Escape

Eternal Kiss

A single slam of the knocker had woken Erica. Groggily turning, she slammed the top of the clock with her palm, pulling it near tofocus on the time.

2.42am.

The clock had to be wrong. Sun pulsed through the window. It had to be more like 2.42pm.

Back to her original position, she reached out her arm, expecting to feel Jim. Instead, she hit the mattress. Pushing the duvet from her, she swung her legs over the side, into slippers.

Half asleep, she walked towards the door, pulling her dressing gown from the back of the door as she opened it, before treading onto the soft carpet of the landing.

'Jim,' she whispered once more.

No answer.

Looking in the spare bedroom, the clock on the wall read 10.15am. That was more like the real time. Opening the curtains in the room, she glanced out the window, seeing the postman complete his deliveries to her estate.

She guessed Jim had not heard her call his name. He had made breakfast in bed when he worked nights for as long as she could remember.

One step, she heard a little noise.

A muffled voice.

Another step towards the stairs, the voice grew louder.

A few more steps and she was able to lean on the the bannister near the top.

She heard Jim's voice. Unable to understand what was being said, she got a step closer.

'It's all too much for me to deal with,' she heard him say.

'Things will turn out fine,' she heard the woman reply. 'As soon as this is over, you will feel better and will be able to move on with your life.'

'I want to feel as if I am able to, but the way things are, I don't feel I can. I still love her too much to let her go, but I know I have to if I don't want to hurt myself in the process.'

Erica took a few steps forward and sitting on the top step, trying to crane her neck forward for a view, but unable to see anything.

'I can't let go of the past very easily, and it is made even more difficult when you have such a meaningful relationship with someone. You have to understand what I am trying to say,' Jim said.

Creeping down a further step, she looked through the bannister to see Jim and this stranger stand by the door which separated the living room from the kitchen. She was in time to see the stranger reach out her arm to hug him. She normally wouldn't have minded, but when he hugged her back, she rose from the step. 'What the hell!' she shouted.

As if they hadn't heard, they left the house.

Erica ran into the front bedroom once more, quickly opening the window, wanting to shout after them, but felt unable to find the words she wanted. Snapping the window shut, she ran down the stairs, through the living room and into the kitchen. Angrily opening the front door, she watched his car, along with a few others, pass the house.

Wondering what was happening, she reached for her mobile, dialling Jim's.

'Hi, this is Jim. Sorry I can't come to the phone right now.....' the message came on after a few rings, causing her to snap her phone off.

What was happening? She thought Jim had loved her enough not to go off with another woman. She thought they would be together forever. When they got married, she took the vows seriously, but it didn't look as if he had.