The prompt song this week was:
Nil Lara - How was I to Know?
She walked out onto the balcony, leaving the raucous noise
of the party behind her, and leaned out, looking along the beach. She spotted
him some distance away sitting on top of a dune.
She kicked off her shoes and made her way to him, digging
her feet hard into the sand to reach the top of the dune, plonking herself down
beside him once she got there. He sat looking out to sea, arms hanging loosely
over the top of his pulled up knees, a bottle of beer still in one hand.
He glanced at her and smiled.
She asked, “You okay? Not up to partying?”
“Nah, not really.”
He proffered the bottle and she took a swig, following his
gaze out to sea.
“I’m sorry Meg, I shouldn’t have come.”
“On the contrary Gerry, I’m glad you did. I wanted you
here.”
He smiled at her, his eyes twinkling in the dying light.
“Did you now?”
“Yeah, it’s been too long since you came to one of my
shindigs; they’re not the same without you.”
“I’m getting too old for this kind of partying.”
Meg laughed out loud and he joined her.
“Old? You don’t know what old is yet boy. You’re still a
babe in arms!”
He grinned taking another swig from the bottle. “You’re not
THAT much old than me.”
She grinned back at him. “I know.” Then she put a hand on
his arm. “I know you’re hearts heavy right now.” His smile faltered. “But
you’ve turned down all my offers of a one on one meet ups, so I thought maybe
in a crowd you’d feel safer.”
A frown creased his brow. “You know me too well.”
“Yeah I do. And sometimes that ain’t good for either of us.”
She took the bottle from him and swallowed a mouthful hoping that it would keep
her buzz going and she wouldn’t say anything she’d regret. She refused to make
eye contact, instead looking out at the horizon, waiting for him to speak.
He sighed. “I feel stupid. I thought she was the one. We
even got married. And when it started to derail I thought I could get it back
on track, but she wasn’t interested. I tried everything. I kept hoping, you
know?”
Meg nodded. “Been there done that, as you well know.”
“Brad?”
“Yep.”
He nodded.
“So what do I do now?”
“Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and keep on moving
forward.”
He shook his head. “I don’t know how to do that.”
“You’ve got to let her go Gerry. She’s gone, and she ain’t
coming back.”
“But…”
“There are no buts sweetie, it’s out of your hands.”
“So I failed.”
“You can’t look at it like that. Society wants us to, but
sometimes relationships don’t work out and that’s okay – as long as you tried,
you didn’t fail. You had your time together, remember it fondly, but accept
that it’s over. Be sad, grieve for it even, but then move on, and remember that
there is still life out there, a life you can be a part of.”
He held her gaze, giving her a small smile. “Wise words.”
“Yeah, and they took me a long time to learn, I promise
you!”
His smile grew to a grin. “Is that what getting old brings
then?”
Meg laughed. “Absolutely.” She waggled the bottle. “This is
empty. Come on, come back to the party. It’s no fun without you.”
His eyes sparkled at her again, and she ignored the flutter
in her stomach. He stood up and dusted the sand off his shorts, reaching out a
hand, to help her stand up too. As they walked back to the house he put his arm
round her and pulled her into him, kissing the top of her head. “Thanks. I
needed that.” She put her arm round his waist, and said, “Anytime.”
They walked in silence, until the sounds from the house
greeted them. Then Meg looked up at Gerry and said, “And now it’s time to get
you drunk.”
He threw back his head laughing, and said,
“Definitely.”
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