Façade

Chapter 6

The summer was drawing to a close. The sun was setting on this dark chapter of everyone's lives. Emily was taking an evening run along the sand, as she had done every day this summer. One foot in front of the other. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. That's all it felt like since Charlotte's death, like they were just, going through the motions. Not even thinking about it, putting on a brave face to make the world think they weren't hurting. A façade.

As she was running, and beginning to gasp for air, she noticed a figure silhouetted in the distance, and, as she drew nearer, she noticed that it was Jack Porter, her childhood love, skipping stones on the calming evening waters.

He didn't notice the panting woman in front of him until she spoke. 'I haven't seem you in a good year and a half!' She smiled at him through her breaths. He smiled back 'Yeah, well, you know, things have been rough.' A pause ensued as he looked, first at the ground, then his eyes trailed up Emily's changed physique. 'Plus, now, Declan's broken hearted over Charlotte. Hasn't left his room in weeks' he looked down at his hands as he spoke. 'Well you know what they say' Emily replied 'the price of great love, is great loss' she looked back at him sympathetically. 'I wouldn't call it 'great love'. It was his first love. No one ever expects their first love to amount to much. No one ever expects to lose it, either. No one really expects anything from their first love' he chucked 'except me...' Emily tensed at his words. She remembered their childhood wedding. She remembered the rings she made for them, and making Jack wear a bow tie. A smile crept up onto her face and she replied 'Well, there's first love, there's great love, and there's true love' still smiling, she stared off into the distant sunset, enveloped in memories of not only Jack, but Daniel. Her true love.

An eerie quiet descended on the two, it stayed for what seemed like hours, but was only a few minutes. Then, the two said their rather awkward goodbyes, and Emily headed off in the opposite direction and continued on into the night on her run.

She returned home to find Daniel, slumped over, sitting on a stool next to the kitchen island, staring at a bottle of bourbon underneath the glare of an overhead lamp. Cautiously, Emily tiptoed over, to see that he'd filled a glass, and his eyes were shifting between them.

'You wanna pour me one?' she asked. He stared at the glass for another few seconds, and reluctantly slid the glass over to his wife and she wrapped her arms around him. She took the glass and poured it down the sink, before retuning to Daniel's side and noticing that he didn't stink of alcohol. She was relieved to realise he hadn't been drinking. It had never reached a life-threatening stage with him, but she felt it fair to classify it as an addiction. 'Let's go up to bed, honey. I'm so sleepy!' she said as she giggled and stoked his arm. He nodded and followed her upstairs.

The lamp threw a dim light over the room, as Emily stood, beside the mirror in the corner, drying her hair, and Daniel drew the covers over his legs and picked up his book from the nightstand. 'I'm so sorry about earlier Ems' Daniel pleaded 'I've just been down in the dumps since Charlotte.' Emily slid into bed next to him, and began to run her hand from side to side over his back. 'It's ok, we all have lapses of judgement. It's ok. It's ok' she whispered. She gave him a peck on the cheek and pulled the covers over herself as Daniel put his arm around her and began to read his book.

'I love you. For things like this. You're so forgiving. You don't judge for my past, or my name. You're the one' he kissed the top of her head, put away his book, and wrapped his arms around her.

'This is perfect' Emily's voice rang out from the darkness, the sound, spreading out across the room, and into the night, into the world.

© Sarah Egan 2013 - 2014 This story is subject to copyright and may not be copied or reproduced without the express permission of the author.