Due to holidays it has been a while since I have entertained a
Mid-Week Blues-Buster entry. Initially I couldn't access this song and didn't plan to write. Then another writing friend was persistent in offering all sorts of links to see if I could get it to work here in Holland, and finally he did! So then I listened and this is what arrived. It's more of a snippet I think than an actually complete story in a flash - I could have written on for ages. And it didn't rank for this reason I think. Anyway, I liked it and thought it worth posting. Enjoy.
Song prompt:
Say Goodbye, by Eva Cassidy
She saw him walk into the bar with his friends and ignored
the flutter in her stomach as she finished polishing the glass she had in her
hand, adding it to the shelf behind her. Would he recognise her? Part of her
hoped he would, part of her hoped he wouldn’t. Either way he was heading to the
bar and she was the only one to serve him.
She turned as he arrived at the counter, and his reaction
was immediate: frozen, mouth half open about to give her his order.
“Hey Greg.”
“Melissa! Shit.”
She gave him a small smile. “What can I get you?”
He blinked, like a visual stutter, and said, “They’re
looking for you. They’re worried sick.”
She sighed and gave him a resigned look. “I finish in
fifteen minutes. I can talk then if you like, but for now I need your drinks
order.”
He seemed a little shell-shocked by her response, and gave her
the order, but when she handed him the change, he said, “Come over when you’re
done, we need to talk.”
She watched him rejoin his friends, catching his eye a
couple of times as he checked to see if she was still there. She finished up
her afternoon shift, looking forward to being off her feet and not facing the
hordes of tourists coming into tonight. With the holiday season warming up, it
was getting busy in this little corner of Spain and it wouldn’t be long before
the days would be the same as the nights, just one long party – except for
those working.
She poured a drink and came out from behind the bar, heading
straight towards him. “Shall we sit outside? I need some air.”
He was ready, and stood up immediately, glass in hand, following
her out.
As they settled into their seats on the terrace, she asked
the question that was foremost in her mind, “How do you know anyone’s looking
for me? I shut down all my social media accounts when I left.”
“Johnny PM’d me a few months after you left, on the off
chance you’d been in touch and said something.”
“Why would I do that?”
Greg shrugged. “It was a shot in the dark. He clearly knew
you used to PM me.”
Melissa smiled. “Johnny knew everything. Him and Stacey are
the only two I really miss.”
Greg pulled a face. “What you don’t even miss your own
children?!”
Melissa’s smile dropped. “I’m sure they’re fine. It’s been
three years. They will have adjusted by now.”
Greg gently shook his head. “I didn’t understand it then,
and I don’t now. Why did you go? Don’t you feel any remorse?”
“Remorse? I didn’t commit a crime; I left my husband.”
“But you hurt so many people!” Greg was angry. Melissa found
that incredulous.
“What do you care?”
“I always cared. You knew that.”
“Did I? How? From the one liners I’d get in response to
several PMs?”
“You had marital issues, I wasn’t getting in the middle of
that.”
“Exactly – so you do know why I left.”
Greg faltered. Melissa took the opportunity to sip her
drink. Greg nursed his, but from his expression there was more to come.
“Tell me Greg, what is it you want to say to me?”
“I think you should call him.”
“Who?”
“Your husband.”
“Why?”
“To let him know you’re alive and well.”
“And how will that help?”
“He’ll know you’re okay, and the kids will too.”
“I repeat, and how will that help – if anything it’ll make
it worse.”
“How?”
“Hi Rich, hi kids, just calling to say I’m okay and alive,
but I’m still not coming back.”
“But it’ll give them closure at least.”
“No it won’t, it’ll open old wounds.”
“Don’t you want to see your kids again?”
“Do I deserve to? They’re better off without me. I wasn’t
making them happy – I wasn’t making anyone happy!”
“You don’t know that.”
“Oh yes I do.” There was an awkward pause. “Tell me Greg is
that all you wanted to say?”
He looked at her and murmured, “No. I want you to know I
missed you too, and I was worried sick too.”
