Requiem For Juno Options

[*Kathleen*]

I actually posted this a couple years ago here, but I've tweaked it to what I believe is perfection and.. well.. actually came up with a title.

It can’t be true. There’s just no way. He loves me.

Her dark hair shimmered in the sunlight as she sat upon her bed; her watery blue eyes kept an intense watch on the phone as the beautiful and never-glum news anchor subtly droned on in the background. She broke her gaze, glancing down only to realize that her palms had become clammy and pale. After contemplating the situation, she furtively picked up the headset and hastily pressed mute. Within an instant, combinations of jealous and hurt tears streamed down her flawless complexion. The voice of a man she thought she knew too well protruded from the instrument as well as the voice of an unfamiliar and unidentified woman.

“I apologize for the inconvenient timing of this call. My bride-to-be, Claudia, is sleeping now. I knew I’d be safe,” explained her fiancée.

“Oh okay – that’s terrific. When can we meet?” inquired the unknown woman. Her voice echoed in a lucid vibration within Claudia’s eardrums. She couldn’t take it any longer. Fearful of getting caught, she forcefully set the cordless into the charger.

That vile scumbag! Oh how I despise him so. To think, I’ve known him for nearly ten years and he ends it like this?

She silently cried herself to sleep that night, disregarding his loathsome existence next to her.

The next morning during breakfast, she pondered her predicament, knowing full well something had to be done. The entire time, she did not speak a word to him; there was simply nothing to say. Even the sharpest of knives could not cut the tension between the two. And then they separated.

Her wide eyes followed his path out of the house – the house they had once been so proud of. It was the very house from which so many dreamlike memories had sprung. She sat there, fists clenched, sobbing until she could no longer stand the pain.

I find it funny how easily a greater love transforms into a contemptuous vexation. Why must God detest me so and punish me with such an incorrigible life? I must do something…it will be perfect again.

Her temerity convinced her to pick up the phone and call the one person whom she knew could devastate everything, yet create such a splendor out of it all. She knew something had to be done with her fiancée whether he agreed to it or not. Ravaging through her closet, she had finally found what she had been looking for: her old address book. She flipped to the “B” section.

Bailey…Bert…ahh…here it is: Bill.

Bill was the man she was looking for. He lived next door to her during their childhood and they became practical siblings. Not only did they care for each other, but they also felt a deep love for one another. Before she moved in with her fiancée, Bill made her promise to tell him if anything was wrong. She knew he would solve the matter. She realized this was the most desperate means in solving the dilemma, but she didn’t care one bit.

“Hello? Hi, Bill. It’s…Claudia.”

“Claudia! How have you been, hun? I’m a bit frightened as well as ecstatic by this phone call, you know.”

“Well, you should be more frightened at this point.”

“Oh God – what did he do? Did he hit you, Claudia?”

“No, no – it’s nothing like that.”

“Then what is it?”

“I think…he’s having an affair.”

“What? That stinkin’, no-good -“

“Don’t, Bill. I didn’t know what to do. I knew I could call you, though. You’ve always been there for me. Heh. Remember the time when you saved me from falling with the tree house?”

“Haha yeah! Of course – how could I forget something as memorable as that?”

“If only things were that simple again…”

“What do you need me to do?”

“Do you still hunt?”

“Yes – why?”

“Well, if I were to tell you that he’s going to be at the jewelry store downtown tomorrow afternoon around three, would you be able to make it…with your gun?”

“You’re serious about this?”

“Dead.”

“Only for you, Claudia.”

The next day came more rapidly than expected. Anxiety permeated throughout the entire house. Claudia wished it would’ve suffocated both of them in their sleep. Things would be better off for all of them.

He left at one-thirty. She predicted he would, seeing as his hints were so obvious. She discovered numerous notes he had written on napkins and scraps of paper in his closet. She sat in anticipation for what was to come next. The end was near, and yet she felt compelled to scavenge for more reasons to hate him. It continued with his closet – she knew there was more to be found.

An hour passed by and she found nothing. She had just about given up until a pink twinkle caught her eye. It came from the bottom of a box she had overlooked. She tore the box to pieces and snatched the paper. It was a love note.

Words cannot simply explain just how much I love that woman. Her presence and elegance simply astonishes me. I’ve known her for a decade, and I still feel for her as I did the first day I laid my eyes on her. If that wasn’t true love at first sight, then I don’t regret it because the love I share now is one that is far greater than any other. She’s been ignoring me lately; it drives me insane. I can’t stand it. I need to get through to her – to cheer her up. I hate seeing that smile absent from her gorgeous face. Her love captivates me. I have never felt more like a man than when I am with her. I want to thank her for everything she’s given me; I wish to buy her a ring she’ll treasure forever. This is why I sought out advice from the jeweler at the store downtown. I’ve called her various times to talk about my ideas for the perfect ring. I’m picking it up today. I hope Claudia likes it…I hope it brings a smile to her face once more.

With tears in her eyes and her mouth in awe, she grabbed her keys and fled.
I’m a horrible person. I really am. To think…all this time…this’ll be the death of me.

She parked right out front the department store, slamming the door shut not even bothering to notice she had left her lights on.

I need to find him. I need to warn him.

She nearly circled the entire store until she spotted him on the move towards the exit.

“Stop! Ryan! Don’t walk out that door!” The incessant drone of the department store drowned her futile shouts out. She ran for it, unaware of the security guards that began to chase her.

Exerting all her strength, she forced herself through the glass door and ended up falling on him.

The shot fatefully pierced the heart as spectators gasped in horror.

“Someone call 911!”

“Where did the shot come from?”

Then, another doleful shot was heard from above.
---
Breaking news: an awful incident occurred downtown this afternoon near the jewelry shop. A woman was shot from above, apparently the target of a sniper attack. Her fiancée was nearby and held onto her until paramedics arrived. It appears that within moments of the attack, the suspect shot himself and died instantaneously.
Although compacted into a mere four sentences, the event held more magnitude than television viewers realized, as does every other one of the hundreds of news stories broadcasted each day. A woman who lived a block away from Claudia named Claire Eliot, not unlike many other television viewers, watched the news without listening, never taking into consideration the amount of trauma and heartbreak a simple four sentences contained.

---

He clutched it close to his heart, knowing it was the last piece of her he had. It glistened so wonderfully in the light. It was pink – her favorite color.