There Wasn't Enough Time

There wasn't enough time. She had to get there before the wedding took place. She thought back to two days back when she had fought with her best friend and roommate, Sheila. ‘Oh what have I done?!’ She and Sheila had been friends for 10 years, and had started to share their room 2 years ago when they had graduated from Harvard as scientist and accountant respectively. Since they were Harvard graduates, they were offered jobs almost immediately. Incidentally they joined the same company, Rocks and Water, a company that produced water. Sheila was a very innocent girl, who believed everything everyone said, except something against Nancy. Nancy was wise in all these things and knew that nobody is trustworthy in this world. When Sheila began to change in her way of talking, dressing and going-out attitudes, Nancy began to suspect that something was amiss. She waved it off as the influence of coming into practical life, and would wear off when Sheila got used to it. But when suddenly Sheila began to be late in her routines, Nancy began worrying. She decided to confront her best friend.
“Oh, Nan! I thought you’d never ask!” Sheila said, excitedly.
Nancy had finally succeeding keeping awake to meet Sheila after she came back home at night. It was 0200 hrs and Sheila had never been so late before. “Sheila! What is happening in your life? Where are you nowadays? What is going on?” Nancy asked her that night when Sheila entered the kitchen, turning on the light and startling her friend.
“Nancy! You scared me out of my skin!” Sheila exclaimed, jumping.
“Sorry. I’ve just been too worried about you to think about it. Care for a drink with your old buddy?” Nancy replied, searching the refrigerator and taking out two bottles of diet Coke. Handing her one, she asked, “Now, how about telling me what is going on?”
“Oh, Nan! I thought you’d never ask!” Sheila replied, opening her bottle and sitting on the dining table.
“If I hadn’t succeeded in keeping awake, that would have surely happened.” “I’m sorry, Nance, I should have told you earlier.” “Hey! Sometimes it happens, okay! And there was never a place for a sorry or thank you between us. Okay, enough! Would you please break the suspense now, or shall I go to sleep?” Nancy said, yawning.
“Well, it’s a very long story, but I’ll try to make it as short and quick as possible…” Sheila started. “No need for that! I’ve taken leave for tomorrow. Be as detailed as you want.” Nancy interrupted, settling more comfortably in her chair, and closing her eyes.
“Okay. Then here goes: Nancy, when I joined Rocks and Water, I wasn’t very sure of myself. I was afraid that I would make some blunder and the whole company would go down. And being an accountant, I have to be very careful. But then I met Will. He is my boss, you know. The first day I met him, I thought he was kind of weird, you know, extra friendly. But I found later, he was like that with his subordinates, colleagues and even his seniors. He’s pretty young, around five years older than us, no more. He always checks his subordinates’ works twice. But he didn’t check mine. Not after the first few weeks. I didn’t know he doesn’t check my accounts. I found out by mistake, or maybe he wanted me to find out, I’m not sure. Anyway, I found when he came to my cabin himself one day to ask for the accounts. I was just finishing my calculations. I handed him the papers, and he signed them without checking it. Surprised, I asked, ‘Sir, won’t you check my calculations?’ ‘I never check your calculations, Miss Sheila. I have full confidence in you and your work. I have noticed you never make a tiny mistake. Keep up the good work, Miss Sheila.’ I was greatly encouraged, Nancy. Will is such a motivating boss. And he’s so sweet…” She stopped to take a breath.
“You’re not talking of Mr. William Smithers, are you?” Nancy asked, without opening her eyes. “Of course! Who else? You’ve heard of him?” “Of course I have! But what I’ve heard is very different from your account of him. But that can wait for later. Please continue.” Nancy still had her eyes closed.
“Well, next month, one day, I had to check and gather some old records, so I had to work late. When everyone left the office, I sped up my work, so I could leave soon, too. After sometime, I noticed someone standing in front of my desk, looking down at me. I looked up at Will and inquired, ‘Do you need anything, Sir?’ He only smiled, and said, ‘No, I was just waiting for you.’ ‘Me, Sir?’ I asked, continuing what I was doing.”
