Jaded

The End

Saturday evenings were usually very busy, revellers would usually scream and shout as they headed towards whatever nightclub they were heading to. Ann didn't care. The world was a very quiet place to her, during that moment, as she observed the streets around her. In the distance, at the edge of an alley, a raccoon rummaged eagerly through a bin in an attempt to search for food. The streetlight above her head flickered above her head while the nighttime breeze swept gently across her face. It was strange, the cast on her leg had come off only a few days prior to the court case, she hadn't experienced that amount of freedom for a long time. The metaphorical and literal freedom from the bounds of her past enthralled her.

She wasn't entirely sure why she had come outside, alone, into the night. She speculated that it was because of her relief. The divorce had gone through without a hitch. She just wanted to get away from it all, she had to start anew, the world was a blank canvas. It awaited her in its state to be painted on in whatever manner she saw fit, with whatever marks she saw fit.

Her dear friend Will had helped her begin this journey of a thousand steps, he had guided her towards the right path. In hindsight, her fruitless marriage had made her feel very alone and isolated, all the while she pretended to be happy, overly happy. She let out a small smile, Will had insisted that he stood as a witness during the trial against her ex husband, he had insisted that him pushing here down the stairs was domestic violence, he had insisted that it wasn't normal. It mattered that he cared. Henry was going to jail for a long, long time. Ann worried about Clare not seeing her dad, but she believed that it was for the best until she was old enough to make the decision of whether she wanted to see her father or not.

Though her luck with regards to love was very slim, she was still good friends with Dave. He'd left his job as an accountant, reluctantly, because he was being overworked and underpaid for his considerable amount of effort. She sighed, she did miss him. However, any romantic affection for him had long died.

She sighed as she looked towards the night sky, expecting to see the twinkling stars, but the streetlights prevented them from being seen. Suddenly, a hand tapped her lightly on the shoulder. She turned around to she Will standing behind her, his crumpled suit jacket held on one of his arms.

"We are completely mad, aren't we?" He began with an eager smile. Ann stared at him, confused by his choice of words. He coughed before continuing, "It's a cold night and we're only wearing a this..." He pointed his shirt and then at Ann's formal pink dress.

"Yeah..." She smiled at him.

"Anyway, I've been meaning to have a little chat with you."

Ann gave him a puzzled look,"About what?" She questioned. After all, the many dramas of her life were at an end, all of her many arcs had been concluded. It was the end of everything.

"About us, Ann..." He began.

"Look, I'm sorry for dragging you into my mess." She butted in, based on false conclusions.

"No. You dragging me into your mess has been the best thing that has happened to me for a long time! Without you I would've remained a grumpy, jaded and lonely man. I want to thank you for that."

Ann smiled at him,"It's no problem."

"That is why...", William began, reaching into the pocket of his jacket."... I wanted to ask you question." William produced a small, yet significant, red velvet box from his jacket. Ann gasped as William got down on one knee, revealing that the box contained a small diamond ring.

"Ann, after everything that we've been through together, will you marry me?"

"OF COURSE I WILL!" Ann screamed into night.

William and Ann embraced as the snow began to fall around them on that January evening.

The end

I can't believe that this is the end! I am considering a sequel to this, however.

I want to thank everybody that has taken their time to read and help me write this story(especially sheriffcolie for pointing out all my grammatical and spelling errors, I really appreciate that).

Thank you once again!