Six
months (it seems so much longer) earlier, life was just like it should have
been, when I was staying in a rented house in southern Macedonia. My parents
were living in the northern part of the country. I had moved to the south following a
difference in opinion with my father, who was very traditional in his views and
insisted on leading a retired lifestyle, away from all the hustle and bustle of
city life.
I, on the other
hand had just landed a job as an assistant secretary in a small chartered
accountancy firm. It wasn’t very high paying, but I was contented all the same.
It was my second month on the job and I had already landed my first pay rise.
And like the icing on top of the cake of my existence, I had just met Joan. She
was a clerk at the nearby departmental store. I had gone to the store to buy
some provisions. After selecting the needful, I started to thread my way
through the throng of people with an armload of items to the cash counter. As I
neared the counter the corner of my eye caught a flashy sign posted on the wall
‘ SPRONG’S WHEAT FLAKES ‘. I made my way to the shelf and somehow managed to
load my already full arms with a packet of the flakes. As luck would have it a
small boy racing towards his mom with a toy car in his hand decided to take a
route on which I happened to be a barrier rather than a bystander. SMACK!! I
was flat on the ground with my provisions strewn around me. People were
beginning to stare at me, lying on the floor at the center of a serious mess.
My ears were beginning to turn pink with embarrassment when she was beside me,
dressed in a blue uniform complete with a white apron. Our eyes met and that
was all that was required. She was the prettiest girl I had laid my eyes upon.
After I had made my purchase, I asked her out to a movie that night, followed
by dinner. We met frequently after that. I made it a point to take her out to dinner
at least twice a week. We went on long walks in the park, chatting about
various issues - our parents, our families, our friends and our jobs.
Working hours at
my accounting firm were difficult. I however always found a way to spend time
with Joan. The time I spent with her more than compensated for any hard work I
had to do because it was mostly my pay that financed our dates. Three months
after I met her, I asked her to marry me. She told me that she’d have her
answer ready in a week’s time. Everything in my life seemed to be going on so
well, my existence seemed perfect – that was…. until the phone call came.
Little did I expect that my life, with its regularities and routine bliss was
about to take an unexpected twist within the next couple of days.
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