JUST CALL OUT
I now pronounce you husband and wife! declared the registrar with much gusto, before suddenly coughing and choking quite severely.
Well, thats not a good sign, my mum quipped in response to the untimely cough.
The guests murmured and whispered among themselves. As the bride and groom, Emily and I exchanged anxious glances. We were both only eighteenbarely adults, really. Our wedding had come about rather hurriedly, as Emily was expecting. In two months, our unplanned child would be born. Everything was last minute: Emily rented her wedding dress, and borrowed shoes from her best mate, Charlotte. Amusingly, years later, Charlotte and I would share a brief fling, but thats quite another tale.
For now, we were young and delighted.
One afternoon Emily and I strolled down the park avenue. I had my arm around her waist when a stranger approached and quietly advised me, Hold on tight to your missus, or shell be whisked away
He wandered off, and we laughed at his odd warning, dismissing it entirely. We had our whole lives ahead of us! Who could possibly tear us apart? Let someone try.
A friend whod been my best man at the wedding once teased me, Steve, couldnt you have picked a better wife? Look at all the beautiful girls out there!
I shrugged him off, Maybe theyre all waiting for you
He did, in fact, marry four timeseach time to a bright and stunning woman.
Our daughter, Victoria, was born.
Not long after, I was called up for military service, stationed far from home. I missed Emily and Vic desperately. Emily once sent me her photograph, which I kept under my pillow, hoping shed visit my dreams.
Once, I returned to the barracks to find Emilys photo out on my bedside table for all to see. Someone had drawn crude images and scrawled obscene words over it. Furious, I lashed out at my bunkmate, beating him nearly senseless. For that, I spent time on confinement. I had to tear up the ruined photograph. The culprit was rightly punished.
When I came home from the army, I was not the same. There was a bitterness in me, and I found myself angry at Emily for no clear reason. I convinced myself that while I was away, my young wife must have taken on a lover. Surely, shed been unfaithful. Why did I think so?
When I finally saw Emily again, I barely recognised her. The shy, uncertain girl who had seen me off was gone. Now, I found myself face-to-face with a confident, radiant young woman brimming with vitality and allure.
Is it really you, Emily? I whispered, awed.
I was immensely proud of my wife, yet doubt crept in. Has Emily found someone else? I thought. It seemed likelyfor someone so attractive, suitors would always line up.
With suspicion eating at me, I started an affair of my own, almost as pre-emptive revenge.
News of my escapades reached Emily three months later. It was all I could do to persuade her not to divorce me immediately. She issued her verdict:
Well, Steve, youve made your bed
She burned my letters from the army, which she had lovingly saved in a box and reread from time to time. Intimacy was forbidden indefinitely. I was also banished from the dinner table. Our conversations became strictly practical.
It was a miserable time. The guilt weighed heavy, and so I took Emily and Vic for an extra holiday, beyond our usual summerwine, fruit, sea, sun, fresh air. There, we eventually made peace.
After returning, I ended things with my mistress once and for all.
Emily and I enjoyed about seven years of steady, quiet family life. We seemed content, living in calm harmony. Yet, perhaps Emily longed for passion not found at home.
At my workplace, there was a cheerful chap named Brian. He seemed able to lighten any conversation and was always there to lend a listening ear. Colleagues often came to him, venting about their wives or mother-in-laws, and the troubles of the world. Brian would hear them all out, offering sensible advice. I thought, Why not invite Brian to Emilys birthday? Hes certain to liven things up.
If only Id known how that would turn out.
Brian accepted, bringing along his wife. That evening, Brian was in rare formspouting jokes, cheering everyone up, inventing clever toasts on the spot. Emily positively glowed, smiling genuinely at everyone, bustling about, chatting animatedly. The party was a roaring success. But one month later, hell opened up for both our families.
One day Brians wife rang me and dropped a bombshell:
Steve, surely youve noticedour spouses are meeting in secret. Youd best let your lovely wife know I intend to fight for Brian! We have two small children.
I, daft as ever, hadnt suspected a thing. Was Emily really taking revenge for my old transgressions?
No need to recount the entire ordeal in grim detail. Brians wife relentlessly hounded Emily, threatening to overdose and die in protest. I locked Emily in the flat, disconnected the phone, threatened divorce. It was all futile. As they say, fire, love, and a cough can never be concealed. In desperation, I sought help from Charlotte, Emilys best friend.
She cut me to the quick, Steve, its love. Emily wont come back. All paths to her are closed for you.
Grief-stricken, I lingered at Charlottes place for half a year. She managed to console me, briefly.
Emily and Brian married. They paid no mind to anyone elsetheir world was their own. It seemed they shared every breath. Back then, I hated them both bitterly! I wanted to howl, tear my hair out. How could this happen? My wife stolen from me! Its truefortune and misfortune ride the same horses.
Some say time heals. I do not believe it. My wound has merely grown a thin, brittle crust, like early winter ice, and still aches. Friends carefully selected a new wife for mea beauty. I married quickly, fearing Id change my mind. Weve been together seventeen years. I pretend to be happy, hoping against hope. But if someone peered into the vaults of my weary soul, theyd find Emilys spirit ever-present. Will you call?
And so, I learned that holding onto love or happiness too tightly may slip it through your fingers, just as letting go can foster new beginnings. Sometimes, what heals is not the passing of time, but the kindness and understanding we show ourselves and others.
