After All These Years

“After All These Years”
By
Amber Holt

October 11, 2006

“This is the final page. Laura, if you will sign here, your legal name will change from Mrs. Laura Branson to Miss Laura Kyte” said Alex Johnson, the attorney that her husband Michael had chosen to file the paperwork for their divorce.

Ten years had come down to this.

Michael sat across from her at the dinner table one night, and simply said “I’m not happy.” After that, they had a long conversation. He believed that he had fallen out of love with her. Laura had to admit that she had felt unhappy for a while too.

*****

Michael was an advertising executive, and provided a good and stable living for both of them. Laura was a kindergarten teacher when they met, but she had been a housewife for a while, and did all of the cooking, cleaning, laundry, shopping, etc. He didn’t seem to care as much about her efforts as he once did. Michael would continue on with his career, and he said that he would help Laura get back into teaching to support herself. They both tearfully decided that it was for the best.

Laura and Michael decided that they both were going to do their best to work through their grief and remain on friendly terms with each other. Even though Michael had taken to staying in the guest room, they still lived under the same roof. True to his word, Michael helped Laura get a job teaching kindergarten at the local elementary school. (He and the school superintendent went way back.) He even helped her find the perfect townhouse not too far away from the school. He signed the title to the SUV over to her, and kept the sports car for himself, which was fine by her. They agreed to split all of their material possessions in a fair and equal manner.

Everything seemed so businesslike to Laura that she had to wonder – what had happened?

*****

She remembered everything so clearly…high school sweethearts, engaged through college, married after graduation. Hell, their tenth anniversary had been only a couple of months ago. After a certain point, it seemed as if it all had gradually dwindled away. Where did it go?

Michael felt the same way, except for his interest in the new intern in his office, Alicia. It all started out innocently enough…they had a lot in common, and started having lunches together and meeting at breaks to keep each other company. Then it got more complicated. She started to get under his skin. Alicia was so young, she made him feel like a teenager again, and it was an exhilarating feeling. He made the mistake of getting sucked in. How did it all happen?

*****

It had taken quite some time, but Laura had finally worked through the pain and disappointment of the separation from Michael. At first, she hadn’t minded living alone at all, but now she was starting to feel so lonely. A friend of hers suggested trying on-line dating.

“Oh Cindy, you’re just crazy. I’m too old for something like that.”

“Laura, it really does work. That’s how I’ve met a few of the guys I’ve dated, and you liked them pretty well. Just give it a try – what do you have to lose?”

Laura thought about it. Cindy had met a few great guys on-line. Why not, I’ll give it a try, thought Laura.

*****

His name was Rick Lawson. He was a pediatrician, and had set up his own practice. On their first date, he took her to a delicious dinner at an Italian restaurant, and then to a play. After the play, they went to a coffeehouse, sipped cup after cup of espresso, and talked all night about everything under the sun. They even stepped outside of the coffeehouse, watched the sunrise, and then went back inside and ordered breakfast. After eating, Laura glanced at her watch and said “oh my, I’ve got to get going. It will soon be time for my yard apes”.

“Yes, me too. My first patient will be along soon. Can I give you a call?”

Laura thought for a minute, and then said, “sure, I’d like that”.

*****

Rick and Laura ended up going on dates almost every weekend, and having a great time together. They went to some of their favorite restaurants, plays, the opera, movies, and Rick had even made lasagna for Laura one night at his house. He turned out to be a wonderful cook. After dinner, he led her to the living room and sat her down on the couch. He poured them each a snifter of brandy, and they sipped and talked for a long time. When Laura finished her brandy, Rick took the snifter from her hand and sat it down on the coffee table. He leaned into her, and they kissed passionately.

Rick kissed Laura deeply and passionately, and held her close, caressing her back and shoulders. They were inseparable for the longest time. But when Rick tried to lean Laura back onto the couch, she pressed up against his chest.

“Rick, I’m so sorry. The evening has been so wonderful and romantic, and I have had the best time with you since we’ve met, but I don’t feel ready to be intimate with another man right now. I’ve only ever been with Michael.”

“That’s more than okay, Laura. I don’t want you to worry about it at all. I completely understand. When my wife lost her battle with cancer, it took me the longest time to feel like I wasn’t cheating on her.”

“Thank you so much, Rick. You’re such a gentleman, how did I get so lucky?”

“I thought I was the lucky one.”

*****

The music was deafening. They were front and center of the stage, in what Alicia called “the pit”. She was jumping up and down, screaming her head off.

