I don’t want to say this too loudly in case the universe hears me and decides to giggle, but this morning things are actually running smoothly. No glitches. Nothing. Squee! But softly. Let’s just sneak into Friday and try not to alert the Chaos Monkeys. Timers ready? Let’s go.
Weirdly this feels like the start of a romance. I never write romances. I think this week has finally just gotten even more bent than I expected. Although I could be wrong. It could be horror. I like horror stories. Still, it feels like romance. I definitely think it is time for a weekend.
Friday, February17th: He hadn’t expected it to hurt this much.
He hadn’t expected it to hurt this much. He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. Deep inside, the ache thumped radiating through his body. He had a plan. He would find a girl who had wealth and status and he would seduce and marry her, Thus he would gain a kind of legitimacy that even all his hard work and achievements wouldn’t net him. He would finally be recognized for who he was without his background staining things.
He told no one his plan of course, knowing it was a callous way to approach matters of the heart. Instead he let his secret plan settle inside him, waiting for the opportunity to come to fruition. He thought that throwing himself into his work and barely glancing at any woman would help his cause. Then when he found the right one he could be suddenly star struck.
The plan had worked. He found the girl. In the back of his mind he was hoping that there would be some beauty there and some sort of companionable association. He hadn’t expected to fall in love. He hadn’t expected that what would start off as a way to pull himself out of his background would result in him falling helplessly and hopelessly in love.
He hadn’t expected her to break his heart.
As he leaned back feeling the ache of the loss, William knew he had no right to feel betrayed. He went in with his plan and apparently she went in with her own. He forgot hers and she remained faithful to hers. He fell in love and she used him as to make the true object of her affections realize that he loved her.
The end, when it came, happened so fast. There was a mercy in that, he decided. There they were in the most romantic venue he could find, the sky alight with stars, music playing softly and the ring in his pocket. Then before a word could slip past his lips, he arrived. Her true prince charming to declare his love and sweep her off her feet. William was left standing there, the ring still in his pocket as his love was whisked out of the door.
He was told by the well-meaning and the viciously nasty alike that they went straight from the venue he chose to a chapel and were married that very night. The elopement was a titillating scandal but as both were from good wealthy families, it was deemed a good match. There was a round of celebratory parties planned for the post marriage celebration and then they were going on an extended honeymoon.
William sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He still had his work. And while some snickered that he tried to reach too far above his station and got burned, most felt some sympathy for him. He was certain the sympathy was more than he deserved. It did make his life a little more tolerable. People who started to reevaluate him while he was dating Charlene continued to see his worth. Talk of his past had, for the most part fallen away.
In a way he got what his plan was designed to achieve. He tried to feel grateful. “Well look at it this way,” he told himself. “Now you’ve also had your grand love affair and can put that all behind you and concentrate on work,” he told himself. His broken heart would simply be a reminder that some things were best not trifled with.
Ten til Midnight 