Brigit's Flame - December 2008 - Week 1
brigits_flame is back.
This week's topic is UNITY.
Thanks for reading. Hope you'll like it! Feedback appreciated.
1,048 words, under the 1,500 words maximum requirement.
“We’ve already discussed this, and you know the answer.” Jane said, “It still stands.”
“I guess I don’t have a choice, then. I won’t be able convince you this time, will I?”
“It’s very unlikely.” Jane turned around and finally looked up to face him. He seemed older bent over the weight of her decision. She approached, and took place next to him on the foot of the bed in the dimness of the room. Holding his gaze was one thing that she was proud she achieved. It was, however, much more difficult to look him in the eyes and reiterate a negative answer. He was not angry nor frustrated, no, but she sensed his perceptible deception. “I’m sorry. You know I love you,” she murmured. There was no denying she did, just not the way he wanted her to, at least for now.
David squeezed her hand, but did not establish eye contact; instead, he shifted his head to the half-opened window. Jane looked down, and as she moved away from him, she felt his hand griping her fingers tighter as a desperate and silent attempt to solicit her presence with him a little longer. “Will you ever want to?”
She smiled and patted his arm reassuringly, “Like most people, yeah, think so!” A slight laugh, which she failed at repressing, punctuated her sentence more than the tone of her voice, but David did not react.
“Is it because I’ve done it before?” He asked determined to find either an explanation or a solution.
“Well, you’re much older and I--” his soft sigh destabilized her, she was close to change her mind, maybe she could just say yes and get this over with, only she knew he wouldn’t let her. “It doesn’t matter, really. You told me from the start, David. It didn’t prevent me from falling for you.”
“Maybe it changed. Maybe you wished that I hadn’t…I mean, unconsciously.”
With a finger on his lips, Jane shushed him while her free hand brushed his hair. He tilted his head and stole a kiss, affectionate and tender, one that urged them to disregard the divergence of opinion and to go back to the basics, the bond that unified them. After a short moment, she pulled away from his embrace, stood up, stepped forward to close the window then covered her shoulders with a shawl she grabbed from the nearest drawer.
“If you’re cold, I can warm you up!” David suggested.
She froze and he could not tell if it was a result of her shivering or his poor joke. She just stood there in the middle of the room, seemingly livid and lost. Seeing her this way, he realized there was more to it than she would admit. He wanted to take her in his arms and be there for her physically and emotionally, but he didn’t dare make the first move. Instead, he waited for a sign, an invitation, and it came in the form of words.
“It’s just…” she started her body screaming unsteadiness, “I don’t like being pressured!”
David’s squinted at her quizzically. “Did I ever force you into anything? I just brought up the subject twice, casually, in conversation. If that’s pressure to you, then we have very different standards,” he said managing to keep his emotions in check, a miracle for someone known for his quick temper.
“I’m a virgin territory, which you consented to explore step by step. Sorry the road is full of pitfalls,” Jane snapped back defensively.
“Exploring is what I’m trying to do here, if you would just open up.” He yelled despite himself, he didn’t mean to raise his voice or abruptly erect from his sited position. David understood he had to break through Jane’s barrier of bottled up fears and unsaid uncertainties. “Listen,” he said as calmly as possible not to scare her away, “That’s what people who love each other do.” He took her hands and planted his blue gaze into hers hoping she would read his sincerity, “You and me joined together body and soul--”
“I’m not ready,” she interrupted, eyes fixed on their clasped hands.
“Okay. If you are apprehensive about the whole thing, it can be over in little less than an hour.” He continued not dismissing her feeling only advancing his own argument. His stubbornness had an unforeseen effect on her.
She rolled her eyes at him, her face regaining its usual pearly pink color. “You won’t accept no for an answer, will you?”
“Umm, no!”
“Well, then, rest assured that when I do it, it’ll be after a long, complex heart-searching. Besides, I have a pretty good idea of how it’ll happen. It will be unforgettable. First, there will be food and music, and one hour won’t be enough.” She pondered over the question silently a little longer.
“No matter how long it will last, you’d wish it wasn’t over so fast.”
“All the more reason not to rush it. When it’s done, it’s over, there’s no turning back. I don’t want to regret it thereafter, or worse, blame you for enticing me to do something I wasn’t ready for.”
“Fair enough.” He let go of her hands, moved away from her, and reached the door. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll leave you to your irrational phobia, and will go home sulk for the rest of the day.”
“Don’t be like that!” Jane pleaded.
“I just love the irony, here,” David said. “I want to but I can’t. You can but you don’t want to!”
“Please try to understand. I just want it to be special and meaningful.”
“Well, I’ve heard that one before.” He muttered in a breath.
“How do I know you’re the one, you know?”
“Oh, please!”
“I’m serious, David!”
“I should just leave!”
“Don’t you walk away from me!”
It was too late he was gone. Instead of the rage she imagined raining down on her, she flinched at his cold calmness and distressed demeanor.
He walked away with the deception that she wouldn’t even contemplate the ultimate step to cross in a relationship. As the dying dream of an unborn union with the woman he loved grew more and more distant, he wondered if they could ever unfold in unalloyed joy.
