For Dorothy and Drea.
The letter arrived this morning. I used a nail to slit open the envelope.
'Please come home', she'd written.
Nothing else.
I watched a single teardrop smudge that exquisite script. Even at a time like this she still couldn’t bring herself to address me by my name.
My name. Not the one on that worthless piece of paper I kept in the drawer.
I hated her.
But she needed me. The love of her life was dying. She wanted to scream at someone.
Fifty years they’d been together.
Fifty years.
And I had never known that kind of loss. How could I judge her?
I walked into the study and turned on my laptop. I sent the necessary e-mails. I booked a First Class rail ticket.
And a hotel room.
Some things can never be forgiven.
Music: 'Please Come Home'. Performed by Camel. From the 1981 album 'Nude'.
http://youtu.be/JIM4htxAyvc