Reforming Bill

Chapter Six

AN: So sorry for the delay. The next two (and final) chapters should come farily quickly now. Thanks for sticking with the story.

Chapter Six

As Bill listened to her leave, he felt like his heart was being ripped out through his chest and he gasped as he realised what he had done, how much he had just thrown away. Their weekends together were sometimes the only high point in his week and he looked forward to them from the moment they parted company on Sunday.

He couldn't imagine never having that feeling again, that mixture of happiness and excitement as he counted down the days until he saw her again. Almost everything he did during the week was with her in mind; he'd see something that he knew she would like or when a good or bad event happened he would imagine telling her about it. With out her, his world would be a bleak place in comparison to the past few months.

Without thinking he headed out to his car to follow her, not even stopping to pull a coat on despite the chilly weather at this time of year. When he reached his car though, he paused beside it.

Was he really considering overlooking his wounded pride and running after the woman who had deceived him? Was he really going to chase down a woman who's refusal to even consider marrying him was already causing him to become the subject of chatter and ridicule in the village?

His father had always told him that perception was everything and that a good reputation was priceless. Bill couldn't count the number of hidings that he'd received as a boy for potentially damaging the families reputation with simple things, like throwing stones or going out without his shoes polished.

For so long he had believed his father, despite witnessing both his parents unhappiness. His mother was really nothing more than an ornament and free child care to her husband and his father had shown more affection to their dog than to either his wife or son.

Bill was beginning to see that perhaps happiness was more important than both his reputation and how people perceived him.

As he climbed into the car and sped off after Lila, he had another startling revelation. Love had nothing to do with attraction or sex. Real love was being willing to put your pride aside for the good of both of you.

He didn't like constantly being asked when they were getting married, nor did he like the snide comments certain people made about her unwillingness to tie the knot but he had put up with it all because not being with her was so much worse than the gossip he endured. The world could ridicule him every day for the rest of his life but with Lila by his side, he could bear it. In fact with her, he would probably even enjoy it since she seemed to find so much humour in life.

Knowing that she had a head start on him, he raced through the village, receiving many chastisements from startled villagers but he barely noticed. He was surprised when he reached the outskirts of the village to see Lila's bike just pulling back onto the road. He beeped his horn to draw her attention and screeched to a halt behind her.

He practically jumped from the car and ran over to her.

For obvious reasons she was wary as he approached her but all he did was pull her into a tight hug, which confused her considering how angry he'd been.

“Thank God,” he said. “I thought I'd lost you.”

Though she knew that she should still be angry with him, Lila couldn't help but put her arms around him. The thought of losing him had been pretty devastating for her too.

“I'm sorry, I was such a fool,” he told her.

Lila couldn't believe that he was saying sorry. Bill was a proud, sometimes even an arrogant man (she loved him but she wasn't blind to his faults) but here he was swallowing his pride.