~Missing Pieces~
She'd
searched the kitchen floor a dozen times, but still there were pieces missing from
the shattered
Rebecca knelt on the floor carefully running her hand over the hard stone
tiles, tears coursed down her
Her mind in a whirl, she thought of the engagement ring that had meant so much to her, and the love she had felt when it was first put on her finger by Paul. The only romance in her life that had mattered, had soured it seemed, before ever it began. And how she had wanted this romance to work To be loved and cherished by this man who had stolen her heart. Who wanted to marry her in the Caribbean. A romance that had begun when on vacation in England from her work in the USA. They had met at an old vintage car ralley and he had been so attentive, and they had dated during the days that followed, until it was time for her to leave her family once again, and return to her work.
"Do you have to go back" He had said.
Of course she had to return, and when she did, he had rang every day afterwards, over the six thousand miles distance; their conversations lasting for sometimes an hour at a time. Then he had taken time away from his business to come out to be with her, and that is when he had asked her to marry him, because he loved her, Wanted her to return with him to his home in the Midlands, just wanted to be with her.
Rebecca, had fallen hard for Paul, who literally swept her off her feet. After a period of unsettlement in her life, she had just got her home together so far away from all that was familiar in England. She now had a nice little place of her own, that she kept spick and span, and which contained all the things she had dilligently worked so hard for.
There had been many things to consider, when Paul had pleaded with her to return to England with him. There was her home and work, her car that she was paying for.... in fact her entire new life that she had worked so hard at putting together. But he had placed the ring firmly on her finger. After that events were a whirl. She had gven notice to leave her job, searched for and bought a beautiful wedding gown, sold most of her furniture at a fraction of its original cost, sold her car, and arranged for shipment of her things back to England. Encouraged all the time with words of endearment from Paul, who rang her sometimes twice a day.
Finally, she had said goodbye to her colleagues and friends and flown back to England, to be with her fiancee in his home.
What a mistake!
She had walked into the flat that was to be her new home and was bewildered. It contained no furniture, the entire plumbing system was in the process of being renewed. It was chaos! At that point a sense of fear had overcome her...
What
had she done in coming here to Paul? All of her worldly possessions
were in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, en route to her 'new
home' in England And all she wanted to do was return on the next
flight to her home and the life, she had just left in the States. After
that it had been downhill all the way. The Caribbean wedding was
not mentioned, and neither for that matter was ttheir marriage.
She had quickly got a job, but now she never saw Paul, he was always at work. He would lie in late in the mornings and then not return home until sometimes eleven o'clock at night. And this was most nights. They never went out together anywhere, and she felt trapped. She had given everything up for this.
He had made a fool of her the previous day twice. She had gone to her doctor's for her anti-pregnancy injection, to be told by a smiling Rectiptionist when she arrived, that her Fiancee had rang to leave a message for her. The message was "I want us to have a baby" She had longed for a child for some time, and Paul knew this. Needless to say, she had not had the injection, and had walked out of the surgery on cloud nine. That very same evening he had changed his mind, telling her he had made a mistake, and that had been just before they left to go out. It was the first time they had gone out socially in a month, and she felt like crying, totally miserable and upset. He had been morose and difficult all evening, and had told her to go ahead of him when they left the club, whilst he went for the car, saying that he would catch her up.
She had walked and walked, after twelve at night on her own, waiting for her fiancee to reach her, until finally she arrived home alone. He had sauntered in ten minutes later saying he had missed her because she had gone a different way to him.
And that is when she finally saw red!
She
had tugged the engagement ring off her finger, thrown it onto the kitchen
floor, and taken the ammer that the plumber was using to install
the new pipes. And she had raised it and hit her ring with the full
force of it.
It
was morning now, her temper had cooled, and in tears she searched for
the missing pieces of the 'diamond' that had been set in her engagement
ring. That which should have proved unbreakable had
been just as much a fake as Paul's love.
Flying back over the Atlantic to the US did not ease her aching heart.
(c) Maureen A. Norman 2000
Derbyshire DE12 6DN