Tempting Fate

by A N Busch

  Abby forced herself to gather her composure as best she could. She stood and walked slowly to the hall to find the bathroom, then shut the door behind herself. One more day was all that kept ringing in her ears, yes, just one more day. Tonight she would have the strength to leave; she would find it within her. If not tonight then in the morning, she would go straight home and never look back.

  When she came out into the hall, he was waiting for her there with a smile on his face. Abby took his hand as he led her to the first floor in silence. She grabbed her purse and walked out the door holding his hand.

  Outside there was a truck parked right in front of them and as he opened the passenger door, she stared at the truck awestruck. “Where? How? I can’t even believe this, are you serious?”

  “Of everything you have seen and had happen in the last twenty-four hours, this you can’t believe?” His laugh was fast and hard, making Abby smile and shake her head. “I would never get rid of this truck; it has so many memories in it.”

  “This is the same truck! I guess I am just shocked that it still runs after all these years. We had some really good times in this thing.”

  “Well it did get a new engine and some other parts about five years ago. So it’s not totally the same truck, but it is still something that makes me think of you often.”

  He opened the door and Abby got in. Just like old times, she leaned over and opened his door. They drove back to the hotel in silence holding hands like they had done years ago.

  They acted like kids goofing off and playing in a big hotel all the way to her room. Westly sat on the chair at the desk as she gathered her things and went into the bathroom. She put her stuff on the counter and came back out to him. She squeezed his hand as she got her brush off the desk.

  The water was so hot Abby was tempted to stay in the shower forever, but she was too excited to start her day with Westly. When she stepped out, the bathroom was full of steam so she cracked the door slightly for a moment and wiped off the mirror. When she was done getting ready, she came out to find that Westly was asleep on the bed. Abby watched him as she dabbed some perfume on her neck.

  She sat beside him on the bed and placed her hand on his cheek; he looked so peaceful she almost did not want to wake him. Abby traced one eyebrow slowly with her thumb and then his ear. It was amazing to her that so many of his features had not changed over the years. Yes, he was older and time had given him a crease here or there, but the little things were still the same. She ran her hand through his hair and called his name, but he didn’t stir in the slightest. Abby leaned in to whisper into his ear, and when she got close, he moved his face and his lips met hers. It was only for a second but it made her heart drop to her knees.

  Her hand was still in his hair so she gripped and pulled a little, that would teach him to try and be sneaky with her. Westly started to laugh and she pulled a little harder at his hair.

  “Okay, I give. Let go, let go.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry did that hurt?”

  “Not yet, but if I know you, and I do, it would have very soon.”

  The day flew by quickly; he took her everywhere she could have imagined. They went around town like a couple of teenagers playing games. Abby had not felt this young in years and it was nice. He took her to the top of the Empire State building; they drove over the Brooklyn Bridge and back again. They had lunch at Gray’s Papaya and walked around to a few churches that were beyond beautiful, the kind of buildings that every architect dreams of creating.

  He took her to Rockefeller Center and past the New York Stock Exchange. They visited Ground Zero and Coney Island. It was a very full day, and when they got back to his townhouse, Abby was practically exhausted. They had Chinese for dinner that they had picked up and talked and laughed the whole time. It was a perfect day together.

  “Central Park is just around the corner from here; did you want to go for a walk?”

  “Oh, don’t they have the carriage rides?”

  “Yes. Would you like to take one?”

  “Twice around the whole park please.”

  Westly laughed and held his hand out to her. She took it in hers and they walked out the door.

  “It’s a big place you know. If we can find one, I think maybe one time around half the park would be longer than you think.”

  “Are you ready to get rid of me Mr. Michaels?”

  “Not in a million years, but it is getting late and I know you are tired.”

  Abby did not want to admit that their time together was coming to an end; it had been a wonderful day. She was going to enjoy every second they had left, let go, and just do what felt right in that moment. He was her everything right now, she was going to make sure the memory of this day lasted in her mind forever. He pulled her closer to him as they walked to the park and she placed her head against his perfectly defined chest. His arms were strong around her and she was happy holding tight to him.

  They walked in the park talking for a long time before stopping at a fountain. Westly pulled a couple coins out of his pocket and handed her one. She rubbed it between her fingers as she closed her eyes tightly and made her wish. She tossed it in the fountain and didn’t open her eyes till she heard it hit the water. He was smiling at her with the coin still in his hand.

  “Are you going to make your wish?” Abby asked him curiously.

  “I want to know what yours was first.”

  “I’m not telling you. I want it to come true!”

  “I can make it come true if you tell me. If I couldn’t and it was really good, I could wish for the same thing as you, and it would have more of a chance of coming true. But if I don’t like it, I’ll just have to counter it with my own wish.”

  “That is quite a detailed plan you have.”

  “I thought so, but you’re not going to tell me are you?”

  “Not a chance.”

  “Well then I will wish for,” Westly closed his eyes and kissed the coin before tossing it into the air over the fountain, “one perfect kiss from you tonight.”

