Disclaimer: It ain't mine. I swear it. Try a paternity test. Ain't mine. I'm just borrowing the sweet little baby. It's DPB and CBS's.
Author: J Bear
A/N: Just a little break. A short piece this time around. Thanks for your reviews on Storybook Ending. I'll be uploading the next chapter shortly. :)
The bittersweet aroma of coffee fills my senses and I sigh. It's been a while since I have been able to get a nice break and man was this break nice. The cute waitress asks me if I want a refill and I eagerly say yes, pushing my coffee cup closer to her. Then she was gone. And I was alone with my thoughts once more. I lean back on chair and bask my face in the sunlight, daydreaming, the pen twirling in my fingers.
Have I mentioned that I'm a writer? Not the best in the world, but good enough. As a freelance writer, I've been around the block. And I mean around the block. You name it, I've been there. Siberia, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Japan, Zimbabwe. I've done pieces for worldwide newspapers like the New York Times to the National Geographic. It's been a wild ride so far.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see a couple and my pen stops twirling. And I stop breathing and everything seems to slow down. I cock my head in curiosity. They looked well enough like a couple, but yet, not quite. There was distance between the two and I could see it. A place they want to be but don't quite dare to go. Something I am quite familiar with. The two of them sit down at a table, two tables away from me. And I could hear their conversation. For a fraction of a second, I could see myself as the man, his fear of the unknown holding him back from what could be so wonderful.
She grabs a hold of his hand and looks straight into his eyes. And I watch the scene unfold in front of me, my fingers now gripping the pen, readied to write.
"If we were in a different situation," She asks him, "have you wondered what we would be like together?"
"But we're not in a different situation." He retorts back. I can see that wall building up within him. "We'll deal with different situations when they come along, now won't we."
This was all too familiar and my hand starts moving on the page and words start to form.
"Why are you so stubborn?" She asked him again, her frustration clear.
"That's what makes me a good lawyer." He pauses, "There are some boundaries we should never cross."
I smile sadly and sip my coffee.
"What boundaries?"
"For example, we're friends. Best friends. And plus, we work together. It'll be awkward" He explains
"You've got to be joking." she said shaking her head, "you're backing down because you don't want to ruin our friendship and our professional relationship?"
I fight back the urge to throw a punch across the man's face.
"No…" He says slowly
"What do you want?"
"What do you mean?"
"What do you want in life? Family? Kids? Maintaining your profession? Is that it? You think if we start a relationship, your career will go down the drain? I can't believe this!" She exclaimed
"I want you." He whispered. The words carried itself into the depths of my memory. The look on her face was priceless. She sat there stunned and fell back against the chair. Tears glistened in her eyes, threatening to spill over. And she smiled. And for one moment, I saw something. Something that I can't explain. I stop writing. For a moment, everything stopped again and there were only them and I, an observer into their realm. Perfection. The way life should be. I asked for the bill and paid for my coffee, leaving a generous tip for the young waitress. Grabbing my notebook, I head towards my car.
And even as I drive, I cannot get the image of the couple out of my head. What they had in their future. And were they in for a wonderful future. And my mistakes come to my mind again and I knew what I had to do.
I pull up the driveway of a nice suburban house. The garden was blooming this spring and there was a fresh coat of white paint on the railings. I shut off the car and looked to the passenger seat where my notebook was sitting. Words were so simple, but they could mean so much when put together the right way. I ripped the page out of my notebook that I had wrote in back in the coffee shop. Taking a deep breath to steady myself, I get out of my car and walked towards the front door. I knocked three times and when there was no answer, I let myself in. And there in front of me was a vision of an angel, on a hammock in the backyard of the house facing the ocean. The sight was breath taking and I went around to the back. She was asleep, the poor girl. I folded the piece of notepaper and carefully placed it in her hands and walked back into the house to start dinner.
Two hours later, I hear the back door open and close. Her soft footsteps getting closer and closer to the kitchen, and my heart began to race.
"I'm sorry." I said.
"For?"
"Fighting with you this morning. I knew I shouldn't have walked out the door but I had to clear my mind. Did you…" I gestured to the piece of notepaper in her hand
Smiling, she nodded to my relief. "Thank you." She replied and reopened the note to read it again. And I knew every word on the page.
My dearest Sarah,
We've been through a lot. And you have blessed me with your gift of four children that then gave us another five grandchildren. But most of all, I have been blessed with your love that have spanned over thirty years. I'm a lucky man. I saw a couple at the coffee shop this morning and was immediately reminded of you and I, back in the day when I was rejecting what you were offering me. When what I wanted most was the exact thing you were offering me. They could have taken away my pilot's license for all I care. And when the opportunity came, I became a coward. I was afraid, Sarah, I was afraid that I might hurt you and I couldn't bear that.
To answer your question before I went out the door, I want you and everything that comes along with the package. And I mean everything. Every time I see you, I wonder what I had done to deserve you. I love you. I love you, your heart, your soul, the way you look at me. I love the way look in the moonlight, the sunlight. I love you when your competitive nature starts to show and you have that look in your eyes. I love you when you open the fridge and frown, wondering what we should have for dinner. I love you when you sleep at night, smiling in your dreams. I love you when the kids come around and you just light up like a light bulb. I love you when you're buttering your toast. I love you when you're scolding me about putting a pot of 'wimpy squid coffee' on. Though I feel your eating habits could still be improved, (ie, eat less meat), I love you when you complain of hunger and run to the nearest Beltway Burgers or the nearest fast food chain. So to answer your question, I love you, and everything about you. The list goes on about why I love you. Never question my love for you. It will remain, as always and forever, eternal. Greying and old remember? I'll be right beside you.
Thank you for being there for me when hard times came like how you held me when mom died and just let me cry. Thank you for being there when I was honourably discharged from the service. Thank you for supporting my decision to become a successful writer. And most of all, thank you, for loving me.
Love,
Harm.
"Just for reference, I do not always run to the nearest fast food restaurant when I'm hungry. And another thing, meat's great. I don't know what you put in your Harmon Special but it's gross as I have told you before." Sarah walked closer and turned to her. A smile comes to my face. She placed her arms around my neck and pulled me into a kiss and a hug. "And another thing, I love you. Thank you… for everything."
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A/N: How was it? Pls Review…..