Chapter 7

"One Thing in Common"

Everything seemed to happen so suddenly to me as my date with Roger came to an end. How could it be that Roger would want me to marry him now? Perhaps it could be because both of our respective parents were dead and that we wanted to have a simple low key wedding. But, what the hell? There were far more important matters to think about, such as acquiring my dream job at the University. Yes, I did accept Roger's proposal, but I wouldn't fully accept it until I learned the fate of my interview.

"Just one phone call," I thought to myself as I awoke the next morning and waited for Mr. Paddington to call me back. "Come on, just one phone call to change my future."

So, I waited and waited, but all I got was silence. In fact, I could still only hope and pray for a decent outcome. Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity, the phone rang and I dashed over to answer it.

"Hello?" I asked, panting into the receiver.

"Anita, did I catch you at a bad time?" answered the all too familiar voice of Mr. Paddington. "I have some good news for you. You're hired."

My eyes widened upon hearing this. I couldn't believe what I was hearing that I finally got the job. I didn't know whether to jump for joy or just stand there and maintain my composure. But, I was excited regardless.

"Are you certain?" I gasped. "You mean, that I am…?"

"Hired, my child?" finished Mr. Paddington. "Yes, out of all the applicants who applied, you were the one that holds the most potential within our organization. Can you start on Monday?"

"Yes! Of course, I will start on Monday, sir," I replied excitedly. "Oh, you don't know how much this means to me, Mr. Paddington! I can assure you that you will not be disappointed, sir!"

"I have no doubt, Anita," chuckled Mr. Paddington. "I will see you on Monday, my child. Goodbye."

"Goodbye, sir," I replied as I hung up the phone and squealed with delight. It seemed for just a moment that everything seemed to be coming together at once. But, still, I couldn't help but wonder why everything was happening so quickly. Yes, I was excited to feel a sense of accomplishment, but I still had my doubts.

As the days would pass, my first day on the job would come as quickly as possible. Still with the excitement of my engagement to Roger and all, at least I had something to fight for. During this time, I continued to get to know the man I was going to eventually marry a little bit better.

"I know that this was probably all so sudden to you, Anita," said Roger as I visited him at his flat one afternoon after I had started working at the university. "But, there was a good reason that I asked for your hand in marriage."

"Why is that?" I asked. "Is it because this is another way of apologizing for what happened in Regent's Park?"

"No," stuttered Roger, sheepishly. "It's just that, I've always dedicated myself to being a bachelor forever. Not every man has to settle down and marry, you know. But well, when we had that moment in Regent's Park, a part of me could only wonder that maybe, just maybe, that we would be married."

"If that is your intention," I chuckled. "Then perhaps God must have talked you into this."

"You might say that, Anita," remarked Roger as he sat down at his piano. "If there is one thing that we have in common is that we both admire and respect God. There are times where I am angry at God for what happened to my parents."

If there was one thing that Roger was correct on, is that we both had our moments with God where we were angry at him. We both had our families destroyed in the war and we expressed our sadness through art and music.

"Well, do you attend church on Sunday's?" I wondered as I scratched Perdita's head. "Some people I know had vowed to never attend church because God does something to them."

"I try not to think that, Anita," remarked Roger. "Attending church is something that all Catholics must do whether they like it or not. I just…well… I haven't found the time to go and visit him. Now that we have known each other for some time and would soon be married, perhaps I can start visiting him again."

I could tell that Roger was hiding something, however I knew that the pain he was trying to hide was the same pain that I had.

"Me too, Roger," I sighed. "But, I've often stayed away from visiting church because God and I haven't really gotten along very well lately. Yes, I know he was trying to find a way to bring us together, but there were times that I have questioned whether or not God and I should have a relationship or not."

Roger then felt he and I both needed to have a renewed relationship with God. In fact, he and I were both thinking of possibly getting married in a church.

"Then we need to start anew with God," I said. "When do you think we can be married?"

"I know of a church that is not down from here," replied Roger. "Once I find out when the priest is available to perform a marriage, we start a new life as husband and wife. Then, we can start renewing our relationships with God. This is the beginning of a new life for us Anita and we have to take advantage of it."

Then, a few days later, the proposed wedding took place at a church not too far away, as Roger had said. There was no formal clothes, just Roger and me together with a priest as he asked Roger to say his vows:

"Wilt thou love her, comfort her, honor and keep her in sickness and in health and forsaking all others, keep thee only unto her so long as ye both shall live?" asked the priest

"I will," answered Roger and soon, we were married.

I had it all: a job as an art specialist at the British University and a husband to share the rest of my life with. I had come a long way since that fateful day at the park and who knew of what God was planning just over the horizon.