The following story is fictional, or not. The characters depicted in the story are also fictional, or not. The events described in the story did happen, or maybe they didn't... I will write it over a period of time... you decide if its true or not..
Click the following for previous chapters:
Chapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4Chapter 5The Feng Shui Man Said
Chapter 6: False HappinessImages of the last time I set foot in Camarthen filled my mind as I paced around the living room. Melanie had to take a call from her husband and stepped out with the boy and his nanny, before I could ask her the million and one questions I had in my mind.
It was the night before I left Wales. We had driven down to Bath for the afternoon and ended up having a nice, romantic pasta dinner at a quaint little restaurant just outside Cardiff on our way back. I don't remember much of our conversation at dinner. I do remember I was feeling on cloud nine and had a big painful ache in my heart all at the same time. It must have been the anticipation of leaving for home the next day that was playing on my heart. After dinner, Melanie insisted on driving and used the excuse that my insurance coverage had run out but I found out later she wanted to drive because we were not going straight home. I was looking out the window, a thousand painful thoughts going through my mind as the car moved smoothly along the expressway. I noticed that she missed the exit to Cardiff, and turned to tell her, but the sly grin on her face told me she had missed it on purpose. Eventually we turned into Carmathen, a neighbouring town. She drove us up the hill at the town center and parked at an open air carpark in front of the huge Camarthen Castle. It looked simply magnificent silhoutted against the moonlight.
As we walked up the coble stone path up to the main drawbridge of the castle, Melanie held my hand and whispered quietly in my ear, "I wish this night would never end".
We spent a couple of hours just standing in the middle of the drawbridge, staring down at what was once a deep moat which surrounded the castle. We didn't speak much. Just stood there, holding hands and hugging each other. We made magic that night. The next day, I left.
I stopped pacing. My mind was racing, calculating the number of years that had passed. Joshua looked like he was 8 or 9 years old. My heart went into overdrive as I contemplated the possibility that he was my... my son. The timing seemed to add up. It was too much of a coincidence. It had to be. It was all making sense to me now. Shortly after I returned home all those years ago, Melanie had vanished. No one knew where she was or how to get in touch with her.. It was a year before she started contacting her friends again. And it was to be several years before she got in touch with me again.
“What are you thinking about?” I jumped. Melanie had entered the room again.
Before I could answer, she put her right index finger on my lips and motioned for me to be quiet.
“Kelvin is coming home the day after tomorrow. He has cut his trip short”, she said as we both sat on the couch. “Please listen carefully to me. I want you to leave before he gets back. I know we planned for a longer visit, but you have to go. And… after you leave, we will never see or speak to each other again”.
“But why?”, I said, fighting back the tears that were welling up in my eyes. “Why tell me about our Son then ask me to leave?
“Joshua is not yours”.
“What? But he looks the right age. He has to be mine”,
“Come one, you of all people should know that monogamy is not my cup of tea! He is not yours. I wanted you to know about him because I want you to know I have some issues to deal with. I am trying to sort things out and get my life in order. Having you at the other end of an email message or telephone line is not making things easier for me. We would never be happy. I have to get you out of my system”.
“Why on earth did you ask me to come and see you? I don’t get it”. I was losing control of my senses. It felt like I had been hit by a locomotive.
“I wanted to tell you in person... and,.. er.. hold you one last time. I have been totally unfair to you. I shouldn’t have led you to believe there was any hope left in us. With you, I wanted to have my cake and eat it too. Our friendship has to end. We can never be together. You are looking for false happiness with me. I’m sorry”.
Chapter 7