Once Loved
CH 3- Spin me a Tale
The room that her lover now lies in is at the same time, too dazzling in its brilliance and too sterile in its whiteness; a single Coral-pink "America" rose is the only drop of colour found throughout the room. Strangely, the room does not smell of overpowering sickness but smells instead of a multitude of roses.
With the scent branded, Justine is no longer sitting next to her dying lover; she is walking up a lane framed high by overhanging trees. Sunlight falls scattered through the leaves casting a sweet golden glow around her. She turns a bend and there before her stands a little white house. It is a plain little structure that would become her home in the years to come. It sits surrounded by greenery, bathed in sunlight.
She walks in through the opened front door. Making her way to the kitchen intent on grabbing a beer, she makes a mental note to remind her love to lock up when she's home alone. She stops at the sight that awaits her, entranced. A woman with a messy brown ponytail is dancing around the kitchen, an ancient cassette player that she favored blasting "Walking on Sunshine". The woman is laughing happily dancing around in her underwear, her already short shirt riding up to further expose her belly.
Socked feet slide on the tiled floor, she holds a whisk as if it was a microphone and runs her fingers through her hair, the assault messing it up further so that it now falls around her shoulders in brown and black waves. She spins around and falls to the ground giggling as a brown and white dog jumps up, knocking into her. Justine cannot help but laugh at the woman's antics, the exultant vocalization making her presence known to the girl on the floor.
Katherine. That was the woman that she was going to marry, if the ring in her coat pocket had anything to say on the matter. The girl jumps up from the floor, the sudden movement causing her to slip and slide into her lovers waiting arms. She beams up at her, leaning in for a kiss. The smell of roses wafts in from the open window, curtains swelling with the soft breeze.
The window overlooked a small garden of sorts. It wasn't a vegetable garden; Katie was far too lazy to cultivate one of those. No, it was a rose garden. Autumn Damask, the "four seasons rose" was one of her favorites along with the climbing rose "America" that covered the side of the house, a few of the coral-pink blooms coming in through the kitchen window. With a jolt, Justine is brought back into the present as Katie all but coughs up a lung, flecks of blood dotting her kerchief.
Conversation between the two lovers was halting at first, punctuated by Katherine's labored breaths, but it soon flowed with a familiar ease. Au fait banter peppered with laughter that had never really left their hearts fills the room. Ashley, unnoticed, inches further into the room, siting at the little white wire table by the window at the far end of the room.
She watches as her wife and the sick woman engage in conversation. They are so familiar with each other that if one did not know that Ashley was Justine's wife, they would assume that Katherine was. Though a small part of her was jealous of the sick woman, she knew that she had no right to be, because she never held a claim on Justine at all. It was clear by the tender care her wife showed to this woman that her heart belonged to her and her alone.
If she really wanted to be true to herself, she would admit that she was actually happy for her wife, happy that she was finally with the one she loved. And curious. She would admit that she was insanely curious as to what had driven the pair apart when clearly they were good together. And though she didn't know it, having never read the letter, what Katherine had said in it stood true; Ashley was in fact enviously irate because Justine never once looked to her with the same care that she showed Katherine. Not that she blamed her. Seeing them together now, she understood and forgave her wife for the heart that belonged to another.
Abandoning her thoughts, Ashley caught a few words softly spoken, "You know what they say, about time healing all? I found it to be a lie. Maybe it's true for some, but without you by my side, Justine, time stood still. Only now has the clock started to tick again." She didn't hear her wife's answer, but the kiss that followed was answer enough.
The pair of lovers broke apart with a jolt, looking over to where Ashley stood by the window, the little wire table clattered to the ground in her haste to get up. Like a frightened doe, Ashley turned to flee the room, pausing at a single word. "Wait," it was a powerful voice, almost as if a God had spoken. She turned with a shaking hand to see her wife helping the woman sit up in the bed.
Katie reached out for the hurting blonde, sadness marring her features. "You are hurting." The way she said it, it was not a question, but a knowing statement. She had been there before, hurt at this woman's hand. "You love her," was all she said, unsure to which female she was talking to. It was Katherine who answered, speaking for both. "Yes." She looked to Justine, "I love this woman as I love no other."
Unable to control her racing thoughts, she blurted out a string of words, covering her face in embarrassment. "If you love her, why are you not together? And why," she turned, directing this next question at her wife. "Why do you take it upon yourself to hurt me because you want to torture yourself!?" She went on, gaining confidence. "If you love her, go get her, why did you waste all these years by my side?"
It is Katherine who speaks, her head held high. A God indeed, this woman was magnificent, a proud creature. "For your hurt I apologize. I had not known that she would seek out comfort in the arms of another. Though I should have anticipated this…" She trails off. "It is unfair to you, and though I cannot right this wrong, I can at least tell you how it came to be that a love so true was torn apart."
As Ashley came to sit next to the two lovers, she decided that she did in fact like this strange woman that spoke in the most unusual fashion. Ashley could see why Justine was so captivated by this woman. She was stunning, even while sick; she commanded the attentions of everyone in the room.
"Anyone who knows me knows that I simply adore a good fairy tale." She drawls in a way that one might call sexy. "I hope you will not begrudge me this indulgence, for it is the only way that I can bare to speak of these events." Ashley watched as Justine took Katie's hand in her own. She thought for a moment that she saw a tear sparkle in the corner of her eye.
She dismissed it as folly when Justin spoke. "Will you let me start?" Katie smiles weakly. "Jussy," she whispers fondly, "You never tell stories."
"No, but just this once, I think I'll grant your wish. I'll tell you the most incredible story you've ever heard- the story of a girl and her-"
Her lip quivers as she finishes her loves sentence, "-Knight in shining armor." She looks up at Justine with a small smile on her face, eyes sparkling with unshed tears. Ashley's heart twists.
In a voice choked with grief she spoke, whispering words that she had never before dared voice into the ear of the only woman she ever loved. "Once, when the world was not so peaceful as it is right now. When fields were green and the skies were a clear blue… there lived a girl..."
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