completely different.
After working so hard with so many relationships that had never worked out, John suddenly found himself talking with someone who was just right for him. He didn’t have to try hard or pretend. He just had to be himself and everything clicked into place.
And he had fallen in love right there.
Nothing mattered any more. All that did matter was the girl sitting across from him.
Helen…
John sighed as he rubbed at the stubble on his chin. His mirror-image did the same.
How things can change…
The reflection of the light from the chain around his neck caught his eye. He pulled at the chain and the pendant attached to it popped out from his shirt. He held it in his hand and stared down at it. It was a gold half-heart pendant, the other half he had given to Helen when they decided to get engaged. It was cheap, all they could afford at the time, but it had meant so much to both of them.
He had one half of the gold heart-shaped pendant. The other half of the heart still hung around Helen’s neck after all these years.
He stared at the pendant now, and smiled. Helen had fallen for him just as quickly as he had fallen for her.
So many years ago , he thought to himself. But you’ve still got it, John .
“Yeah,” he said to the man in the mirror.
Some girl who’s been treated like shit by her asshole boyfriend goes down on you to say thanks and you think you’re the hottest guy ever to walk the earth.
John shook his head. “Dream on.”
He turned off the light and walked out of the bathroom. He stopped in the hall to listen for any sounds from the main bedroom, but he could hear nothing.
She’s asleep, poor kid. The events have finally caught up with her, he thought.
Opening the spare bedroom door, he walked inside and got undressed in the dark. He closed the door behind him and climbed under the cool sheets of the single bed.
The single bed.
The bed they bought for his son.
The son they had never had.
He remembered the excitement when Helen had told him she was pregnant. He remembered all the champagne corks popping and the celebratory messages from their friends and family.
He could recall how they rushed around town, buying clothes and a cradle, a cot and toys. And the bed for when the baby got older.
And he also remembered the doctors telling him that his son had no heartbeat and was dead. There was nothing they could do.
Nothing.
He remembered walking back into this room after hearing the news, dismantling the cot, packing up the toys. They would never be used.
They hadn’t got around to selling the bed. In fact, they hardly ever talked about it any more.
It was something Helen never liked to talk about. It was as if she blamed herself, as if it were her fault the baby had formed the way it had. He’d tried to talk to her about it countless times, but she just wouldn’t listen, wouldn’t open up. She’d just leave the room.
And now here he was, sleeping in the bed himself, with a strange woman sleeping in his bedroom.
Zoe.
In some ways, Zoe was a child herself. She seemed to look for direction, for guidance, for a nod that everything is okay.
That bastard Fox better be dead, John thought. He deserves nothing better.
And then maybe Zoe could start again.
A new life with no strings attached. How nice would that be? he wondered.
He closed his eyes, placed his hands behind his head, and let his mind wander back over the events of the night.
Coming home and finding Zoe naked on the sofa was a complete shock. But a nice one just the same. She had a wonderfully fine body, and he could certainly see that the countless hours she had spent on Fox’s gym equipment had done her the world of good.
She’s gorgeous, he thought.
He remembered her pierced belly button and the nestled diamond. He couldn’t remember seeing anything so wonderfully sexy in his life. And then there was her tanned and muscled stomach, and legs…and vagina.
He felt himself growing hard again. He
After working so hard with so many relationships that had never worked out, John suddenly found himself talking with someone who was just right for him. He didn’t have to try hard or pretend. He just had to be himself and everything clicked into place.
And he had fallen in love right there.
Nothing mattered any more. All that did matter was the girl sitting across from him.
Helen…
John sighed as he rubbed at the stubble on his chin. His mirror-image did the same.
How things can change…
The reflection of the light from the chain around his neck caught his eye. He pulled at the chain and the pendant attached to it popped out from his shirt. He held it in his hand and stared down at it. It was a gold half-heart pendant, the other half he had given to Helen when they decided to get engaged. It was cheap, all they could afford at the time, but it had meant so much to both of them.
He had one half of the gold heart-shaped pendant. The other half of the heart still hung around Helen’s neck after all these years.
He stared at the pendant now, and smiled. Helen had fallen for him just as quickly as he had fallen for her.
So many years ago , he thought to himself. But you’ve still got it, John .
“Yeah,” he said to the man in the mirror.
Some girl who’s been treated like shit by her asshole boyfriend goes down on you to say thanks and you think you’re the hottest guy ever to walk the earth.
John shook his head. “Dream on.”
He turned off the light and walked out of the bathroom. He stopped in the hall to listen for any sounds from the main bedroom, but he could hear nothing.
She’s asleep, poor kid. The events have finally caught up with her, he thought.
Opening the spare bedroom door, he walked inside and got undressed in the dark. He closed the door behind him and climbed under the cool sheets of the single bed.
The single bed.
The bed they bought for his son.
The son they had never had.
He remembered the excitement when Helen had told him she was pregnant. He remembered all the champagne corks popping and the celebratory messages from their friends and family.
He could recall how they rushed around town, buying clothes and a cradle, a cot and toys. And the bed for when the baby got older.
And he also remembered the doctors telling him that his son had no heartbeat and was dead. There was nothing they could do.
Nothing.
He remembered walking back into this room after hearing the news, dismantling the cot, packing up the toys. They would never be used.
They hadn’t got around to selling the bed. In fact, they hardly ever talked about it any more.
It was something Helen never liked to talk about. It was as if she blamed herself, as if it were her fault the baby had formed the way it had. He’d tried to talk to her about it countless times, but she just wouldn’t listen, wouldn’t open up. She’d just leave the room.
And now here he was, sleeping in the bed himself, with a strange woman sleeping in his bedroom.
Zoe.
In some ways, Zoe was a child herself. She seemed to look for direction, for guidance, for a nod that everything is okay.
That bastard Fox better be dead, John thought. He deserves nothing better.
And then maybe Zoe could start again.
A new life with no strings attached. How nice would that be? he wondered.
He closed his eyes, placed his hands behind his head, and let his mind wander back over the events of the night.
Coming home and finding Zoe naked on the sofa was a complete shock. But a nice one just the same. She had a wonderfully fine body, and he could certainly see that the countless hours she had spent on Fox’s gym equipment had done her the world of good.
She’s gorgeous, he thought.
He remembered her pierced belly button and the nestled diamond. He couldn’t remember seeing anything so wonderfully sexy in his life. And then there was her tanned and muscled stomach, and legs…and vagina.
He felt himself growing hard again. He
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