Thanks for all the lovely reviews! =0) I'm glad people like this story because I enjoy writing it! Haven't been writing anything for quite a well, though, because of school and stuff and also because of every writer's demon – writer's block. It's evil, I swear!
Chapter 5 : The Confession
Sarah stared at her mobile phone, lying innocently on her bed. What did Mark mean? Who could have given her the bracelet, if not him? He was the only one who knew that she wanted it. She had told him herself. Try as she might, she could think of no other possibility.
Perhaps he was just nervous and lying. That could be possible, couldn't it?
Karl lay in bed with the nightlight on, staring at the ceiling. "How on earth do you tell a girl you love her, when the last time you tried she just slipped through your fingers?" he said aloud. Nothing happened, and he simply continued staring at the shadows that were cast on the ceiling. Unable to sleep, he rehearsed words in his mind, running through them over and over and over again, swapping words and rephrasing sentences, never satisfied. No matter how he put it, everything that he wanted to say sounded horrible and tacky. Sarah would never go for it.
Getting into a rather foul mood, he reached over and turned off the nightlight, plunging the room into darkness. "Good night, Karl, you idiot," he said, turning over and burying his face in the pillow.
Sarah, have you ever done anything that you really, really regret? Something that makes you want to kick yourself whenever you think about it? I have done something like that. It happened that night, when I let you go. I shouldn't have. I should have loved you anyway, despite any complications, any interruptions. And now all I ask is that you forgive me, give me one more chance. I cannot promise you forever, but I can promise you that I will love you with all my heart, and that I will do anything, everything to make you happy. I bought you that bracelet, to prove to you how sorry I am, and how much I want another chance. Please, Sarah, give me another chance.
Karl peered out of his office, seeing Sarah sit down at her desk, putting her phone next to her computer. She was looking so pretty today, with her hair down, and just a hint of makeup. She leaned back in her chair, switching on the computer. Mia passed by her desk, and she smiled as they greeted each other.
Now's a good time, Karl. You know it. You've been rehearsing that speech the whole morning, he told himself. He stood up, and then sat down again, uncertain if this was the best time. After all, it was the morning. Everyone was just coming to work. Maybe it wasn't the perfect time to tell her.
When, then?
He sighed, frustrated. He didn't have any answers. One question answered was always replaced with a new one, until he had absolutely no idea what he was going to do. Why on earth did things have to be so difficult and confusing? Couldn't things just go smoothly, just once? Was that too much to ask?
Evidently it was.
Well, he wasn't going to get any work done if he didn't at least try to do something about the matter. Sighing once more, he stood up and opened the door of his office. Squaring his shoulders, he walked purposefully to Sarah's desk.
Sarah looked up from her work, practically staring at him, wondering what it was that was going to happen. Oh my goodness, he's actually going to talk to me, something at the back of her mind squealed. She smoothed her skirt nervously. There was nothing to do but wait and see what he was planning to do, and try not to seem a complete idiot.
Karl walked right up to her and stood before her, clearing his throat. "Erm… hi," he managed to say.
"Hi."
Great, now what? He cleared his throat again. "Could I… could I take you out for lunch later?" That would be a lovely time to tell her the truth. Hopefully she wouldn't be doing anything about Mark before then, or Mark would probably just have him murdered. A bullet through the window or something.
Sarah's eyes widened. That had been unexpected. Unconsciously, she gripped her skirt, searching for a way to answer that wouldn't make her seem too desperate. "Erm… ah… sure, that would be nice," she said lamely, mentally kicking herself. God, Sarah, can't you even do yourself a favour and seem interesting?
Karl nodded, relieved. "Good, so… I'll speak to you later then, all right?"
"All right," Sarah agreed. "Speak to you later." Smiling shyly at him, she turned back to her computer.
Karl looked at her for a little longer, then shook himself and walked back to his office. He was already thinking about where he would bring her for lunch.
Sarah allowed herself a glance at Karl in his office, and smiled dreamily. Going out for lunch with Karl… it had been something that she had thought she could only dream of, after that night. She wondered idly if he meant it as a type of date, letting her mind wander.
She was already naming their lovely children, when she was startled by someone clearing his throat. Colin stood right in front of her. He waved his hand in front of her face, his signature silly grin on his face. "Hey, is anyone in there?" He tossed her a sandwich. "Doing the ladies' rounds again."
"Right," she said, giving him a smile back. Sarah was the only woman in the whole office who was nice to Colin. Ironically, she was also the only one he never tried to go after. Perhaps he knew that she was in love with Karl and so it was useless anyway. Or maybe he figured that if he tried going any further with her he'd only get a slap in the face and would lose the only female friend he had.
"So, what were you daydreaming about, huh?" Colin asked, leaning against her desk. "Tell me anything, everything. Especially if it has something to do with sex."
