To Earn The Chance

She didn't give up. Every week, she invited him to Sunday coffee, Tuesday dinner, and a Friday movie night. Each week he declined with "regrets." She began to email him a note everyday at lunch, letting him know what was going on with their family, repairs needed on the house, and mundane things a roommate would need to know as much as a husband. Every email was answered with a simple "Thank you."

She began to watch his nightly swims poolside, and found herself touching herself gently after he finished and glided his naked frame past her and into his cave. She carefully wore attractive, but not slutty or even revealing clothing. She began to go to sleep earlier at night, and was awake when he ascended the basement stairs to the kitchen for breakfast. She used the timer on the coffee machine to have it ready for him as soon as he wanted.

Still, she left him alone as he requested. Just as he had left her without moving out, she was with him without his acknowledgement. He held out for two months. Finally, one balmy night, he climbed out of the pool and toweled off. He regarded her carefully, as if sizing her up for some struggle. Then he sighed and asked her what she wanted.

"You," she sighed. "I want to turn back time and handle things differently. I want to take away your pain, and my betrayal. I want your trust and love. I want to talk the night away again. I want my sweetheart back. So if you ever hear of a magic lamp with a genie in it, let me know. But there are no lamps. So tonight, I'm going to just settle for hearing you ask me what I wanted. Thank you for that, Danny. And for the rest, I'm sorry."

She got up out of the lounge chair, fighting the urge to jump into his arms. And it was his turn to watch her walk away, and want her. If only she hadn't fucked that asshole. If only she had kept her legs tight. If only...if only...if only he didn't still love her so much. If only that didn't hurt so badly. If only there were a way.

"Martie?"

She froze in her place. He said her name. He didn't shout it. He didn't say it with an accusatory tone. He didn't bristle at it. He said it gently, like he did when he loved her. His voice caressed her like she wanted his arms to do. She turned slowly and raised her eyes to his. They still oozed the pain of her betrayal in tears that fell fast to the pool deck. But something was different. He was in there now. He was in there with the pain, where before she only saw empty hate.

"It hurts you know."

Her heart fell in her chest, and she crumpled to the ground. She was crying hard, like she had never cried before. She could barely speak, and what she said was a blubbering mess in indistinguishable babble. She was unaware he had left her until he returned with a glass of ice water. It was the most refreshing thing she had ever tasted, as he kneeled and guided the glass to her lips.

She searched for words, but each start she made was something out of a dime store novel. He waited patiently, but in the end, she had nothing. He pulled her to him and they sank arm in arm into the chaise by the pool. She buried her face in his shoulder and cried. His strong arm enveloped her and held her close. They stayed until the air grew too cold, and he carried her into the house. He carried her up to the first floor, then to her bedroom where he laid her under the canopy of the queen sized bed the had shared for so many nights.

"Stay."

She whispered.

"Not yet."

And he walked back out, gently closing the door on his way.

The next morning, she found the latest RSVP card for her invitation to Thursday dinner. She opened it slowly and read his flowing hand.

"I'll be there."

She ran to his room, but he wasn't there. She checked the driveway and his truck was gone. She was on pins and needles all day wanting to talk to him, but he didn't come home at dinner time. She heard him later that night, and rushed to meet him at all the door. When he dragged his body into the house, it was obvious he was physically exhausted. There had been an accident on a job site when a backhoe operator unwittingly snagged a support line with his rear bucket while using the front. He had pulled down a wall and caught a young carpenter in the wreckage. Daniel had worked feverishly to free the man, and had ridden to the hospital with him in the ambulance. He stayed through the emergency surgery, and waited until the young men's family could be reached and arrived. Even then Danny waited until the doctors let the family know the worker was out of danger, and would recover completely.

It wasn't a night to chat. He poured three fingers of bourbon and went down to his bed. He was gone when she woke up Thursday morning, and she wondered if she would indeed have his company that evening. Promptly at 6:30, she knocked on the door to his basement apartment.

"Come on in!" he called up from below.

She waited a bit, and knocked again. She could hear him grumble as his feet thudded up the steps. The door opened to reveal him still in boxers and a t-shirt.

"Well," she said, "if this is how you meet all your dates, I'm certain you'll be very popular. You look great!"

He blushed crimson, and began to stammer an excuse about her usually being late for a date time. She grinned.

"Not anymore, Daniel. I'm not taking any chances. How do I look?"

He blushed again. As unprepared as he was, she was perfect. She handed him flowers.

"When you are running Late, it's customary to invite your date in for a drink while you finish getting ready."

Danny opened the door wide for her and allowed her to pass down the stairs into his lair.

"I, uh, don't have a..."

She produced a vase from beneath the wrap she had folded over her hand, and took the flowers across the room to the little wet bar where she gave them a fresh cut and arranged them.

"Since you aren't going to offer, I'm going to make us each a gin and tonic while you finish dressing."

She poured the drinks and brought him his glass while he remained locked to his place on the floor.

"Cheers," she toasted once he had glass in hand. They each took a sip.

"I am going to tell you a tale. I'll make it short, because we have reservations for dinner. You should finish dressing."

He moved to his closet, and took out a shirt.

"Once upon a time a handsome prince of a man saved me from the drudgery of the life of a single mom. Between work and meeting the needs of my kids, I had no time for me. He met me and swept me off my feet. He gave my kids and I a place in his wonderful family, who embraced us and took us into their lives. We were a match in every way. We even added to the family by having two babies of our own. But once everyone was grown there were holes in our lives. I filled that hole badly. I regret it more than anything else in my life, and am ashamed.

"It was my doing. It was my fault. So I need to make the new start. I don't want to be your roommate anymore, I want to be your wife again. I want to be your friend and your partner. I want to be the first one to hear your good news, the shoulder you cry on with bad news, and the only person you share your secrets with. I want to regain your trust, and make your life as whole as you made mine all those years ago.

"So it's my turn to court you. Courtship is a time to explore, and for each person to show the other just how good it can be. You courted me, and you were irresistible. I need to court you now, and be irresistible in letting you know how deeply I am devoted to you. I don't plan to waste time, or to hold back anything. So here goes..."

She kneeled in front of him, took one hand in hers and produced a ring. It was his wedding ring, but was now bound to a companion ring in which was tastefully set a ruby flanked by two small diamonds.

"The ruby is blood red, to recognize both the pain I caused and the sacrifice I'm asking you to make for us. The diamonds are for two chances, one for the chance I blew. It is of poor clarity and flawed. The second is for the for the chance I hope to earn someday. It is perfect, and clear. Danny, I'm proposing this time. I'm proposing that you stay married to me for a while, and give me a chance to be a better wife to you. You don't even have to answer. You just have to go out with me tonight, and stay here near me, like you are. I will do the rest. I will prove myself to you, and earn my way back. I will be happy with whatever you give me. You could have thrown me out by now. I could be going over divorce papers with a lawyer and looking for an apartment. But you haven't, and I will never stop loving you."

He took the ring and looked at it. Then he set it on his dresser while he slipped on a nice pair of slacks, and tucked in his shirt. She waited silently as he tied a tie, slipped on socks and shoes, and tossed a blazer over his shoulder. He went back to the dresser and picked up the ring, which he seemed to slip into his pocket. She was a bit crestfallen at that last motion until he took her hand, and quietly slid her wedding and engagement rings back to their place on her left hand. He then slid her rings onto his finger, and looked up to the tears in her eyes.

"Let's go," he whispered as he kissed her forehead. She gasped as she looked up into his glinting blue eyes. "We'd should get going," he smirked, "you have a lot of courting to do, I'm not going to be easy."

"You never were," she said as she smiled back at him.