And so continued Sheila’s story, until finally came the ending, which shocked Nancy: “And, so, we’re getting married this Saturday, which is day after tomorrow…”
“You WHAT???” Nancy asked, jerking out of her reclining position, and slapping the table, as well as startling Sheila.
“What’s wrong?” Sheila asked, worriedly.
“What’s wrong? You are marrying someone you’ve known less than twenty months, and you’re asking what’s wrong?” Nancy replied.
“Relax, Nancy. You don’t have to worry about that. I know Will well enough…” Sheila replied, calmly and confidently.
“No!” Nancy interrupted in a high voice. ‘You don’t know him at all! He’s not a good man, Sheila. You can’t marry him! He’ll ruin your life! He’ll kill you like his other two wives! I wont let you do this!’ Nancy wanted to shout at Sheila. But all she managed to say was, “I don’t think you should be so hasty, Sheila. Maybe you should get to know him better. Give it more time. Maybe you should reconsider your decision.”
“Nancy, I’m surprised at you! Instead of congratulating me, you’re telling me to think again? I love Will, and he loves me, too. I’ll marry none but him!” Sheila replied, crossly, and folded her arms over her chest.
“Sheila! Come on! I’m only concerned about you! This is a matter of your life! You should at least give it a serious thought.” Nancy said, defensively. “I have thought about it, ok? It’s my life, don’t you think I’ll be concerned about it? And you should really try not to put your nose in my personal affairs, and mind your own business. Will had warned me that you wouldn’t be happy to hear this news. But I wouldn’t listen to him. I guess he was right. You really are not happy.” She said, getting up and moving towards her room.
“So that’s the way, is it, Sheila? You prefer to trust on someone you’ve known less than two years to someone you’ve known over ten years? And do you have a memory of what day it is today? Today is the eleventh anniversary of our meeting, of the start of our friendship. We have celebrated this day every year for the past decade…” Nancy said sadly to her retreating back.
Sheila turned back, teary-eyed, and said, “Don’t forget to attend my wedding, Nancy. Even if you’re against it, it’d make me happy to have you by my side, on the biggest day of my life…” With that, she went to her room and shut the door, locking it.
‘If you only knew what I do, Sheila. If you would just listen…’ Nancy thought to herself, shaking her head.

The next morning, Nancy decided that this was too petty a thing to create a distance between them after spending a period of eleven years together. So she went to Sheila’s room, knocked on the door, and, after receiving a reply of “Come in!” from inside, went in.
“Sheila, I …” Nancy started, but stopped in mid-sentence, when she saw her packing her belongings. “What in the world are you doing?” She burst.
“I’m leaving this place, right now. And please don’t try stopping me, because my mind is made up. Will will be coming to pick me up any time now.” Sheila replied, not looking up from her work.
“Sheila, why wouldn’t you listen to me? Don’t you want to know what I know about William?” Nancy asked her, putting her hand on her shoulder from the back.
“No! I was warned against you, so I don’t wish to be brainwashed by you.” Sheila exclaimed, pushing her away.
“You were ‘warned’ against me?” Nancy repeated, making a face.
“Yes, warned, Nancy. I was told you would try to stop me from marrying Will. He said you’ll say you know something about him that I don’t. He even said you’d make the most awful excuse: that he is a murderer!”
“But he is, Sheila! He is not William Smithers. He’s his younger brother. His name is Samuel. He’s a murderer. I have done the investigations myself. Please believe me, Sheila.” Nancy said, making one last frantic try to save her friend.
For a moment, it seemed as if Sheila believed her. Then she turned back just as quickly to her packing.
“No. You are lying. Will was right about you: he said you’d do this.” She replied, and sighed.
“Am I talking to the same Sheila who never accepted anything that was said against me?” Nancy whispered. She sighed, and without waiting for an answer, turned to the door. In the doorway, she said, “Congratulations, Sheila! Even if you don’t believe it, I am happy you’re getting married, and even more to the man you love; just not that that man is Samuel. I do not wish you to leave because of me, but I would not press you to stay on if you don’t want to. Goodbye, and best wishes for you always. Remember that I’ll be here if you ever need me. Take care of yourself.” Nancy said, not turning back for an instance, and went to her room.