  Before it even hit the water he had pulled Abby into his arms in a flash and she looked into his eyes, perfect eyes that shined even in the darkness of the night. The sound of the fountain faded away as she felt his hand touch the side of her face and his face came closer to hers. Her eyes closed and she gave herself over to him. If this was going to end, this was how it should be.

  He kissed her softly, with all the tenderness in the world at first then more rapidly, with passion and hunger. She wrapped her arms around his neck and let herself go, not protesting as his hands wandered over her back. Abby didn’t know how long it was going to last, but she was not going to be the first to pull away. When he finally pulled away, she groaned till she felt his mouth find her neck and then her ear. His breathing was uneven in her ear, and he kissed her like there was nothing but hunger running through him.

  Abby grabbed his hair and pulled his mouth back to hers and kissed him wildly. Her heart was racing and this time when he found her ear, he whispered into it, “Oh Abby, my Abs, I love you, I love you. Please stay with me tonight.”

  The words warmed her heart. She wanted to say yes but her voice was gone along with her self-control. She knew she needed to find both of them; Abby pulled herself away from him slowly trying not to look at the heartbreak on his face. He did not resist and let her leave his arms. He sat on the edge of the fountain with his head in his hands breathing heavily.

  “Westly I’m sorry I can’t do that and you know it. It’s not fair to ask that of me even if I want to. I just…I can’t. I’m sorry.”

  He looked up at her with tears in the corners of his eyes. Without thinking she went right to him and pulled him back up to her.

  “I’m sorry, I …”

  Abby placed one finger over his lips and quieted him. She placed her hand behind his head and pulled him down so that her lips were at his ear. “You got your wish. Mine was to be with you for every life after this one. You are m
ore than my true love and more than what should be or could have been. Westly you are my other half, my soul mate for lack of better words, and I will love you above all till the end of eternity. I will get my wish, but for this life, I will have to be happy carrying my love for you in my heart.”

  Westly held her tightly in his arms and part of her did not want him to let her go. When he finally did, the two of them started to walk back in the direction of his townhouse in silence. He never took his eyes off of her and she hated seeing the sadness on his face. This was how it needed to end, how it should have long ago - sweet and perfect, with their love for each other in their hearts, being able to say goodbye and look each other in the eyes. They would both hurt from time to time and long for the other, but they would have to find a way to get through it and wait for the next lifetime of love.

  Chapter 26

  It would hurt Abby to be apart from him, it wouldn't be like before. She would feel pain that she would have to try to hide from others. Her hand squeezed his from time to time letting him know it was going to be okay, and he did the same in return. She knew the truth was that all along he was hoping she would stay. They were lucky enough to get this time together and that would have to be enough, for now.

  Abruptly, Westly looked to his left sharply, but it did not catch her attention until he turned her roughly and started in a different direction. Abby looked at his face - it was stern, almost angry.

  “Westly what is going on?”

  “Abby just stay close to my side and please stay quiet. There was a creepy man back that way watching us from behind a bush. I’ve lived in this city long enough to know when something is wrong. We need to walk faster.”

  Westly glanced at his watch and let out a curse under his breath. She wanted to turn and look around but his grip was too tight on her, so she did as he asked, having to take two fast steps to cover one long stride from of his.

  “It’s later than I realized. Come on we need to get out of here fast!”

  They didn’t take more than five steps when a masked man came out from behind a bush with a gun pointed at them. Abby stopped first and Westly quickly pushed her behind his back, putting himself between her and the armed stranger.

  “Give me your money now!” His voice was calm yet rough and direct, she could tell it was not the first time he had done this.

  As Westly cautiously pulled his wallet out of his pocket, Abby glanced around him to see that the gun was pointed right at Westly’s head. She gripped the back of his shirt tightly, fear sinking in as the true seriousness of the situation came to her. This wasn’t a movie or a television show, this was really happening. This was a real robbery with a real gun pointed at them from just a few feet away. Westly pulled all the cash he had out of his wallet along with a credit card. His hand reached out slowly toward the man. Abby kept repeating the words, Take it and run, please take it and run, over and over again in her head. The sharp motion of the gunman’s hand made her jump and pull Westly back to her.

  “The pin number on the card is two, two, two, nine or Abby. There is over twenty thousand in the account, help yourself.”

  “Oh big spender huh? Maybe you have more that you’re not giving me.”

  “Here take my Rolex too, please, no one needs to get hurt.”

  Westly took it off and went to take a few steps forward, but Abby was not going to let him move away from her.

  “What does the lady have? Come to me pretty lady.”

  Abby went to step slowly around Westly but in the next second he had taken a step, blocking her movement. In slow motion Abby watched as both men raised a hand toward the other. Westly’s went up as he said, “No!” and the masked man’s hand raised his gun. The half second between the sounds of Westly’s pleading and the loud bangs from the gun stretched into minutes before it registered that Westly was at her feet and the masked man was gone. She looked around for him for only a second and then fell to Westly’s side. He was bleeding and Abby started to scream, “PLEASE, SOMEONE HELP US! PLEASE WE NEED HELP!”