When a colleague of Michael’s passed the concert tickets on to him, he had no idea who the group was, but Alicia sure did. She was so excited that he decided to be open minded and use the tickets and take her.

First, they went out for beer and pizza, Alicia’s favorite. Then they went on to the concert. After that, Alicia was just wired for sound. That was the only way to describe how excited she was. Michael got a rush out of seeing her so excited and being a part of it all. Alicia ran into some friends of hers after the concert, and they and Michael ended up at Alicia’s favorite club. She and Michael ended up listening to the blaring music and doing shots of tequila until 2am. Michael felt exhilarated to be included into this group of young people, and it made him feel young again. Later on, Michael did his best to drive Alicia home with a major tequila buzz. She had put a CD in the player, and had it cranked up. Michael had put the top down on the car, and Alicia was standing up in the seat, holding onto the windshield, and laughing gleefully as she threw her head back into the breeze. When he got her back to her apartment, she grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him through the door. They both fell drunkenly onto the couch, where they ended up fucking madly. It was about 4am before Michael got back home.

*****

The next morning, Michael woke up to his alarm clock thinking, oh Hell no. He had the hangover from Hell, plus he had next to no sleep…and he had to get ready and report to work. Bonus…he had a department meeting that morning. He dragged his sorry ass to the shower, hoping that that would help…no go. He dragged his sorry ass to the coffee pot, hoping that that would help…no go. He finally sucked it up and got dressed. He drove into work with the top definitely up. He had had a great time last night, but was sure paying for it now. Did that mean he was getting old? The thought definitely put him on edge.

He walked onto the floor from the elevator, headed towards his office. He had to pass Alicia’s cubicle on his way. She bounced out, greeting him. All he could think was, how in Hell can she be so perky after last night? Was he really getting to be that old? Surely not, he thought. Alicia brought so much out of him, and he really enjoyed being with her, but he had to admit that they were from different generations, and that that would make a difference somewhere between them. But that didn’t mean that they couldn’t have right now, did it?

*****

“I have a surprise, and I hope that you will be happy about it” said Rick to Laura.

School was almost out, and it was getting to be Summer vacation.

“I’ve always wanted to take a cruise to St. Thomas, and I’ve planned one for this Summer. I hope that you’ll join me. I respect your wishes, and I’ve booked two rooms, one for you and one for me. What do you say?”

Laura thought about it for a minute. She really could use a vacation, plus she really would like to go away with Rick. She thought about the separate rooms, and how considerate Rick was to do that.

“Yes, I’d love to”.

*****

Laura had packed for her cruise and rushed to be ready for her cab, which was scheduled to arrive soon for her to meet Rick at the airport. She barely made it out the door in time, but did. She got out of the cab and saw Rick waiting for her outside of the airport gates. She rushed to him, saying “I hope I haven’t delayed us”.

“Not at all, dear. We’re just about ready to board.”

They walked back into the airport hand in hand. Their plane took off, and took them to their newest adventure together.

*****

They boarded the ship, and everywhere they looked, there was excitement. Laura was so excited and glad that she came. They checked into their rooms, and it was soon time for dinner. Laura dressed in her black beaded, spaghetti strapped, evening dress, with a silk scarf draped around her shoulders. The last time she wore that dress was for an anniversary dinner with Michael, but she pushed that memory out of her mind. She stepped out of her room, and ran into Rick, who was stepping out of his room next door. He was dressed in a black tuxedo. He looked so handsome. He turned around and looked at her.

“Wow!”

He walked towards her and took her hand.

“Shall we?”

“Yes, we shall.”

*****

Rick and Laura had a wonderful evening of dinner and dancing. They had a midnight champagne toast, and then Rick said that he wanted to head up for the evening. Laura said that she’d be along soon, that the moon was full, and gave him a goodnight. Rick looked at her funny.

“I’ve always loved a full moon, and I’d love to see it from the deck of the ship.”

“Well, I don’t get it, but I hope you enjoy yourself. Come by and give me a goodnight. I’ll be waiting for you.”

“Sure”, said Laura, and she walked towards the deck.

*****

Laura stepped out onto the deck and walked towards the rail. The sky was lit up from the full moon, and the water looked inky black. She felt the rock of the ship and the breeze blowing. She started to feel a chill, and began to reach for her scarf, when the breeze caught it and blew it off her shoulders. She turned around to look for it, and saw a man standing behind her. In the darkness, she didn’t recognize him, but knew it wasn’t Rick. He had her scarf in his hands. She began to feel uneasy, but then a feeling of bewilderment came over her.

