I watched her unnoticed through the crack of the door. The smell of the soap was of pungent lavender piercing through the steamy bathroom as she gracefully rubbed it across her lightly tanned skin, up and down her wet body. Effervescent bubbles appeared between her slender fingers. Her hands trailed across her damp breasts and down her soft belly, to her legs and feet. The water trickled through her long brown hair to her back and bottom. It ran down her skin gracefully, almost with glee. It was almost as if the water wanted to grab onto her, that it was in deep agony for all of its existence until it broke free of its shambles and fled from the showerhead. With its newfound freedom it excitingly lunged for her skin. Warmly it massaged her body and, with pleasure, rinsed away the soap that she applied.
I could not turn away from staring at her; trapped in a stupor. She turned the handle to trap the water back within its pipes. The handle screeched for the water’s agony. She wiped the dew from her face, uncovering her ravishing features. Blinking her entrancing eyes twice, she slid the glass door open and grabbed for a towel that rested patiently upon its bar just outside the shower. She rubbed it across her gentle skin, giving it the pleasure of her touch and embrace. She softly dried her body off with the white towel. Rubbing it, from her chest, down her elegant body. She bent over to dry her legs exposing her rear in my direction. I blushed, only for a moment. Her hands were last for her to dry. She dried them slowly and stopped a couple times to regard the ring on her left hand. It was a wedding band; she seemed happy with it upon her hand and smiled with each pause.
I continued watching as she lifted the towel and wrapped it around her long hair. In her buff, she looked up towards me with her blue eyes. She approached the door I was behind, and I did not flinch; she walked past the door and out of my view. I still did not move and just waited for her to return to my sight. She came back into view in the middle of putting on her white, silk robe. Her hands slithered across the fabric and grabbed hold of the small belt that lay within the loops. She slowly tied a bow with the strip.
The phone bellowed behind me on the nightstand. I could hardly hear it, for I was more focused on her. She looked up towards me again. Almost for a moment, I believed with all that I had inside of me that she could see me. I saw her every waking day, and restless night. I wanted to cry into her shoulders today and apologize for everything. She pulled the towel off her hair and steadily marched towards me. Tears streamed down my face and I wanted to collapse so badly. The door opened with a jerk and she picked up the phone.
She sat on the bed with the phone against her ear. It was a man on the other end of the phone. Tears escaped her eyes as she dropped the phone into the bed. Her beautiful face swelled into a sad frown. I cried falling to my knees begging her to stop. My pleading was unheard though. She fell back onto the bed and grabbed my pillow. Squeezing it tight, she cried into the pillow. She held it as she would hold me before completely straying into a dream at night. The doorbell rang; it was the first and only thing to steal my attention away from her. I tried to think of who it could be this early in the day. She sat up and tried to force her tears back into her eyes with her hands. She grabbed a tissue from the nightstand and wiped her face dry. I could not tell why she was trying to cover her emotion. Quickly, I ran down the stairs before she could step out the bedroom door.
I wanted to look outside to see who it was, but I caught myself at the last step and turned around. Instead I waited at the bottom of the steps in front of the front door. Angst consumed me as I watched her step down the stairs slowly with her hand guiding down the rail. The morning light glistened in her eyes as she reached the bottom of the steps. I became more focused on her than anything else again; I lost care for whoever was outside. I just gazed into the light through her blue topaz eyes. Her eyes were the very first things I noticed when I first met her. I still get deeply lost when I gaze into them. Her eyes, her face, and her body are all, for the loss of better words, just exquisite. She remains as beautiful as the day I first set my eyes upon her. I miss that longest day. It was love at first sight.
I love her with every sigh of my breath, every ounce of my strength, and every second we are together. Soul mates, that is what she called us; we were meant to be together. Together, we took every step into the rest of our lives after our first date. I just couldn’t be without her, and she could not be without me; we were inseparable. We had been through troubles, numerous times. Nothing uncommon and nothing I never expected, though. Financial troubles were a thing of the past ever since we bought this house. Lately she had seemed distant, but I only thought it was due to the fact that we were trying so hard to have a baby. I was also being distant. She miscarried twice, and we were told she wouldn’t be able to give birth to a child. We wanted to prove the doctors wrong, but secretly we knew it was impossible. Perhaps suppressing what we were told and trying so hard to conceive had stressed her too much. Almost a month had passed since the last time we made love. It was hard for me, and I took it out on her a couple times. Meager arguments always stuck deep within me the day after.
Reality hit me hard as the bolt lock slammed back into the door. The door swung open wide. The light blinded me for a moment, but as things became clear I became confused. My best friend stepped inside through the bloom. What is he doing here?
“I have some bad news,” he said almost as if he was afraid to tell her.
“I am pregnant,” she said softly examining the floor.
My friend looked stunned. He didn’t speak, but just grabbed her as if he were I. They held each other tight. I was just as speechless as him. Her tears began flowing again. I wish she would not cry. She finally has what we have been trying so hard to get; she will finally have her son or daughter to take care of. I could not be any happier than I am now with her. She will not be alone now.
“It’s yours,” my heart burst from hearing those two words.
He held her at arms length and looked into her eyes. “Are you sure?” he asked her at the same time I did.
She looked over her shoulder towards me. I was hoping she heard me over him. She nodded softly before he hugged her tight again. I was not angry, though; saddened, but not angry. I wanted to walk away, but I just could not. She was my fixation now, whether or not my heart was broken.
“I’m so sorry,” he began pleading to her, “I’m sorry.”
She cried more, the tears began to dampen the top of her robe.
“I have some really bad news.”
She looked at him curiously.
“Chris was in an accident on his way to work this morning,” her eyes became enormous with fear, “He… he didn’t make it.”
She collapsed into the bottom steps. I tried to catch her, but could not. I love you so much. I am sorry I cannot catch you, or be there for you now. I cried hard. I’m so sorry.