She sobbed all day long. She didn’t see Sheila when she left, she didn’t eat or drink the whole day. She didn’t even unlock her room. She prayed for her friend to be okay with that monster. She cried till her eyes had no more tears left.
Late in the evening, the bell rang. Nancy went to open the door to find a handsome young man standing there, smiling. “Yes?” Nancy said, sternly.
“I was sent by Mr. Bill Charlie. From the CIA, ma’am.” He replied, showing her his badge.
“Yes, I asked him to send me a detective to help me. Please come in.” She replied, leading the way in. “And lock the door behind you.” She added quickly.
He came inside, and locked the door as directed.
“I need some help in trying to prove a certain man is posing as his brother, and is in fact a murderer. How much violence can you handle? And can I know your good name, please?”
“My name is Sam Goodwill, Ma’am. You can call me Sam. I am not used to formalities in my work.” He replied, putting his hand forward.
“My name is Nancy Dick, but call me Nancy, I don’t use my full name anywhere. I am Uncle Bill’s niece.” She replied, shaking his hand.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I am ready for anything and everything in this career. It is the most important thing to me. I am being chosen as the best agent for the past four years, when I joined the CIA.” He said to her, as she signalled him to sit down.
“Hmmm… I was expecting someone with more experience. Nevertheless, if Uncle thinks you’re okay, it’s fine.” She said. “How long can you stay up? I am in a hurry: I have only tonight and tomorrow to finish this game. Would you like coffee?”
“I do not need coffee to keep me awake, thank you. I would like to start straight off, so please brief me.” He replied.
“Good.” She said. Then she smiled. She sat down, finally relaxed. She did not ‘brief’ him, but in fact told him every tiny detail.
“But how are you so sure he’s not Mr. William Smithers?” He asked when she finished.
“I have done a bit of sleuthing, Sam. I like these things. And…” She paused, then sighed, said, “And I am working part-time in the police department for a few petty things. Well, coming to the point, we had an issue as to the purity of one of our products. We found it to be poisoned, and as the scientist, and also as the head of the purity of the testing department, it came under me to conduct the investigations on who the culprit was. We were able to call all our consignments back as none of them had been sold as yet. I had to investigate every single person. That’s where I found that Mr. William Smithers had gone ‘missing’ for three whole months before joining the company again. When inquired, he said that he had to go to his brother in England in an emergency, then decided to spend his yearly three-month vacation there. Everyone believed him, but I smelt a rat, so I investigated.” She paused for breath, then walked over to the kitchen, to find drinks. “I found,” she continued, handing him one of the two bottles. “I found that he had gone to England, but not to his brother, whose name is Samuel, but in fact to his brother’s wife’s funeral. She had died in quite a gruesome manner. I don’t want to go into details. But what was weird was that the brother was nowhere to be found. He had simply disappeared from the city. When he did make his appearance, which was a week later, he had remarried, and the strangest part was that the second wife knew about the first one and both were very shocked to find her dead in such a manner. He was a suspect, until the new wife backed him up that he was with her on that night and all. The case was closed with the conclusion that it was a wolf-attack. The event was covered up, then it lost attraction. Samuel went to Spain with his wife as she was Spanish and wanted to go home to her family. This was around ten days later. Mr. William could not come back three days later as he had initially planned.” She paused as Sam raised his eyebrows asking a question. “I know , Sam, you must be wondering how I got all the information. But it wasn’t hard, with Uncle Bill in the CIA, and the police to help me, due to my part-time job there. But I had to prompt everyone involved again and again.” She paused again, took a deep breath and said, “How Mr. William got involved with his brother’s secret is not a mystery. The fact that Samuel’s first wife was also Spanish, is the answer to that question. The family of late Mrs. Samuel no.1 asked for her body to be transferred to Spain. Mr William had to accompany that body. He also had to complete the family formalities and thought he’d see his brother again as he had not spent any time with him. The first wife’s family was very upset with her death, and he did not want to stay with them long, either. Also they blamed Samuel for the event with the reason that he wanted to remarry. Anyway, Mr. William found where his brother was living with his wife, and went there- in time to see him mutilating his second wife’s body. Of course, like the first murder, there were no other witnesses, so part of this is my assumption. Obviously, this murder was also very gruesome like the first one. It got the attention of a lot of newspapers. One of them was Gold Street Journal, where my friend, Tom, works.
