Snippet Saturday – How can you mend a broken heart?

This weeks theme is heart break and what can be worse than discovering your marriage was a sham?

Miki hung up the receiver and went back to the dining table. Not that it really bothered her to hear him say he loved her. No, what bothered her was that it made her miss him. Miss them and all they were offering. With a sigh, she plonked down in her chair. Five days without seeing them. Five days of continuous phone calls that should have driven her batty. Instead she lived for those scant few minutes where she got to hear one of their voices. Damn. She was so screwed up. And probably screwing up the best thing that ever happened to her into the bargain.

She dragged the next box closer to her chair and leaned over to pull the top photo album out. Her breath caught when the album below was revealed. A white embossed leather cover with gold script, an intricate pattern around the edges and a couple entwined on a love seat in the centre. Her wedding album. Miki traced the fancy design with a fingertip. So much lay hidden under the cover. So many dreams and hopes that had never seen the light of day. So many lies. So much deceit.

With trembling fingers, Miki picked up the album and, like it was a bomb about to explode, placed it gingerly on the table. The other albums were forgotten as she stared at that white cover now dull with age. It still felt soft under her fingertips. The leather, although in need of care, had stood the test of time and neglect. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen the photos inside. Couldn’t remember packing it away.

Reaching over for the dust rag, Miki carefully brushed the thin layer coating the album. She wasn’t sure how she felt about looking inside, but she knew she was going to. Lifting the cover to reveal the first page, she held her breath. What did it say about her that she couldn’t remember what picture would greet her? Her fingertips lightly traced the black and white shot. She and David running through the tunnel of bubbles their guests were blowing over them. The picture had been her favourite. How had she forgotten that?

The next few pages were her and her bridesmaids getting ready. She laughed at the look on Frankie’s face. They’d had so much fun getting their hair and make-up done, pulling on their dresses. Miki studied the shot of her and Frankie admiring the beading in Miki’s gown. The memory of that day came flooding back, Frankie bitching about the silly froufrou skirt and the girly peach colour. For all her protesting, she’d been a knockout in that dress. Her friend had been willing to do anything for her even though she’d hated the groom-to-be.

Miki frowned. Frankie had hated David with a passion, and at first she’d been upset that her future husband and best friend didn’t get along. But it had quickly become apparent that Frankie and David were happy to ignore each other as much as possible and be pleasant when they couldn’t. She had to wonder why Frankie had never said, “I told you so,” when things had started to unravel between her and David. Her best friend had lived up to the title by being everything Miki had needed every step of the way. Especially during the hard last few years of her marriage and then when David had gotten himself killed and the woman with him badly injured.

She turned another page and stared at the picture taken minutes after she and David had spoken their vows. Happiness radiated off the young woman in the arms of her new husband. Miki remembered being so happy, deliriously happy. But David…he looked happy enough, but the smile didn’t quite reach his eyes and he seemed to be holding her awkwardly as though he were uncomfortable. Miki looked closer. Why had she never noticed the strained edge to him before?

He’d always been happiest in the limelight, and yet in this picture it was like he couldn’t wait for it to be over so he could move away. Miki’s stomach rolled. She quickly flipped over another page and examined the photos carefully. The bridal party, everyone pressed together so they could all fit in, but David was angled away from her while she leaned into him smiling a dazzling white smile. Another picture, another tense embrace. Her stomach clenched.

Why had she never taken notice before? Had her complete joy over her wedding overshadowed her groom’s unhappiness? Because that’s what he was, unhappy. In every picture, on every page, on his face, in his eyes, his body language said he wasn’t happy. How could she miss that? Miki pushed the album aside, picked up a different one. This one held snapshots of their honeymoon. Again, there was stiffness in David’s embrace, but he did seem happy, at least his eyes were smiling in these pictures.

She flicked through page after page, album after album. Each one showing their lives until the last one held mainly scenery, the odd snap of her or him, but none of them together. The last photo was taken two years before David’s death. When had she stopped documenting their adventures? Staring up at her was David, the angry creases in his forehead, the frown on his lips and the fire shooting from his eyes. He hadn’t wanted her at the off-road racing gala day. He’d been furious when she’d shown up. It wouldn’t be until two years later that she would understand why.

Michelle had been there, one of the sponsor’s promo girls. It all made perfect sense. His disinterest in going places with her, the way he’d withheld information about where he was going, what he was doing. Miki closed her eyes, squeezed them tight against the pain lancing her temple, her heart. It had all been a lie. Every last day of her life was a lie. Tears flowed down her face, dripped from her chin. She’d thrown away her dreams and hopes on a man who’d never had an interest in catching them. In making them real.

Miki shoved away from the table, swept the albums to the floor and stared at the jumbled mess she’d made.

“Oh God,” she groaned, and bent at the waist as her stomach cramped. “What have I done?”

She stood up, turned around. Took a step. Stopped. Turned back. Miki lashed out, kicked the photo album closest to her. Pain shot through her big toe and into her foot, but she didn’t care. Pain was real. She kicked out again. And again. Stomping on the pictures that couldn’t hide the truth. Jumping up and down, she smashed the white album, tearing the leather with her rage. Then she stopped as suddenly as she’d begun and gasped.

Spinning on her heel, she ran from the room. “I have to go.” Miki searched for her shoes and keys. She’d wasted years on a relationship that never stood a chance and yet she’d been willing to walk away from one that felt as right as breathing just because it wasn’t normal. “Stupid.”

Purse in hand and flip-flops on her feet, Miki raced out the door.

You can find out more info on Truth Or Dare HERE!

The list of  this weeks participating authors :

Megan Hart:Read in bed!

Rhian Cahill

Eliza Gayle

Jody Wallace

Mandy M Roth

Lissa Matthews

Leah Braemel

Mari Carr

McKenna Jeffries

Myla Jackson

Taige Crenshaw

Delilah Devlin

HelenKay Dimon

Shiloh Walker

TJ Michaels

Lauren Dane