THE END
This week's topic is UNITY.
Thanks for reading. Hope you'll like it! Feedback appreciated.
1,048 words, under the 1,500 words maximum requirement.
“We’ve already discussed this, and you know the answer.” Jane said, “It still stands.”
“I guess I don’t have a choice, then. I won’t be able convince you this time, will I?”
“It’s very unlikely.” Jane turned around and finally looked up to face him. He seemed older bent over the weight of her decision. She approached, and took place next to him on the foot of the bed in the dimness of the room. Holding his gaze was one thing that she was proud she achieved. It was, however, much more difficult to look him in the eyes and reiterate a negative answer. He was not angry nor frustrated, no, but she sensed his perceptible deception. “I’m sorry. You know I love you,” she murmured. There was no denying she did, just not the way he wanted her to, at least for now.
David squeezed her hand, but did not establish eye contact; instead, he shifted his head to the half-opened window. Jane looked down, and as she moved away from him, she felt his hand griping her fingers tighter as a desperate and silent attempt to solicit her presence with him a little longer. “Will you ever want to?”
She smiled and patted his arm reassuringly, “Like most people, yeah, think so!” A slight laugh, which she failed at repressing, punctuated her sentence more than the tone of her voice, but David did not react.
“Is it because I’ve done it before?” He asked determined to find either an explanation or a solution.
“Well, you’re much older and I--” his soft sigh destabilized her, she was close to change her mind, maybe she could just say yes and get this over with, only she knew he wouldn’t let her. “It doesn’t matter, really. You told me from the start, David. It didn’t prevent me from falling for you.”
“Maybe it changed. Maybe you wished that I hadn’t…I mean, unconsciously.”
With a finger on his lips, Jane shushed him while her free hand brushed his hair. He tilted his head and stole a kiss, affectionate and tender, one that urged them to disregard the divergence of opinion and to go back to the basics, the bond that unified them. After a short moment, she pulled away from his embrace, stood up, stepped forward to close the window then covered her shoulders with a shawl she grabbed from the nearest drawer.
“If you’re cold, I can warm you up!” David suggested.
She froze and he could not tell if it was a result of her shivering or his poor joke. She just stood there in the middle of the room, seemingly livid and lost. Seeing her this way, he realized there was more to it than she would admit. He wanted to take her in his arms and be there for her physically and emotionally, but he didn’t dare make the first move. Instead, he waited for a sign, an invitation, and it came in the form of words.
“It’s just…” she started her body screaming unsteadiness, “I don’t like being pressured!”
David’s squinted at her quizzically. “Did I ever force you into anything? I just brought up the subject twice, casually, in conversation. If that’s pressure to you, then we have very different standards,” he said managing to keep his emotions in check, a miracle for someone known for his quick temper.
“I’m a virgin territory, which you consented to explore step by step. Sorry the road is full of pitfalls,” Jane snapped back defensively.
“Exploring is what I’m trying to do here, if you would just open up.” He yelled despite himself, he didn’t mean to raise his voice or abruptly erect from his sited position. David understood he had to break through Jane’s barrier of bottled up fears and unsaid uncertainties. “Listen,” he said as calmly as possible not to scare her away, “That’s what people who love each other do.” He took her hands and planted his blue gaze into hers hoping she would read his sincerity, “You and me joined together body and soul--”
“I’m not ready,” she interrupted, eyes fixed on their clasped hands.
“Okay. If you are apprehensive about the whole thing, it can be over in little less than an hour.” He continued not dismissing her feeling only advancing his own argument. His stubbornness had an unforeseen effect on her.
She rolled her eyes at him, her face regaining its usual pearly pink color. “You won’t accept no for an answer, will you?”
“Umm, no!”
“Well, then, rest assured that when I do it, it’ll be after a long, complex heart-searching. Besides, I have a pretty good idea of how it’ll happen. It will be unforgettable. First, there will be food and music, and one hour won’t be enough.” She pondered over the question silently a little longer.
“No matter how long it will last, you’d wish it wasn’t over so fast.”
“All the more reason not to rush it. When it’s done, it’s over, there’s no turning back. I don’t want to regret it thereafter, or worse, blame you for enticing me to do something I wasn’t ready for.”
“Fair enough.” He let go of her hands, moved away from her, and reached the door. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll leave you to your irrational phobia, and will go home sulk for the rest of the day.”
“Don’t be like that!” Jane pleaded.
“I just love the irony, here,” David said. “I want to but I can’t. You can but you don’t want to!”
“Please try to understand. I just want it to be special and meaningful.”
“Well, I’ve heard that one before.” He muttered in a breath.
“How do I know you’re the one, you know?”
“Oh, please!”
“I’m serious, David!”
“I should just leave!”
“Don’t you walk away from me!”
It was too late he was gone. Instead of the rage she imagined raining down on her, she flinched at his cold calmness and distressed demeanor.
He walked away with the deception that she wouldn’t even contemplate the ultimate step to cross in a relationship. As the dying dream of an unborn union with the woman he loved grew more and more distant, he wondered if they could ever unfold in unalloyed joy.
THE END