Tom told me that half of that story was covered up. The actual facts, which had somehow been hidden from public, were as he had witnessed them that night, the police had arrived at that house to find Mr. William murdered as well, in exactly the same manner as Mr. Samuel’s first and second wives.” Nancy stood up, pacing back and forth in front of him. “Meanwhile, Samuel had disappeared again. They never found him, so this case also, was closed with the conclusion of wolf-attack. This is my own account, now. I found, from personal investigations, that Samuel came down to Brazil and got his facial surgery done there. He became Mr. William - his facial surgery was to look older. But he still had the youth in him. Then he came back here. Of course, people wondered about his youth, but he saved himself by telling half-truth - that he had had his facial surgery done. He also made an excuse of wanting to spend his three-month vacation earlier this year. The rest of the details you know.” Leaving Sam on the couch, she went to her room. She came back out with a gun, knife and some boxes of bullets - she was ready to kill for her friend.
“I hope you’re not yet sleepy. I want to start work at once.” “Like I said before, Nancy, I don’t need coffee to keep me awake. I am insomniac, I can remain awake 24-7. Let’s move, we don’t have time.” Sam replied, getting up, as alert as can be.
“While you went in, I made some reservations for us to go to Brazil. Our flight is in as much time as we can get there. Let’s go!” He added, before she could ask anything.
In fifteen minutes they were in a private plane on their way to Brazil.
“We have to get to that place where Samuel got his facial surgery done. We’ll get the records. Then we’ll go to Spain. We must find out if there is a witness, they don’t come forward so easily. Someone in the neighbourhood must have heard or seen something. Then we’ll go to London. I’d like to know some history of the Smithers’, their ancestors’ house, and other family details. It’ll take us half an hour more to get to Brazil. Then we’ll get to Spain in around five hours. From Spain to England would be two hours, and back to US would be another five hours. We’ll be back in plenty of time in hand. What do you suggest we do next, Nancy? Nancy…?” When he got no reply, Sam looked up from his notepad to find her fast asleep. ‘She must be tired from crying all day. Her eyes were red and puffy, too. I shouldn’t wake her.’ He thought.
He didn’t have to, either. In only a few minutes, Nancy woke up with a loud gasp. “Are you okay?” Sam asked quickly. “Just a nightmare.” She replied calmly, wiping her brow, which was full of sweat. “Let me get you some water.” Same said, getting up from his seat. “No, Sam! Thanks! I’m fine. I was extremely close to Sheila. I’m just worried about her, that’s all.” She stopped him quickly. “Is there any place here where I can wash my face?” She asked. “Sure, at the back of the plane.” He replied, relaxing back in his seat, and pointing to the back with his thumb.
Nancy splashed some water on her face, then started sobbing without wanting to.
When she woke up, she didn’t recognise her surroundings. “Sam?” She called weakly. Sam came to her side, and explained, “I found you unconscious in the back. This is the med room. It is below the floor on which we were seated. This is our pilot, doctor and nurse.” He pointed to two men, one wearing the pilot’s uniform, one a doctor’s coat, and a young woman, wearing the nurse’s uniform.
“We have landed??” She exclaimed incredulously, trying to get up quickly, then holding her head as it swayed.
“Yes, we have. But you have to rest.” Sam said, pushing her back down gently.
“No! I cant rest! Sheila’ll be dead if we don’t do something! I’m not resting until she’s out of danger!!” She exclaimed, resisting him.
“Relax! I’m leaving now for the city. I’ll do the work. But I wont leave until I know you’re okay and make sure you’re resting. If Dad…Ahem. I mean if Mr. Bill Charlie has put you under my care, then I’m not taking any chances. I could lose my job, you know.” He said, on which she lay down immediately. He smiled at her.
