I know what you’re trying to say and I love you for it, but that wasn’t why you were so upset with me.” She’s beside herself because she thinks he caught it off her. “She sent me a letter, I got it yesterday. He was only about twelve years older than her.” She used to be a sucker for the hair magazines and she’d come round to my flat and cut her hair and you’d get annoyed because this short blonde hair was everywhere and I don’t think you quite believed me that it wasn’t another man…” “Yes, you do, Penelope, you know, tall Penelope…” “By which you mean, you’re not willing to concede anything…” It makes me smile, even as I get a prickle through my skin in anticipation of the awaiting conversation. “I don’t see a way out of this, my Darling.” A large part of me would take this love and disregard any conflict but sometimes the strife is necessary to heal, to move forward. Any serious conversation has always commenced after we reassure each other how much we love each other. We’ve always done the making up from an argument the wrong way round. We’ve been avoiding the conversation we’re about to have for the past week, a few more minutes won’t matter as I savour that sense of completeness from being wrapped in his arms, as my hands run up and down his back, relishing having him here to hold, squeezing him as tightly as I can, feeling the returning pressure. We stand tangled together for a long time, reaffirming our love for one another in the oldest and simplest of ways. I accept his embrace without restraint, needing it as much as him and I reach to push my face into his neck to breathe him in. We’ve been counting down the days, and the result of that last COVID test took so long, I feel that time is pulling a trick on us and is in fact reversing. I’ve barely pulled on my clothes to face the morning before the door barges open and he rushes in. All the Time in the World - Chapter 10 Birkhall, March 2020
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |