A while ago, Laura from Tired Mummy of Two started a story and the idea was that every day someone else would write the next part of the story and so on until we got to the end. Well, today is the last part of the story and it’s my turn to finish it up.
Have a read of the other bits of the story before you read mine and then let me know what you think of the ending – I’m pretty sure it won’t end the way you think it will or the way you want it too but I do like a bit of a twist….
Yesterday Jayne from Mums the Word left the story like this:
Laura thought for a moment, the events of the day and last night’s alcohol still blocking what felt like certain vital parts of her brain. But she knew one thing.
She could really use a holiday…
Could she really leave right now without speaking to Robert again?
She left the hospital with so many thoughts running through her mind that she didn’t even notice the pouring rain, she just stood, waiting for a sign to help her with her decision – leave everything behind for a while or face Robert again.
A voice calling her name startled her out of her thoughts. ‘Laura, you’re getting soaked, jump in and I’ll take you anywhere you want to go!’ shouted Tony from his car a few feet away from her. Laura shook her head and began to say no but then she looked up at the grey sky and realised just how heavy it was raining so , against her better judgement she slowly walked around the car to the passenger side and climbed in.
She suddenly felt drained and could barely find the energy to ask Tony why he was at the hospital but she managed and he explained that he’d gone back to her house to make sure she was OK as he felt bad about leaving so quickly and Robert had told him where he could find her.
Laura wondered why Robert was at the house again but didn’t have much time to consider it as Tony was just rounding the corner on to her street. He parked outside her door and she knew that this was the point she was supposed to get out of the car and walk into her house but she just couldn’t.
She looked at Tony with panic in her eyes, silently asking him to help her and in reply, he just smiled at her and reached out to touch her face gently. She could tell from the look in his eyes that he was attracted to her but deep down, she knew that every time she looked at him, she would think about the circumstances that had brought them together and that was something she never wanted to think about again. Ever. She took hold of his hand and brought it down to his knee and she knew that he got the message when he coughed awkwardly and started the car engine again.
She was sorry if she’d hurt his feelings but she didn’t let herself think about it. She had too many other things to sort out – the first thing on her list being her missing, presumed dead husband who was waiting for her inside. She had no idea how this was going to play out but she did know that she felt something inside of her that that she hadn’t felt in a long time – she felt alive again.
She’d been so busy feeling guilty about the way that Robert had died and feeling that she should be mourning him that she hadn’t let herself live her life. She’d stopped living the night Robert had died and she’d wasted so many years of her life that she just wanted him out of her house so she could make up for the time she’d lost.
She knew now that she was ready to face Robert, to get closure and move on so she turned to Tony and thanked him for the lift and slowly got out of the car.
Through the window, she could see Robert sat in his armchair where he always used to sit. He was watching the football and had his feet up on the coffee table just like old times. It used to infuriate her when he did this but he always just laughed at her when she asked him not to do it. He had a cigarette in one hand and a can of lager in the other and was shouting at the TV as he always used to.
In that moment she realised that she hated him. Really hated him for one he’d done to her during their marriage and for the way he’d made her feel since that fateful night when he’d got out of their car and walked away from her. She stopped and walked back to Tony where he was still sat watching her.
‘Do you really hate my husband? she asked him, ‘Because if you do, I have an idea….’
A week later, Laura stood on deck of the luxurious cruise liner excitedly waiting for Simon and Jude to board. She’d spoken to them a few times in the last week to make sure Jude was OK and to ask them not to tell anyone that they’d seen Robert.
She’d explained to them that when she’d gone back into the house that night, Robert had told her that no one else knew he was alive because he’d had to buy a fake identity in order to get travel documents and he’d used that name all this time. She said to Simon that Robert had agreed with her that him coming back wasn’t going to work and he was just going to disappear into the sunset again and he was happy not to tell anyone about recent events. She only felt a little bit guilty for lying about the last bit.
Laura felt her phone vibrate and hoped it was the text she was waiting for. She looked down and saw that the message was from Tony: Done!
That one word told her that her husband now really was dead and she could now move on with her life and talking of moving on, there was a very handsome waiter who she could feel watching her.
Maybe Simon and Jude could find their own way to their room while she started moving on right now.
THE END