“Fine. Go! And be quick. We don’t have time.” She said, returning his smile. He gave her a two-finger salute and turned to the doorway. “Sam!” She called. When he turned, she said, “Be careful. We are in a very dangerous situation.” “You take care of yourself.” “Good Luck.” “Thank you.”
Nancy didn’t realise when she went to sleep while waiting for Sam to return. She woke up when she heard voices outside of the med room. Freshening up quickly, she ran outside. Sam was talking to the doctor. He asked her, “Well, Nancy, how are you feeling now?” “I am fine. But when did you come back, and why didn’t you wake me up? What happened?” Sam nodded at the doctor and the nurse, and they went o the med room. Then he said to the pilot, “We’ll leave for Spain now, Captain.” “Yes, Sir!” The Captain replied, going to the cockpit. Sam sat down, signalling Nancy to get ready for take-off as well. She did as told. “Spain?” She asked, curiously, a little surprised. He nodded, and repeated the schedule that he had designed. Her eyes grew wider, “You’re better than I expected!” She exclaimed. “Thank you. Now for Brazil. I have good and bad news. I got the records, but they may go against us. Samuel has himself registered as William not Samuel.” He said, carefully. “Oh, no!” Nancy exclaimed, looking at the records. “Sheila must have been told that he got his facial surgery done! It’s no big deal!” She continued still looking carefully at the records to find anything that could be of benefit to them. “Wait a minute! Sam, look!” She suddenly exclaimed. “It says here that he got his facial surgery to look as old as 32, not as young as 27! This is a tough evidence against that monster!” She said, when he looked where she was pointing. “Hey, you’re right! I wonder why I didn’t think about that. You’re pretty sharp, you know.” He said, taking the records from her, and ensuring she was right. “Well, I am your cousin after all.” She replied blushing. Sam raised his eyes. “I heard you calling Uncle Bill as Dad. That doesn’t happen by accident. You were very clever in changing your statement quickly, though.” She explained. “Well, now that you know, I was supposed to tell you after this case. I wanted to spend some time with you- whoever is the other child for whom dolls come and go? I used to ask Daddy. I am an only kid, so I used to be pretty curious.” “Yeah, after Mom died, I was sent to boarding school and I was told that my Uncle Bill is taking care of me now. I wanted to meet him, so kind he is. I still have those dolls with me. And he used to send so many other things.” She stood up, looking out the window. “Is this the first time you’re going across the sea?” Sam asked her, coming beside her as well, and gazing down at the sea below. “No. I went once to Italy with Mom. She loved the city of Rome. She said she wanted to show her daughter something beautiful before leaving the world. She didn’t know her daughter didn’t find anything beautiful after she died.” She replied. They talked more of their cherished moments, childhood memories, and their parents, all through the journey.
After landing in Spain, they again argued on Nancy’s going with Sam. He wanted to go alone, whereas Nancy gave him a choice of bearing the agony of sitting and waiting, and alone, too.
So they went together, to the secluded neighbourhood, where Samuel had been living with his wife. The house had been deserted since the time of the murders. It was heard from passers-by that the house was cursed, so no-one even ventured to go near it. They were actually warned by someone to go back where they had come from. Not paying attention to myths and superstitions, they went on. They were scared but controlled themselves. Their fears were biased, it was soon clear. Sam was ready to take videos and photos with his cell-phone. He was ready to fight as well.
They found a witness who gave their statement on the condition his name not be revealed. He accepted that he saw Samuel on the night of the murders. “He looked like an animal, he did, on top of his wife and brother, as if celebrating a victory on catching a prey. If that brother of his’ hadn’t called the police in time, he may have finished the whole neighbourhood!” He said.
All this and more recorded on the phone audio, they departed for the airport. In the plane they discussed if going to England was now needed. But they decided evidence was evidence, the more it got, the better their case will get.
