by Aqua Allsopp
She smiled and wrapped her arms around the neck of her husband. “Of course. You know how much I love my husband.”
That was the last thing of the day that she said to him, but that was all he needed to hear. He never told her about the watch, what it did, or what happened to him. Why bother? She probably wouldn’t believe him anyway, and it really didn’t matter.
He left that society behind, and knew he would never go back. In fact, he never wanted to go back. He even went so far as to think that he would be happier if he were dead before that society became a reality. It was, to put it lightly, a God-awful mess.
He needed one thing, and just one thing – Jennifer. She was the wife he always dreamed of, and always loved. Almost anything else he had in his entire life, would be replaceable. Even if he had something that was expensive, it would still be replaceable.
He strode from side to side as he kept his arms gently at her sides. He cupped her thin waist, then gently bent her over as he braced himself into a scooping motion. He followed with a slow spin around, and then resumed his slow steps.
He leaned over and gave her a gentle kiss on the lips. He stopped moving his legs and kissed her just one more time. It was the last time he kissed her that day – except of course before they went to bed.
The doorbell rang softly, then it rang a second time. Jennifer pulled herself away from him and giddily clapped her hands together. “I’m sorry, I meant to tell you. I invited our new neighbor over for dinner. I thought it would be nice to welcome them to the neighborhood.”
He had a somewhat childish pout to himself, because he wanted to kiss, dance, and make physical love to his wife, rather than meet a new neighbor. Still, he couldn’t exactly try to explain to her why he wanted that so bad. That was out of the question.
He sighed deeply as he tried to conceal his disappointment. Okay then. He knew it was nice to be neighborly and spend time with the new neighbors. He sucked it in and perked up a small smile. “That’s fine.”
She opened the door and greeted the family of four – a husband, wife, and two little angels. One was an infant boy, and the other was a toddler girl. “Thank you so much for coming. Welcome to our neighborhood!”
She waved them in and the parents both smiled and returned the friendly greeting. “We’re the ones that should be thanking you. You took time out of your day to invite us over, and make a nice meal.”
Jeff took their coats and hung them in a nearby closet. As he closed the closet door, he saw that the family had already retreated into the dining room. They must have been hungry. They sure weren’t wasting any time.
Jeff politely walked in and borrowed the kitchen sink to wash his hands. He threw the hand towel aside, and jointed them in the dining room.
After sitting in the sturdy, oak dining chair, Jeff tried to be a good host by asking them to introduce themselves. “My name is Jeff. I’m very honored to be Jennifer’s husband, because she is a fantastic woman that is full of love. I apologize but I don’t know any of you.”
Jennifer made a few clanging sounds in the kitchen, as an aroma of marinara hit the room. Whatever it was, it smelled delicious.
A couple of seconds of silence followed, before the husband volunteered himself to start. “Okay. My name is Brad. I’m the husband of this wonderful lady.” He patted her shoulder and winked at her. “I work as a systems analyst.”
Jeff smiled and then peered his eyes over to the wife in the room. “I’m Janice. I actually work as an accountant. Boring job, I know.”
Jeff perked up and reassured her. “Your job is important. Not all of us can keep the numbers straight on our own. As a banker, I know that to be true.”
Janice pointed to her daughter, who was wearing a very cute skirt, and child blazer. “This is Emily. She’s going to be in preschool in just a few months. We’re very excited, and know she’ll do well.”
Finally, Janice pointed to her infant boy, who was sitting in a car seat with his eyes closed. In fact, he was sleeping. “This is Topher. He will be a year old in just a few days. Happy early birthday, Topher!”
Jeff froze every inch of his body. He didn’t move his eyes, fingers, arms, legs, hands, nothing. He finally opened his mouth, and said just one thing: “Is your last name Frost?”
Janice smiled at him because she was surprised he knew. “Good guess. How did you know that?”
THE END