In 45 Minutes: Marriage

[Nosedagger]

She was only slightly diminutive, wore the long hair I remembered so well in a ponytail, spoke in a voice I had heard often in my dreams, and she was here.

My first love and first wife was Sara. We met each other as enthusiastic children in Secondary One, reluctantly parted ways and lost our close bond after we went to different polytechnics, but resumed our friendship when we saw each other again in university. She had always had a tendency to do what she felt like, without thinking of the consequences beforehand.

One day while we were talking about absolutely nothing, she came forward and kissed me without warning. It sparked off an intimate relationship that culminated in a marriage fifteen months later. We had been discussing the possibility of having a child.

Then she disappeared. Nobody had known where she went. I asked around, but her only real friend had been me. The police came and questioned me, but I did not know anything either.

“How could you do this to me?” I asked. “You have been missing for nearly nine years!”

“Hear me out.” Sara’s voice brought back rich memories that were excruciating to me now. “I did something stupid. Something wrong. A bunch of people came after me and I had to run.”

“Who?” I demanded.

“Nobody. I cannot tell you. Not even now. They are still out there.” Sara paused, guilty and afraid. “I’m sorry. You have no idea how much I want to go back eleven years -”

“Eleven years?” I interrupted. “This was before we were engaged. Why did you not say anything?”

“My life was on the line! I could have been killed.”

“I was killed!” I retorted, my voice exploding out of control. There was a silent moment of tension between us.

“Nolan -”

“What do you want?” I asked brusquely.

“A second chance. Please. Come away with me. I know a place -”

“No,” I hissed before she could finish. “No.”

“I love you.”

“I have a wife that loves me. She is sitting at home, waiting for me to return. I am not going to wreck her life like you wrecked mine.”

Sara grabbed my arm. I recognized her dangerous side taking over. She pulled me close to her. I recognized that too. She was desperate. Angry. Lonely.

“You owe me,” she declared quietly.

I shook myself free. “I have to go pick up my children.”

The revelation hit her hard. Something in her eyes broke and shattered. I felt to dismantled looking at her that I had to turn away.

Then I started walking. I did not turn back.