Good morning one and all. I have to admit, I feel a little dazed this morning. Around two in the morning a story idea hit me and I had to jot it down. The jotting down turned into two hours of notes. I stopped when my hand cramped and my brain was finally ready to take a break. Then I went back to bed. I wouldn’t have slept without getting the story pout but it was two hours of sleep I really could have used. But such is life. And the day needs to begin. So are you ready? Good, then let’s get going.
Oh I like this one. I think this one would be fun to write. In fact i kind of want to write this one for a bit just to see where it goes.
Thursday, December 23rd: Happiness bubbled inside her.
Happiness bubbled inside her. The day was finally here. She looked over the green. The day looked freshly scrubbed as if angels took the time to polish each blade of grass. Even the sunlight looked like something special. It looked like it was mixed with gold and diamond glitter.
She took a step back from the window and took a deep breath. Today was not going to be easy. She would have to make certain that her giddiness didn’t show. That she didn’t look too happy about …anything. She knew she was going to be the recipient of many snide remarks and that she would have to hold her head up as though putting on a brave face. All she had to do was get through the day.
She knew that even though she would have to endure the annoyance of those gleefully enjoying another’s discomfort, they wouldn’t be as bad as the well-meaning looks of pity.
She couldn’t blame them though. If she only knew the face of it, she would bestow looks of pity on herself as well.
On the surface it was a miserable situation. On the surface, her betrothed was stolen by her stepsister and today was the day that she would have to watch the two of them marry and enter into a life of wedded bliss.
The fact was that Denise’s marriage to Tom solved all sorts of problems for her.
Charlotte never really loved Tom. She dated him because she was expected to. He was from a family her family approved of and on the surface was head over heels for her. He wooed her and she capitulated not because she fell for him and his charms but because she figured that if she went on a few dates with him then everyone would see she tried and they could then each go their separate ways.
Only that hadn’t happened. He thought their rather tepid dates were grand successes and the dates continued because Charlotte couldn’t find a polite way to refuse them. They never went beyond dinner and a polite peck on the cheek at the end of it. She always hoped that if he pressed his luck she could politely refuse and end it there. But he never did. She thought they were just passing time.
He thought they were serious and secretly went to her father to ask for his permission to ask her hand in marriage. By the time he tendered a very public proposal in the middle of the fanciest restaurant in town with most of both of their families seated at the tables around them, it was more or less a done deal. Her shocked silence was taken as acceptance and without ever having tendered a response, she left the restaurant with a large diamond engagement ring on her hand and excellent champagne turning to acid in her belly.
She hated the ring, hated the well-wishers and no matter how many times she tried to end the engagement no one would listen. She was told she was just getting cold feet and her concerns were wafted away as inconsequential.
Denise had been Charlotte’s last desperate hope. Her stepsister had always tried to steal anything that Charlotte had and boyfriends were no different than anything else. Charlotte introduced them at a family luncheon and tried to Use Denise to her own advantage. She ignored the increasing number of secret meetings and pretended she knew nothing. It was a relief when Denise became pregnant.
Ten til Midnight 