Office Stories

Prologue

                   And there she was, standing there right before his eyes. She looked radiant, her hair pulled back, and leaving soft, light brown curls to frame her face. He loved it when she curled her hair. It always seemed to give her a different shine of confidence, her smiles seemed brighter, her deep blue eyes seeming open to even more wonders than before. But not today; today, her eyes were void of emotion, and not once did he see her smile. Not until her eyes met his, just the one time, and she had only offered him a small glimpse of what he thought to be the most beautiful smile he’d ever seen. It only lasted for a second, and she was looking past him once more, leaving him dying to know where she was in her mind. Was he still there to her, even if only in her thoughts? He wanted to ask her, take her hand, plead her to smile, to talk to him. He needed to know what was going on in her head. Was she sad? Angry? Or did she simply not care at all?



                   He sighed, a sound almost inaudible. Glancing to the one standing in front of him, the one whose hands he had been holding—almost too tightly—the one who just seven months ago he had thought to be the one and only woman he would ever truly care about. She was staring at him, her eyes boring into his own; he felt as though she could tell exactly what he was thinking, paranoia began to set in as they gazed at each other. Her lips parted for a moment, as if to say something, but she simply smiled a bright, trusting smile. He didn’t deserve her. He didn’t deserve either of them. His mind was racing, throwing insults back and forth at his own persona. What kind of person was he? How did he get himself caught up into this situation?



         For a moment, he was able to calm himself down, going back in his mind; he wasn’t there anymore. He wasn’t standing on an altar with her, waiting to say the words that he wasn’t sure he wanted to say anymore. He was in the woods, his crossbow at his side, the brisk morning air grazing what little skin he had showing. He kept his steps silent, all of his senses on alert, no particular thought on his mind. Hunting was the one way he could clear his mind, and it was always the perfect way for him to escape. But this time he couldn’t. He couldn’t just walk away, get in his car and leave. There was no escape this time: he had to make a decision. And he had, hadn’t he? With that question, he was back at the altar, his grip tight over her hands once again. He was smiling, something he hadn’t realized for a long while. And she was too. He wanted to look over, look at the one person there who wasn’t smiling, but he couldn’t let himself. It was time for him to change, to grow up, and be a good person to the woman he had brought all this way with him; just as she had brought him there, a new town, new job. Everything seemed so surreal to him, like it wasn’t really happening. He would wake up any minute now, back in his own town, his old bed just as soft and warm as he remembered it, and she would be there next to him; any thoughts of being with anyone else would just be connected back to that one time he had a vivid, seemingly month-long dream. The thought made his gut cringe.



         “And at this time, James, Kelsey,” the voice shook him out of his daze. It was happening. Had he spoken at all? They were in the middle of their wedding, what was he doing? “I’ll ask you both to turn and face each other.” The priest smile as he spoke, gesturing for them to move, making him realize that he had been turned toward the audience the entire time, his arms crooked in such an odd way to hold onto hers that they had begun to fall asleep. He stepped around, looking down at her as she smiled and gave his hands a gentle squeeze, whispering, “This is it”! He smiled at her softly, returning the squeeze half-heartedly.



         “James, will you take Kelsey to be your wife, your partner in life, and your one true love? Will you cherish her friendship and love her today, tomorrow, and forever? Will you trust her and honor her, laugh with her and cry with her? Will you be faithful through good times and bad, in sickness and health, as long as you both shall live?”



         ‘Finally,’ he thought bitterly. He felt like it had taken hours for the man to finish, each word sending a shock through his body as it all set in. He stared at her for a long time, his mouth open, but with no words coming out. She let her smile fall for a moment as she squeezed his hands once more, willing him to go ahead and say the words. He could hear her now, “two words, James! Just two words and you froze up before you could even say the first! What does that say about us?” He almost wanted to scoff, but he didn’t. He said it over and over in his head, ‘I will, I will, I will. Dammit, why is this so hard to say?’



         And that was it. He finally looked back out into the crowd, all of the faces still smiling. How long had it actually been since he was asked the question? Obviously not as long as he felt it had been. But at that moment, he didn’t care. His eyes fell on her, as she stared hard at her feet, her friend whom he recognized instantly by her side, seeming to be silently comforting her. No one else noticed her, they all stared at him, waiting, a few shaking their heads knowingly, assuming he must have some sort of stage fright. He looked at her for a moment longer before looking back at his bride-to-be, who immediately smiled openly at him.



         “James?” The priest said quietly, “go ahead, son.”



         James nodded his head at him, laughing a bit nervously before finally clearing his throat to find that his voice was in fact still there. He looked back to Kelsey, trying his best to smile before he began to speak...