Buy and Hold $$$ Part 11 Finale …Moonlight Sleeps upon the Bank

in #writing6 years ago



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My flirtation with Sylvia has been discovered and Victor has suitably admonished me.

I feel a total villain, as well I should.

I go looking for Tess and find her on a deck chair staring up at stars.

It’s absurd. I’ve never made any commitment—never even kissed her—but there’s always been an unspoken understanding between us.



The music from the house drifts out into the yard, but no moonlight sleeps upon the bank.

My heart feels blackened with guilt, typical for a man fit only for treasons, stratagems, and spoils.

I’m almost afraid to speak, to break the stillness.



“I‘m sorry, Tess.”

“You don’t owe me an explanation, Gray,” she whispers.

“I do,” I say bleakly.

“Why?”

“Because you deserve the best.”



A shadow falls between us.

I begin again trying to sum up in words the thousand times I felt touches and was drawn to her particular beauty.

“Look, I admit it, I’ve laid awake and dreamt of kissing Sylvia countless times—but something happened to me one day last year—when we were leaving for Christmas vacation. You came over and wished me a merry Christmas—and put your arms around me.”



She looks up at me curiously.

“It changed me somehow. I don’t know how to say it, but you give the best hugs, Tess.”

Her face is still tilted upward. She shuts her eyes. And a tear trills down her cheek. I feel helpless and weak.



“I’ve hurt you,” I say, cupping her face and gently using my thumb to smudge away a tear.

“No—it’s me, not you,” she protests. “It’s silly, but I'm sentimental and always feel sad when I hear sweet music.”

The orchestra is playing a Rodgers and Hart tune and the melody fills the void between us. On impulse, I kneel down and whisper in her ear.


Isn't it romantic, on a moonlight night
She'll cook me onion soup.
Kiddies are romantic and if we don't fight
We're sure to have a troop.

She squeezes my hand and begins to laugh.

We'll help the population,
It's a duty we should owe
To dear old friends…
Isn't it romantic?



Six months later, we’re back at Victor’s Muskoka retreat, not for a party, but a wedding.

Sylvia is Tess’s Maid of Honor with Victor grudgingly agreeing to give Tess away.

“You don’t deserve her—you lucky bastard,” he whispers in my ear.

Tom Barron’s my best man—appropriate, since he’s my only real friend.



We dance to our special song while I sing again in her ear:

Isn't it romantic, music in the night
A dream that can be heard.
Isn't it romantic, moving shadows write
The oldest magic word
.

I hear the breezes playing
In the trees above,
While all the world is saying
You were meant for love



By the side of the dance floor, I see Victor, moody and staring into his scotch. Is he scrying a future with Sylvia, holding up the murky contents to the light?

Is he still jaded?

I want to take him aside and tell him…

It is romantic, Victor…silly, pointless and totally impractical, but at the same time, deeply fulfilling.



© 2018, John J Geddes. All rights reserved



Photo


Isn’t it Romantic – Song lyrics by Rodgers and Hart



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Qué hermoso final, @johnjgeddes. Creo que Gray tenía que vivir todo lo que vivió para poder saber lo que realmente quería. La idea de cómo un abrazo puede cambiar a alguien puede resultar tonto, pero es cierto. Hay personas que cuando abrazan te aman y te hacen sentir como si llegaras a casa. Todos deberíamos tener ese abrazo que que nos sirva de refugio en cualquier noche oscura. Hoy, especialmente, entre mi pecho y mis brazos, tú.

Gracias, Nancy - siempre eres tan amable, y tienes razón - pequeños gestos pueden cambiar a las personas, más de lo que nunca sabremos

I liked your story. Good "The end"

You're welcome

Nice ending, John...hopefully, Victor will find happiness before it is too late. Or is it already?

ha ha, good question :)

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I agree with Victor, he doesn't deserve Tess. But perhaps Sylvia deserves Victor ... I am not sure I am much of a romantic these days:) But Loved this tale:)

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