Part 42 (1/2)
”Positive,” he smiled.
”OK then.” She slowly took off his robe and threw on a tracksuit and he could see she still wasn't happy about the arrangement.
”Holly, I'll be fine,” he said firmly.
”OK.” She gave him a long kiss and he heard her race down the stairs, rush out to the car and speed off down the road.
As soon as Gerry knew he was safe, he pulled back the covers and slowly climbed out of bed. He sat on the edge of the mattress for a while, waiting for the dizziness to pa.s.s, then he slowly made his way to the wardrobe. He took out an old shoe box from the top shelf that contained junk he had collected over the past few years and that also contained the nine full envelopes. He took out the tenth empty envelope and neatly wrote 'December' on the front. Today was the first of December, and he moved himself forward one year from now, knowing he wouldn't be around. He imagined Holly to be a karaoke genius, relaxed from her holiday in Spain, bruise-free as a result of the bedside lamp and hopefully happy in a new job that she loved.
He imagined her on this very day in one year's time possibly sitting on the bed right where he was now and reading the final installment to the list, and he thought long and hard about what to write. Tears filled his eyes as he placed the full stop beside the sentence; he kissed the page, wrapped it in the envelope and hid it back in the shoe box. He would post the envelopes to Holly's parents' house in Portmarnock, where he knew the package would be in safe hands until she was prepared to open it. He wiped the tears from his eyes and slowly made his way back to bed, where his phone was ringing on the mattress.
”h.e.l.lo?” he said, trying to control his voice, and he smiled when he heard the sweetest voice on the other end. ”I love you too, Holly...”
FORTY-EIGHT.
”NO DANIEL, THIS ISN'T RIGHT,” Holly said, upset, and pulled her hand away from his grip.
”But why isn't it right?” he pleaded with her with his twinkling blue eyes.
”It's too soon,” she said, rubbing her face tiredly all of a sudden, feeling so confused. Things for her just seemed to get worse and worse.
”Too soon because that's what people have been telling you, or too soon because that's what your heart's telling you?”
”Oh Daniel, I don't know!” she said, pacing the kitchen floor. ”I'm so confused. Please stop asking me so many questions!”
Her heart beat wildly and her head spun, even her body was telling her this wasn't a good situation to be in. It was panicking for her, allowing her to see that danger was ahead. This felt wrong, it all felt so wrong. ”I can't, Daniel, I'm married! I love Gerry!” she said in a panic.
”Gerry?” he asked, his eyes widening as he went over to the kitchen table and grabbed the envelope roughly. ”This is Gerry! This is what I'm competing with! It's a piece of paper, Holly. It's a list. A list you have allowed to run your life for the past year without having to think for yourself or live your own life. Now you have to think for yourself, right now. Gerry's gone,” he said gently, walking back over to her. ”Gerry's gone and I'm here. I'm not saying that I could ever take his place, but at least give us a chance to be together.”
She took the envelope from his hand and hugged it close to her heart as tears rolled down her cheeks. ”Gerry's not gone,” she sobbed. ”He's here, every time I open these, he's here.”
There was a silence as Daniel watched her crying. She looked so lost and helpless, he just wanted to hold her. ”It's a piece of paper,” he said, softly stepping closer to her again.
”Gerry is not a piece of paper,” she said angrily through her tears. ”He was a living, breathing human being that I loved. Gerry is the man who consumed my life for fifteen years. He is a million billion happy memories. He is not a piece of paper,” she repeated.
”So what am I?” Daniel asked quietly.
Holly prayed that he wouldn't cry, she didn't think she could bear it if he cried.
”You,” she took a deep breath, ”are a kind, caring and incredibly thoughtful friend who I respect and appreciate -”
”But I'm not Gerry,” he interrupted her.
”I don't want you to be Gerry,” she insisted. ”I want you to be Daniel.”
”How do you feel about me?” His voice shook slightly.
”I just told you how I feel about you,” she sniffed.
”No, how do you feel about me?”
She stared at the ground. ”I feel strongly about you, Daniel, but I need time...” she paused, ”...lots and lots of time.”
”Then I will wait.” He smiled sadly and wrapped his strong arms around her weak body.
The doorbell rang and Holly silently breathed a sigh of relief. ”That's your taxi.” Her voice shook.
”I'll call you tomorrow, Holly,” he said softly, kissing her on the top of her head, and he made his way to the front door. Holly continued to stand in the middle of the kitchen going over and over the scene that had just occurred. She stood there for some time tightly gripping the crumpled envelope close to her heart.
