~A Collection Of Short Stories~

God's Will

"Your wife," a man who looked to be no more than 30 said. He had a jagged appearance. The dark circles under his eyes were prominent and filled with sadness and regret.

The man couldn't look at the woman that sat across from him. The shame and sorrow overcame him every time he met her eyes. It was unbearable. So the man looked down at the paper he had written for her.

"Your wife," he started. "I'm-" The man stopped. He searched his paper for the right words.

"Your what?" The woman spat at him. The anger and disgust rolled off her in waves; he could feel it.

He winced. "Cadence, I'm so, so, so sorry for what I did." He said, finally getting what he wanted to say out. Still not looking at her.

Cadence stared at him with hate. She has never felt this amount of hatred for a person before. She leaned forward, crossing her arms on the metal table.

"You're sorry for what you did." She tested the sentence in her mouth. It tasted bitter. "Can you even say what you did to her?"

He sat silently, eyes glued to his paper, his hands in his lap fidgeting with his thumbs. He winced.

"I-I'm sorry," he whispered.

Sorry was all he could say to Cadence. All he could do after what he did too-

"Look at me."

She tried to control her anger, but looking at him made it impossible. Cadence took comfort in knowing he was rotting in prison, but it wasn't enough.

The man's eyes were still glued to his paper.

"I said, look at me," she yelled.

The man's eyes slowly found hers. It was his first time actually seeing Cadence in her complete form. She was there when he got sentenced, but he kept his head down. Not wanting to look at his victim's family.

He saw her eyes were puffy. They were also tiredness in them. Of course, there was anger and sadness, but tiredness was the most prominent.

"Her name was Zari, and she was 35. And was the biggest nerd. She was kind and loving and beautiful." Cadence's eyes started to water. She tried to fight it, not wanting the man to see her in that state. "And-and you killed her." She choked up.

He nodded, acknowledging all of the things Zari was and all the things she could have been.

"I know." A breath escaped him.

Cadence continued, "Zari was a social worker who worked with kids that were struggling. She really had a passion for kids in the LGBTQ+ community. And that she wanted to one day work in legislation to make it better for all struggling kids."

He brought his hands to his face hiding his teary eyes. "I know."

She squinted her eyes at the man turning her head slightly. "How can you possibly know?"

The man looked back up at Cadence. "Your sister-in-law Fina. She came by about a week ago, told me everything, and even showed me pictures." He pulled out a picture from his pocket and handed it to Cadence. The photo was of Zari and her sister when they went to the wine vineyards together.

Her wife's contagious smile was all she saw. It was the smile that would brighten up her day. She wished it had been her who died because it was impossible to live life without Zari.

A tear slid down Cadence's face, and the man saw. He wished he could go back in time and not get in the car. But he knew that even if he didn't get in the car that afternoon, on that day, it would have just been someone else at a different time. He would still be here, just with another person.