“Michael?”

*****

“Yes, it’s me. My company comped me the tickets. When I got them, I thought of you and me coming together, but…”

The next thing Michael knew, Alicia came running up to him, exclaiming, “oh Mikey, the moon is so cool.”

“Oh, I see.”

Laura turned and ran back into the ballroom towards her room.

“Laura…” cried out Michael, as she ran away.

“Who was that?” questioned Alicia.

“Nobody.”

Michael grabbed Alicia in a passionate kiss, leaning her against the rail.

*****

From the next day on, it seemed like Laura and Michael kept running into each other, but tried to avoid hanging around each other for very long, to keep from causing a sticky situation with Rick and Alicia. At first, they felt uncomfortable around each other. Both felt that the other began dating too soon, and although they would never admit it, even to themselves, they felt jealous. But soon, they began to feel a magnetism forming between them. Each of them laid in bed late at night, unable to sleep, trying to figure out what went wrong between them.

One night, Laura was unable to sleep and was restless, so she grabbed her robe and went out onto the deck to stare at the stars and feel the rock of the ship, hoping that would calm her. She soon sensed a presence near her. She looked around and saw Michael walking towards her.

“You couldn’t rest either, huh.”

*****

“No.” Laura grabbed the edges of her robe and wrapped it tight around her, shrugging her shoulders at Michael.

“Laura, this is very hard for me to say, but it’s something that I’ve been thinking about for a long time. I’ve been wrong, and it’s just taken me a while to realize that. You’re the love of my life, and always will be. There, I said it. After the way I’ve behaved, I don’t expect anything out of you. I just wanted to tell you that. I’ll leave you alone now, so that you can go on with your life.”

Michael then began to walk away.

Laura couldn’t believe it. She turned suddenly and shouted out “Michael, please don’t go. I love you so much, and I’ve been so miserable without you. I’ve missed you so much. It’s not been all your fault, I’ve been wrong too. I hope that you can forgive me and go on.”

Michael rushed to her.

“I don’t want to go on without you, Laura. It’s taken a while for me to figure it out, but Alicia means nothing to me. Sure, she made me feel young for a while, but we’re not a fit and never will be. I’ll never love her, and I’ll never love anyone like you. Laura, after all of these years, surely there’s something we can do.”

Laura couldn’t believe it. How many nights did she lay awake wishing that this would happen?

“Oh Michael, you’ll never know how happy I am to hear that. I still love and want you so much, in spite of everything. I just know that our love for each other will carry us through anything.”

With that, they fell into each other’s arms, in a passionate kiss and embraced. They kissed as if it were the first time, with the stars gleaming brightly above them.

*****

“Laura dear, I just wanted to…”

She looked over Michael’s shoulder and saw Rick standing nearby, with a shocked look on his face.

“Laura, what’s going on? Who’s this?”

“Rick, there’s something that I need to explain to you.”

“Never mind dear, I can see that you’re indisposed at the moment.”

Rick stormed off.

“I have to tell him. He’s been so good to me.”

“I understand, and I’ll talk to Alicia tonight as well, although I don’t think that will be as weighty as your conversation. Tomorrow the ship docks. Let’s go home together, Laura, what do you say?”

“I’d love to.”

*****

Laura went to Rick’s room and knocked on the door.

“Rick, please let me in. I need to explain things and talk to you. Please don’t shut me out now.”

In a few minutes, Rick opened the door, grabbed her arm, pulled her through the door, and shouted out “don’t scream in the hallway like that for everyone to hear. Does the whole world need to know about this?”

Laura could smell Scotch on his breath.

“Rick, have you been drinking? You told me that you gave that up after your wife died.”

“Well, apparently, things change, now don’t they, my dear Laura?”

Rick then poured another.

“Rick, you’ve had quite enough. Now please put the glass down and talk to me.”

“I’ll do whatever the Hell I please, as you obviously do.”

Rick raised the glass to his lips.

Laura decided that she wasn’t going to get very far with him, so she decided to blurt everything out.

“Rick, that was my ex-husband Michael. I would have never expected to see him here. Even though we had our problems, we’ve realized that we still love each other, and want to make another go at things. I expected you to be upset, but I also would have expected you to understand and want my happiness. I guess I was wrong.”

“Rick, please talk to me.”

Laura tried to take the glass of Scotch away from Rick.

As she put her hand on the glass and tried to pull it away, Rick reached out and backhanded Laura across the cheek. She grabbed her cheek in disbelief.