So they got to England and to Smithers’ Palace. The place was even more deserted than the one in Spain. As they went in, they saw that no-one had even tried to clean the old place-there was dust and junk everywhere, and even the grass wasn’t cut. They looked at each other, got their arms ready: guns in Nancy’s both hands, in one of Sam’s and the camera-phone in Sam’s other hand. They went in and illogically tried the lights. Fortunately, and surprisingly they turned on. “Who pays the bills?” Sam said out loud. Nancy shrugged. Before they could look around, a group of bats came flying at their heads, and made the chandelier fall, breaking it into pieces, and leaving them in total darkness. As Nancy took out the flash light and flashed it around, she gasped. Sam had seen the same thing she had, and in a few moments they were madly running back out, reaching out for each other, making for the gate.
They ran to the cab they had come in, not waiting for it to reach them at the gate instead, scrambled in and practically shouted at the driver to take them to the airport at once.
“Did you get it?” Nancy gasped at Sam. “I most certainly did.” He replied, taking out his mobile with a smile. When they couldn’t see anything in the video, Nancy’s face fell. “I can’t make out a thing!” She said. “Just a minute.” He murmured. When he handed her the mobile again, the video was as clear as if had been taken in daylight. “What did you do?” Nancy asked, in surprise. “Never mind what I did. Can you recognise him?” “Of course! We are done! We are victorious! Sheila’s saved!” Nancy exclaimed, her face glowing with happiness.
They reached the airport and into the plane. They were soon on their way back to US. They decided that going back to Nancy’s apartment would be dangerous, they’ll have to rent a room or two in a hotel.
“We still have to convey this information to Sheila. Don’t be relaxed as yet. Samuel can use a desperate measure and keep the wedding today, what’ll we do then?” Sam said to Nancy who was extra relaxed now. “Oh, don’t worry about that! I know Sheila quite well. She will accept everything but an emergency wedding. Besides, we have the lead, we can go to her before that man gets to her. We have an advantage.”
They found, after getting to their hotel where they had rented two rooms, that the wedding plan had not been changed. They relaxed and decided to visit Sheila in the morning. They spent the night pretty easily too. They spent most of the time talking, since Sam didn’t need any sleep, he was in Nancy’s room: he wanted to keep a watch, he said.
The next morning, Nancy put in a call to Mr. William Smither’s place. She asked to speak to Sheila. “The lady has left for the ceremony.” A rude voice replied her. “Ceremony? What ceremony??” Nancy nearly shouted jumping from her seat. “The lady was to wed Mr. William today.” “Where is it?” Nancy asked frantically. “The wedding, ma’am? At the Visual Chapel at 0930 hrs.” The voice replied.
Nancy slammed the phone, rushing out, Sam after her.
“What in the world happened?” Sam asked her. They got in the rented car they had rented beforehand, in case of emergency. “They are getting married in half an hour. We don’t have time! We must get there before that girl ruins her life!” Nancy exclaimed, driving madly. “Hey! Easy! It can be a trap! Maybe Samuel has put the bait to get the evidence from us.” “Maybe. But I don’t want to take a risk! Here.” She said, handing him her mobile. “Call Sheila and tell her I want to congratulate her on her wedding day and attend her wedding. Confirm the timings.” “What about me?” “What?” “Uh… who am I to ask her about her wedding?” “My cousin! Now call!” She said angrily.
The wedding was at 0930 hrs. There wasn’t enough time. She had to get there before the wedding started. “Oh what have I done?!” She thought.
“Watch out Nancy!” Sam shouted, turning the steering wheel the other way. Nancy slammed on the brakes. Sam had saved them from getting the car out of the road, but she had to stop before slamming into a tree instead!
“Nancy, please relax! May be I should drive.” Sam said to her gently, as she got back on the road. “How can I relax? When my friend is going to the executor?” She shouted back at him. “Nancy, I know what you’re feeling. But we have to get there alive and save Sheila’s life by showing her the evidence, not get there in coffins, and give Samuel a chance to burn the evidence as well as ruin your friend.” Sam said. In reply Nancy stopped the car and got out. When Sam got out worriedly as well, she said, “Take the wheel. I’m too distracted!” Sam did as told. “Sorry to shout at you. I wasn’t exactly in my proper senses or manners.” “Don’t mention it!”