Sarah shrieked and smacked Colin with a folder lying on the desk. "Colin, you are a pervert!"
"Shush, Sarah! Don't let Mia hear you!" Colin hissed, putting a finger to his lips, trying to dodge Sarah's second swipe at him. "Come on, Sarah, I'm a guy!"
"A very warped guy," Sarah remarked, turning away from him with a smile. "Now, run along and finish your round. And be careful, I don't think that was the last whacking you'd get in the office this morning. As usual."
Colin clucked his tongue and shook his head, but obeyed.
Sarah chuckled and turned back to her work once more, trying hard to push everything out of her mind until lunchtime.
Karl was in trouble.
It was already lunchtime, and he still didn't know where to take Sarah for lunch. Usually he just ate at the little shop down the street, but he wanted to bring her somewhere nice, somewhere she liked. Where's that? He had absolutely no idea.
"Oh well, I have to do this," he said to no one in particular as he pushed open his office door and approached her desk once more. She looked up from her computer and stood up with a smile, picking up her handbag.
He returned her smile nervously, desperately trying to think of somewhere nice to take her.
She saved him by speaking first. "A friend of mine works in this restaurant not too far away. Would you like to go there?"
"Sure, of course," he replied, relieved. "That would be nice. Do you want to take the car or just walk?"
"Walking would be fine." Sarah smiled again and stepped out from behind the desk. They left the together, waving to Harry in his office as they passed by.
"Sarah!" Aurelia came over to give Sarah a hug as she stepped into the restaurant.
Sarah returned the hug with a smile. "Hello, Aurelia, it's great to see you again. How are you and Jamie?"
"Jamie's great, he's already working on the end of his book."
Sarah gestured to Karl. "Aurelia, this is Karl. Karl, Aurelia."
Karl remembered Mark mentioning her before, and smiled warmly as he shook her hand. "A pleasure to meet you."
Aurelia smiled, giving Sarah a knowing nod that made Karl's face heat up. I wonder what she thinks about us. "Come, I'll show the two of you to a table."
Aurelia seemed to make it her personal responsibility to make sure that Karl and Sarah had everything. When she was finally satisfied that they had their food, and drinks, and everything else that one could possibly want in a restaurant, she politely excused herself, leaving them alone.
Karl was just about to speak when Sarah's phone rang. She took her phone out of her bag, and shot him an apologetic glance, her finger over the "answer" button. He smiled, holding up his hands. "Go ahead, it's all right."
"Thanks," she whispered, answering the call. "Hello? Oh sweetheart, hi. No, no I'm not busy, what is it?"
She listened patiently for a while, glancing occasionally at Karl. He just nodded understandingly. It's her brother. I can't ask her to abandon her brother for me.
"That's all right, love, that's fine," she said soothingly. "All right, you go and watch TV now. I'll see you in the weekend, okay? Bye, dear." She hung up the phone, looking at Karl. "I'm really sorry about that."
"It's fine," he said graciously. "How is he?"
"Good, he's fine." Sarah nodded. "Now… did you want to say something to me?"
Karl cleared his throat. He had the whole speech figured out. All he had to do was just open his mouth to say it. And so he did open his mouth… and promptly forgot everything he had planned. "Damn," he muttered under his breath.
"Yes?"
Karl looked up sharply, thanking his lucky stars that Sarah hadn't heard him curse. "Erm… ah…" he began very inarticulately. "Eh… I need to talk to you about the… um… present."
Sarah's eyes widened. "Was that… was that… you?"
Karl nodded soundlessly, feeling like the biggest idiot in the world. He felt as if the whole English language had departed from his brain.
"You gave me the bracelet?" Sarah gasped. "But how… how…" Her eyes grew even bigger at the realisation. "You asked Mark for help?"
Once again, Karl nodded, but this time he managed to find the English language lurking about between his ears. "I called up the gallery he was working in and asked him to help me. I didn't know whom else to ask; I couldn't ask anyone in the office. And Mark was very willing to help me out. I just backed out of writing my name on that gift. I hope I didn't give you too much of a shock…"
"I thought Mark liked me," Sarah said with a stunned laugh.
"You aren't disappointed that it wasn't him, are you?" Karl asked worriedly. "I really want to apologise about that… that night… I shouldn't have been so mean, I should have understood… and… and…" He stopped and swallowed. "I want to know if you would forgive me, and let us start over."
Sarah sat silently for what seemed an eternity, thinking. This was even more unexpected than the gift. Karl wants to start something with me? That seemed too much of a dream come true. Karl was watching her anxiously, wondering what her response would be. Didn't he know that there was only one response? She looked up, meeting his eyes, and a smile spread across her face. "There was one time when I could only see this moment in a dream. Now that it's a reality, you don't think I'd turn it down, do you?"