  Westly was grabbing at her arm weakly as she placed pressure on his chest wound. The tears were streaming out of her eyes now, and she was mumbling, “no,” under her breath as she tried to stop the blood from covering his shirt and her hands. She screamed for help again into the night air, someone had to be out there. Someone had to be hearing her cries! If she kept screaming they would find her faster.

  Westly was gasping for breath under her hands and was trying to speak. She stopped screaming to listen to his words. He muttered them slowly in between ragged breaths that sounded wet and garbled, but she understood every word. “Abs… my Abs… I love you. It’s going… to be… okay… just kiss me.”

  “Westly NO! I’m not going to let you die. No!”

  “Kiss me… and… love me… always. That is all… I need now. It’s… okay… we’ll… be… together… again.”

  Abby started to scream out again but felt dizzy herself. She glanced down at her own shirt, covered in blood. Her mind was getting foggier, but she quickly realized the blood was not just Westly’s but her own as well. She looked down at Westly then, and he was also looking at the blood on her shirt. It was getting harder for her to think now, and she used one hand to lift her own sweater. Westly saw the wound first and groaned. When Abby saw it, she lost control and screamed. She looked at Westly's face and watched as his eyes fluttered shut. She instantly collapsed on top of him as her own eyes fell shut.

  Epilogue

  Thirty-seven years later

  Today my Abs would have turned seventy. I woke up screaming her name this morning, but that is nothing new for me. I have had the same nightmare since the night I came home from the hospital. She’s there every time - smiling at me, happy and beautiful, love in her eyes. Then the blood, I see it, but I can’t do anything, I can never get to her. I stand behind a glass wall and she is on the other side of it, right there out of my reach. I can never do anything but watch her die as she cries out for me to save her over and over again.

  For the first few years after that night in Central Park, it was easier to push the dreams out of my mind during the day. But as I got older so did my dear daughter Abby. The older she got, the more she was out of the house and I was left alone with my thoughts. Then one day she went off to college making the house even emptier. I was alone in the house then, with only my thoughts for company. Without the distraction of her light and carefree spirit, my thoughts often lead to thinking about her, my love, my Abs.

  Once when Abby was about nineteen, she was home for a week from college. I had gone out of the country for a long weekend on business. When I came home she ran to me crying and jumped into my arms. I knew right away that she had read the journals in my study. Many journals, inside them I had written the whole story of the love between Abs and myself. They were the only ones I told my truest and deepest feelings to until the day she read them. I wasn’t mad at her, I knew someday she would read them, but I thought it would be once I was long gone from this world. Into my next life, looking for her, my beautiful Abs, and waiting to fall madly in love with her all over again.

  Years later, after Abby graduated from college, she asked me if she could take my journals and turn them into a novel. She insisted it was a love story like no other. I wasn’t fond of the idea at all, but after a few weeks of her asking me over and over, I said yes and gave the stack of them over to her. It took her a year before she brought it to me. She wanted my approval before publishing it. Though I didn’t need to read it, I already knew the story by heart, I did. She had written wonderfully, and as a father, I was never prouder of her. It was the first of many novels for her, but to me it was the best of all her work.

  I kept a watch on Abs’ children over the years, mostly through Rachel. I was very surprised when she showed up at my door a few weeks after that night. We talked for hours, about everything. For the first time, I broke down crying about what had happened. It was strangely nice to have anoth
er person to share in my grief. So with her help, I kept tabs on the kids. She would send me copies of their school pictures every year. She sent letters or emails when one of them had won an award at school or reached some other milestone in their lives. Watching over them was the least I could do, I felt like I owed that much to Abs and to her children. It was hard watching from afar, never really knowing them at all.

  I wasn’t happy seven years later when their father remarried. That day, as he said his vows, I stood alone at Abs’ grave and talked to her. I could never understand how he could move on without her. When each of her children graduated, I anonymously gave them a twenty thousand dollar scholarship. I was the reason their mother was gone. The money could never take her place, and it never came close to erasing the guilt I felt over Abs death, but I was glad to help them.

  Christian became an architect like his mother; he married young and had two children of his own. Brady played soccer all the way through college. The kid was great at it; I flew out several times to watch him play over the years, always staying back out of site. After college he began working with Jamal and trained some of the best Olympic athletes in the world. Beautiful little Samantha, that girl excelled at everything she tried. I got to meet her once when she was about sixteen. Rachel brought her to New York for Fashion Week. She didn’t tell me she had brought Abs’ daughter with her, and when we meet up for lunch, I was caught off guard altogether. Her eyes were the same as her mothers, her shy tender-heartedness making her even more like my Abs.

  Now I spend each day trying my best to keep busy, I sold the company almost fifteen years ago now. I keep in touch with my niece and nephews and their children; and of course, my daughter calls me daily. But for the most part, I spend my nights with my nightmares of Abs dying; while my days are filled with my memories of her. Every day that I wake up is another day I have to go without her in my life; it is the worst punishment I could ever be given. So I wait for the day that I don’t wake up anymore - the day when I will be with her again.