They reached the chapel just as Sheila reached the end of the aisle. “Sheila!” Nancy shouted. She ran towards her friend, as she turned around. “Stop!” Samuel shouted. Nancy stopped dead in her tracks. “Do not take one step further, Miss Dick.” Then he turned towards Sheila and said, “My love, your friend is here again to stop you from marrying me. Do not listen to her, my love! I cannot live without you now. She is jealous, that’s why she doesn’t want you to be happily married.” Before Sheila or Nancy could respond, they heard a voice on the speakers, saying, “Friends multiply each other’s joys. A friend who is jealous of his friend’s happiness is an enemy more than a friend. But this testimonial and this movie shall clear the fog between these two friends.” With that Sam put on the testimonial of the Spanish witness who had given his statement against Samuel. The movie had everyone gasping. Even Samuel himself paled. It clearly showed him bending over a woman, with the gun pressed over her temple, pulling the trigger, and the girl’s scream. Nancy showed Sheila the facial surgery records, “Sheila, this is Samuel Smithers. He is William Smither’s younger brother. These records prove it. He has got his facial surgery to get older, but he looks young. Mr. William Smithers was already 32, why would he want to get older? The real Mr. William is dead. Samuel himself killed him! You heard it in the…AH!!” Nancy was shot on her shoulder. Samuel stood with the weapon in his hand. “Sheila! Don’t listen to her! She’s lying!” “If she is lying, then these records, the audio and the video are not. If you were innocent, you wouldn’t have shot at her!” Sheila replied to him coldly, bending over her friend, who smiled weakly at her. The police came in time before Samuel had time to plan his escape. He was finally arrested, and Nancy was rushed to the hospital.
Nancy opened her eyes to find herself surrounded by flowers and “Sorry” cards. She looked around to see Sheila, Sam and, of all the people, Tom, all sitting in chairs, Tom and Sheila snoozing and the third reading a book.
She tried to get the glass of water quietly, but in doing so, one of the bouquets fell, and all three of them jumped from their seats. They came to her instantly. Sheila handed her the water. Sam held her hand. “How do you feel?” Tom asked her. “Okay.” She replied. “Nancy, I’m sorry I didn’t believe you, and insulted you so much. I must have hurt your feelings so badly. I feel terrible.” Sheila said to her, not meeting her eyes. “Hey, it’s okay! I didn’t mind. At least we saved you from that monster!” “But we did almost lose you.” Tom said to Sheila. “And you too.” Sam said to Nancy. Nancy raised her eyes. “Whoa! I think I’m missing something here. Why are you guys suddenly so emotional?” She said. “Tom just proposed to Sheila.” Sam said, when the couple blushed, and didn’t reply. “And we are waiting for Sam to do the same.” Tom added. Nancy’s eyebrows were ready to leave her forehead. “What?” She exclaimed. Sam nodded. “Yes, Nancy. I want to ask you if you would bear me the rest of our lives?” He said, stammering. “Just tell her the truth, Sam! By now you must have figured out how much she loves the truth.” Sheila said, before Nancy could reply. Nancy glared at her. “Sam, don’t you think it’s too early of you to make this decision?” She said. “No. I have had plenty of time to think over it. I have loved you practically since childhood.” Nancy sighed. “I need time to think.” When Tom and Sheila started to protest, Sam stopped them. “Oh, sure! There is enough time.” Sam replied, smiling at her. “What did Sheila say to Tom?” She asked. Sam shrugged his shoulders at Sheila. “I said that I’ll confirm from you.” She said, sheepishly. “Oh, boy! When she should have discussed she didn’t want to be rational, when she’s got the proper guy, she’s worried!” Nancy grumbled, rolling her eyes. “So you think it’s fine?” Sheila said. Turning to Tom, she said, “Tom, it’s okay. I’ll marry you. But on the day when Nancy marries.” “That time may never come, Sheila.” Nancy said, lowering her eyes. “Come on! Confess you like Sam, too!” “I like Sam as a companion, a friend, as my cousin. As for a marriage. Give me time to think. We have enough time.” She said. “Yes, we have enough time.” All three of them responded.