Woman’s Weekly UK – 06 August 2019

womansweekly.com 41

P

aulnoticedSallythe

momentheclimbed

intothewater.He

hadn’tlaideyesonherfor

almost 20 years,sincehe’d

beenlittlemorethana

teenager,buthe’dlether

slipthroughhisfingers.He

hadn’tbeenreadytocommit

tothelevelshe’dwanted.

He’dhadnoidea she was

backin Devon.

Hewaitedforherto come

backtowardshim.

‘Hi,Sally.’Hepausedashe

sawa glintof recognitionin

hereyes.‘Doyoucomehere

often?’Asthewordslefthis

mouth,hecouldhavekicked

himself.It wassucha cliché.

‘Mostdays,’shesaid,

stopping.Shescannedhis

features.‘It is Paul,isn’tit?

PaulEdwards?It’sgoodto see

youagainafterallthistime.’

Henodded,relieved,but

beforehecouldcontinuethe

conversation,shekicked

backherheels,divedunder

thewaterandvanished.

Servesmeright,hethought.

I shouldhavecomeupwith

a betteropeningline.

Sheemergeda fewseconds

later,startlinghim.

‘Sorryaboutthat.I saw

somethingshinyonthe

bottom.’Sheopenedher

handandshowedhimwhat

she’dfound.It wasa wedding

ring.Anexpensivewedding

ring,too.‘It’snotyours,is it?’

Paulshookhishead.

Sallylookedpuzzled.‘In

thatcase,I’dbetterhandit in

at reception.’She’dgone

beforehecouldreact.

✿✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿

Hehadnoideawhyhe’d

lied.Nowhe’dhaveto pick

uptheringonhiswayout.

It hadbeenloosefora

whilenow,buthehadn’t

beenableto takeit offforthe

lastfewyears.He’dbeen

buildingupto it. Aftera

coupleof lacklustrelengths,

heleftthepool,butwhen

heaskedat reception,it

hadn’tbeenhandedin.

Paulwonderedwhathad

happened. The Sally he had

SHORT STORY

knownwasn’tthetypeto

stealthings,butthenhe

hadn’tseenherfor 15 years.

It wasallhissister’sfault.

She’dgivenhima yearlypass

to theleisurecentrefor

Christmasandhadbeen

nagginghimto useit.

‘YouandValusedto love

goingswimming,’shesaid.

‘Whoknows,youmightmeet

somebody.I bumpedinto

SallyParkestheotherday.

Shegoesafterwork.I’msure

she’dloveto seeyouagain.’

Heshookhishead

nervously.‘No,thanks.I’d

rathergowhenthe pool

isn’tsobusy.’

She’dsighed,exasperated.

‘Fine.Sowhen?’

‘I’llgoonWednesday –

half-pastseven.’

He’donlygoneto thepool

becauseheknewshewould

holdhimto it. Nowhehad

no choice. He’d have to go

backto thepoolandtackle

Sallyabouthismissingring.

It wasonlyashedrove

therethenextmorning,he

realisedhewaslooking

forwardto seeingheragain.

✿✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿

Assoonashegotintothe

water,Sallyspottedhim.

‘I wasn’tsureyou’dbe

back,’shebegan.

‘I needa word.Haveyou

timefora coffeeafterwards?’

Shenodded.‘I’llmeetyou

in thecaféin halfanhour.’

Thenshedisappeared back

underthewater.

Paulreluctantlyswama

fewwidths,thenwentto the

caféto waitforher.

WhenSallywalked

towardshim,hisheart

flipped.Justthewayit used

to dowheneverhesawhis

wife.Wearinga tailored

businesssuit,shelooked

both smart and feminine.

‘I wantedto talkto you
abouttheringyoufound
yesterday,’hesaid.
Shereachedintoherbag,
pulledouttheringandgave
it to him,thenhesitateda
momentbeforeshespoke.
‘I knewit wasyours.It’s
engravedwiththedateof the
weddingandtwonames,
PaulandValerie.’
‘I couldn’tbearto takeit
off,’hesaidmatter-of-factly,
butblushinga little.‘Though
I knewthetimehadcome.
Thankyouforgivingit back.’
Hewasaboutto walkaway
whenshesaidsomethingthat
madehimsitbackdown.
‘I wantedto seeyouagain,’
shecalled,herfacealso
flushingpink.‘If I’dhanded
itin,thatmightnothave
happened.I bumpedinto
yoursistertheotherday.She
toldmehowdifficultyou’d
foundthelastfewyearsand
howyouwerestartingto
thinkaboutgettingbackout
there.Shethought, maybe
I couldhelp.’
‘I see,’saidPaulslowly,as
thingsbeganto makesense.
Hesmiled.‘Letmeguess,
shetoldyouwhen I’d be
at thepool?’
Sallynodded.‘Yourring
fallingoffgavemean
opening.I thoughtyou’dbe
sopleasedto getit back,I’d
geta chanceto talkto you
properly,catchupafterall
thistime.Whenyousaidit
wasn’tyours,it threwme.
I couldhardlyadmitour
meetingwasn’taccidental.’
Paulgrinnedat her,laying
hisringdowngentlyonthe
tablein frontof them.
Hewouldhavesomething
to sayto hissisterthenext
timetheyspoke...butsecretly,
hehadto admitthathewas
gladshe’dinterfered.
Then,onimpulse,he
reachedforSally’shand,and
thatwasthemomenthe
realised.Hewasn’tabout
to letherslipthroughhis
fingers asecondtime.
TheEnd
Linda Lewis, 2019
© TI MEDIA, 2019. PHOTO: GETTY

Slipping

through his

FINGERS

Aftersomanyyearsapart,would

Sally even recognise him again?