Still in shock she eventually made her way slowly up the stairs to bed. She slipped out of her dress and wrapped herself in Gerry's warm, oversized robe. His smell had disappeared. She slowly climbed into bed like a child and tucked herself under the covers and flicked on the bedside lamp. She stared at the envelope for a long time thinking about what Daniel had said.
The list had become some sort of a bible to her. She obeyed the rules, lived by the rules and never broke any of the rules. When Gerry said jump, she jumped. But the list had helped her. It had helped her get out of bed in the morning and start a new life at a time when all she wanted to do was curl into a ball and die. Gerry had helped her and she didn't regret one thing she had done in the past year. She didn't regret her new job or her new friends or any new thought or feeling she had developed all by herself without Gerry's opinion. But this was the final installment to the list. This was her tenth commandment, as Daniel had phrased it. There would be no more. He was right; she would have to start making decisions for herself, live a life that she felt happy about without holding back and wondering whether or not Gerry would agree with it. Well, she could always wonder, but she needn't let it stop her.
When he was alive she had lived through him, and now he was dead and she was still living through him. She could see that now. It made her feel safe, but now she was out on her own and she needed to be brave.
She took the phone off the hook and switched the power off her mobile. She didn't want to be disturbed. She needed to savor this special and final moment without interruptions. She needed to say good-bye to Gerry's contact with her. She was alone now and she needed to think for herself.
She slowly tore open the envelope, carefully trying not to rip the paper as she slid the card out.
Don't be afraid to fall in love again. Open your heart and follow where it leads you...and remember, shoot for the moon...
PS, I will always love you...
”Oh Gerry,” she sobbed, reading the card, and her shoulders shook as her body heaved from the pain of her tears.
She got very little sleep that night and the times she did nod off, her dreams were obscure images of Daniel's and Gerry's faces and bodies being mingled together. She awoke in a sweat at 6 A.M. and decided to get up and go for a walk to clear the jumbled thoughts from her head. Her heart felt heavy as she walked along the path of her local park. She had bundled herself up well to protect herself from the stinging cold that whipped at her ears and numbed her face. Yet her head felt hot. Hot from the tears, hot from her headache, hot from her brain working overtime.
The trees were bare and looked like skeletons lining the pathway. Leaves danced around in circles around her feet like wicked little elves threatening to trip her up. The park was deserted; people had once again gone into hibernation, too cowardly to brave the winter elements. Holly wasn't brave nor was she enjoying her stroll. It felt like punishment to be out in the icy cold weather.
How on earth had she found herself in this situation? Just as soon as she was getting around to picking up the pieces of her shattered life, she dropped them all again and sent them scattering. She thought she had found a friend, someone she could confide in. She wasn't looking to become entangled in some ridiculous love triangle. And it was ridiculous because the third person wasn't even around. He wasn't even a possible candidate for the job. Of course she thought of Daniel a lot, but she also thought about Sharon and Denise, and surely she wasn't in love with them? What she felt for Daniel wasn't the love she felt for Gerry, it was an entirely different feeling. So perhaps she wasn't in love with Daniel. And anyway if she were, wouldn't she be the first person to realize it, instead of being given a few days to 'think about it'? But then why was she even thinking about it? If she didn't love him, then she should come right out and say it...but she was thinking about it...It was a simple yes or no question, wasn't it? How odd life was.
And why was Gerry urging her to find a new love? What had he been thinking when he wrote that message? Had he already let go of her before he died? Had it been so easy for him to just give her up and resign himself to the fact that she would meet someone else? Questions, questions, questions. And she would never know the answers.
After hours of tormenting herself with further interrogations and the freezing cold nipping at her skin, she headed back in the direction of her house. As she walked down her estate, the sound of laughter caused her to lift her gaze from the ground. Her neighbors were decorating the tree in their garden with tiny Christmas lights.
”Hi, Holly,” her neighbor giggled, stepping out from behind the tree with bulbs wrapped around her wrists.
”I'm decorating Jessica,” her partner laughed, wrapping the tangled cords around her legs. ”I think she'll make a beautiful garden gnome.”
Holly smiled sadly as she watched them laughing together. ”Christmas already,” Holly thought aloud.
”I know,” Jessica stopped laughing long enough to answer. ”Hasn't the year just flown?”