Rhiwbina Living 62

“Well, Ben Knight. I’m Amanda
Jones and I will be forever grateful
for this.”
He took the offered phone from
her hands and began taking
some shots. The one little girl was
determined to go gold mining up
her nose so he sang out, “Wave
your hands in the air! And wave
them like you just don’t care!”
As if they had been
choreographed, they proceeded
to do just that. He quickly took
some shots, switching it to video
to capture the moment. He was
just handing the phone back when
he heard a lilting voice he had not
heard in decades.
“Ben? Is that really you?”
He whipped around, narrowly
missing tripping over his own feet.
“Jennifer.”
Sound, time, literally everything
ceased to exist. Their eyes
connecting made sure of that.
She reached over and gently
touched his cheek. “It has been too
long.”
He leaned into her touch, reaching
to hold her hand in place along his
jaw which was now clenching in
emotion. “Yes,” was all he could get
out.
Amanda watched this reunion with
great interest. If these two weren’t
two halves to one soul, she would
eat the entire SpongeBob birthday
cake. She did a quick, “Ahem,”
breaking the apparent spell. “I just
wanted to say thank you for your
help.”
Her daughter reached over to pull
on his shirt. “Me too,” the highpitched
voice said politely.
Ben crouched down and asked,
“Are you the birthday girl?” An
impish smile was her response. “I’m
Jade and I’m eight.”
Jennifer watched the exchange
and could feel her heart swell. He
had not changed a bit. Maybe a bit
of grey in his hair and beard, but
he could still capture the attention
of every female in a ten-kilometre
radius. There was a sincerity about
him, plus a sense that he could
capably handle anything that came
his way.
“Eight? Is that all? I would have
guessed nine.”
The girl proceeded to blush. Yes.
He hadn’t changed a bit. Jennifer
also crouched down. “Happy
birthday to a very beautiful eightyear-old.”
Amanda looked at them both.
There was an energy that
connected them. She was always
able to pick up on these things
and the feeling was particularly
strong with these two. Something
momentous was happening and
she wanted to witness it. She
nodded, making a snap decision.
“Would you two like some birthday
cake? It’s chocolate.”
“And SpongeBob,” her daughter
added.
Ben and Jennifer exchanged
a glance, smiling. “I do love
chocolate,” she said.
“And I’ve been mistaken for
Squidward before.”
Amanda snorted. “I highly doubt
it, Sir Squidward.” She led them
over to a group of picnic tables in
the shade of some large oak trees,
teal and gold balloons attached
to the benches with a huge cake
on display. A lone seagull had just
been considering making a move
but ten of the kids had charged,
causing it to take off with a squawk.
After introductions were made at
the table, they proceeded to sing
“Happy Birthday” and within minutes
were all eating the delicious cake.
“How do you two know each
other?” Amanda didn’t beat around
the bush.
Ben paused. “Jennifer is the
woman I should be spending the
rest of my life with.”
Jennifer gasped. “Ben! Take that
back. You’re married.”
Amanda raised an eyebrow. The
plot had thickened. “I want to hear
this story. And quickly while their
mouths are full.”
Ben looked at Jennifer and
glanced over at the falls. “Did you
know almost 700,000 gallons
of water go over the falls in one
second?” The mist was starting to
make its way in their direction as the
wind shifted across the horseshoeshaped
falls.
“I did not know that bit of trivia.”
Amanda watched many expressions
move across his face in rapid
succession.
“A lot can happen in one second.”
He proceeded to tell the story
of Ben and Jennifer. They met in
university. Had always felt as if
they had known each other. The
attraction was instant and they had
fallen deeply in love.
“Deeply,” Jennifer agreed.
But he screwed up. One night,
he had too many beverages at
the campus bar and woke up in
someone else’s room.
“And she was sure to send me
photos.” Jennifer rolled her eyes.
“Oh, no.” Amanda glared at Ben.
“What were you thinking?”
Ben looked shamefaced. “I didn’t
even remember it, for what it's
worth. And it turns out there was a
reason for it.” He grimaced. “She had
set the whole thing up to make it
look like we had done the deed and
I assumed we actually had.”
“You still married her one year
later.” Jennifer had flames shooting
out of her green eyes. Gone was
the calm demeanour, now replaced
with pure, vibrating emotion.
“You what?!” Amanda handed
another piece of cake to Jennifer. “It
was a mistake.”
“Ben. You cannot say that.”
“I can. We’re divorced now.”
The silence stretched out. Jennifer
turned to look into Ben’s eyes. “Why
did you leave me? How could you
do that to us? To what we were? To
what might have been?”
Amanda quickly handed out some
sliced watermelon to the kids so
she could help these two get things
on the track she suspected they
should be on.
“Sometimes, it’s all about timing. It
wasn’t your time. But here you are
now. Two halves of one soul. I would
stake my life on it. And the universe
has brought you together at this
moment for this second chance. It’s
up to you what you do with it now.”
She gave their hands a squeeze,
walking away to play frisbee on the
stretch of grass nearby.
The mist enveloped them, washing
away the angst of the past. And love
was all that was left.
“I have always loved you,” he said
with tears in his eyes. He would
never forgive himself for the pain
he had caused her. “Not a day has
gone by where I have not thought
of you. In all these years.”
“And I have always loved you.”
She trembled. Was it possible they
could finally get things right? Could
she forgive him and move forward,
confident he knew she had always
been ‘the one’?
He turned her towards him. “I
watched you sitting over there,
smiling at strangers, a calm in the
storm of humanity, and I felt like
I was home. You are, and have
always been my home.”
She began to weep quietly at the
wasted years. “I’ve always been
yours.”
Lips connected and the world
stopped turning for a moment, to
allow these two some stolen time.
For love will always find a way to
bring a soul back together on a
summer’s breeze.
By Rose Barrett
short story
47