“And to think that I was concerned about you…go to Hell, Rick!”

Laura stormed across the room and slammed the door on her way out.

“Laura, wait.”

*****

Laura went to her room alone. In the beginning of her relationship with Rick, she felt like such a fuddy-duddy because she felt uneasy about sleeping with him. Now, she was glad that she never had, or she wouldn’t have had a room of her own to go to. She lay in the bed with such mixed feelings. On the one hand, she had really begun to feel a great fondness and great feelings for Rick. But after he had hit her, all of that went away. But on the other hand, she felt so hopeful about her and Michael that she could hardly wait until tomorrow, when the cruise would be over, and she could go home with him. After some time, she was finally able to wind down and go to sleep.

*****

Michael went back to his and Alicia’s room. Damn, he thought, I’m going to have to share a room with her tonight. Maybe I should wait until the morning to tell her, he first thought. No, that wouldn’t be right to Alicia or Laura either. What to do? He decided to just dive into it and get it over with.

“Hey Mikey, where have you been? I was starting to go looking for you.”

“I just stepped out onto the deck for some fresh air.”

No procrastinating, Mike, he thought.

“Alicia, I have to tell you something.”

“What’s that Mikey? There’s nothing wrong, is there?”

“Well, do you remember the lady you saw me with on the deck the other night?”

“Yes. What’s going on, Mikey?”

“Alicia, I hate to do this, but that was my ex-wife Laura, and we’ve discovered that we still love each other and want to be together. I promise that I never meant to hurt you, and I’m so sorry about everything. Please forgive me.”

“Oh, I see, Michael. I will not be made a fool of.” Alicia walked across the room towards Michael and slapped him across the face, saying, “fuck you Michael, get the Hell out of here, I never want to see you again.”

“I guess I deserved that. Again, I’m so sorry, Alicia. I’ll leave you alone for the night, and gather my things in the morning after you’ve left.”

Michael stood back out on the deck of the ship. He hadn’t any idea of where to go or what to do. But suddenly it all became so obvious to him.

*****

Laura was woken by a knock on her door. At first, she was afraid that it was Rick, so she hunkered under the covers, glad that she had locked the chain. Then she thought that she heard a familiar voice whisper “Laura” through the door. She opened the door as far as the chain would allow.

“Michael, is that you?”

Laura turned the light on, and could then tell that it was Michael. She shut the door, undid the chain, and let him in.

“I love you, my Laura.”

Michael swept her up in his arms, turned the light out, carried her to the bed, and laid her gently down. He slowly slipped her out of her nightgown, and they ended up making love with great abandon, as if it were for the very first time, then they slept the rest of the night in each other’s arms.

*****

Michael and Laura left the ship hand in hand. Rick and Alicia both rushed past them with looks that could kill, but they decided that it didn’t matter, they had Each Other back.

When they got back home, Michael moved all of his things back into the master bedroom from the guest room. They planned to celebrate their reunion with a dinner at their favorite restaurant. As they were getting ready to go out, the phone rang. Michael went to answer it. He was surprised when Alex Johnson was on the other end.

“Michael, is that you?” I’m afraid that I have some bad news. There was an error in the processing of your divorce documents, and the end result was that the divorce was never legally completed. I’ll have to draw the documents up again, and you and Laura will have to come in and sign them. Again, I’m sorry about the inconvenience of all of this, but to make things legal, we will have to do it this way.”

Michael chuckled. Alex asked him what was so funny.

All Michael could say was “Alex, my dear man, the error never laid with you, but with us. As a matter of fact, tear up the original papers, and under no circumstances, draw up any more”.

“Michael, are you sure?”

“Yes Alex, we have never been this sure about anything else in our lives.”

*****

There were yellow roses and baby’s breath hanging everywhere that would hold a nail. The room was so fragrant. Laura was standing at the alter in her original wedding dress, and Michael was in his original wedding tux.

“I now pronounce you man and wife.”

Even though their marriage was still legal, they felt that a renewal of their vows was in order.

Laura stood at the end of the alter to toss her bouquet over her shoulder. It ended up being caught by her younger sister, who had been engaged for a few months. Laura and Michael congratulated her. Then, in a fit of overwhelming romance, Michael swept Laura up into his arms and ran down the aisle with her towards their getaway car. Michaels’ buddies had done it up with cans, streamers, ribbons, and grease paint on the windows, saying “L.A. or bust”. Laura and Michael rode off onto their second honeymoon and into their renewed future.