dingy old hut in the homeless people section of town. Her husband had filed for divorce with his blonde demon not two years after their initial joining, leaving her six months pregnant with a twenty dollar bill in her back pocket.

I couldn't even imagine how happy she was to see her favorite tech nerd.

And so, of course, they got married a few weeks later, due to h e r impatient mannerisms. S h e wanted to invite me to the wedding but Freddie explained the pact we'd made. So I didn't go. And I was fine with that.

They have three beautiful bouncing babies now and Freddie has a decent job. Of course they still argue like crazy, from what I hear from their eldest child. Margo has no qualms about disclosing all of her parents' strange habits and the like, to my amusement.

So I haven't seen either of my old best friends. Until today, that is. Sam's coming over; just h e r, because Freddie just can't handle it. And I don't blame him.

I can see her now, making her way up the winding pathway, her blonde ringlets a bit mussed up, as usual, and her right hand clutching that of a little girl of about seven. From what I've heard, that's Suzy, their youngest kid.

I open the door, gazing in amazement at my best friend that I haven't seen in twenty-six years. She's aged a bit but, being h e r, she's still beautiful as ever. I don't think I've ever been so nervous in my entire life; my palms are sweating bullets.

And then I hear h e r say my name in a melodious trill and her arms are around me. We're both crying our eyes out and apologizing for things that are long forgotten.

And that's when I know everything is going to be okay.

SPARKNOTES:

Yes, I'm aware that it's a one-shot and really short but I was briefly inspired, so enjoy. It's definitely not my best work, far from it actually, but who knows, you all might actually like it. ;)