It had been a beautiful sunny day, nothing to get worried about, except that my wife Heather had gone and taken with her everything she could. And she had gone for good, only leaving me a letter in which she had written her last goodbyes. I had also found her promise ring and a divorce certificate in the envelope. So I was left to raise our little daughter Liz all on my own. This task was really difficult to achieve for I had a hard job. Heather had been my first real love. We had been a couple ever since we were 16 (her) and 19 (me). I had proposed marriage to her right after she told me she was pregnant with Liz. We had been such a nice and lovely couple. And then just one day, she was gone. Gone for good… And believe it or not: I still was in love with her. I had never been very interested in women ever since. I had often enough tried and realized it wouldn’t work out. And I didn’t want my daughter to get used to a ‘new mother’ every now and again. Twenty years had passed. My daughter being in her mid twenties had left home to get settled long ago. She had always been the only true companion I could count on, the most precious person I could ever have. I loved her like a father can love his own child. Every now and then she would show up and give her old man a little company. As for me: I was in my early fifties trying my best not to get old too fast. For this I practiced several martial arts. I was a black belt Karate and Tae-Kwon-Do fighter . And to complete my sportive activities, I went to work by bike every day. But all of this couldn’t stop my hair from getting gray. This day – a Saturday – my daughter was about to come around once more for the weekend. I had to pick her up at the train station in the early evening. It was a chilly fall evening and the first signs of the upcoming winter drew everyone’s attention. Liz looked great as she always did. She was standing right in front of the main entrance of the station and her long straight blonde hair was rhythmically waving in the wind. She stepped into my car. “Good evening young lady,” I said. “Hi dad,” she said kissing me on the cheek. “How are you?” “I’m happy, as always when I get to see you, Liz. Any plans for tonight?” “Sure,” she replied, “I had a few of my old friends on the phone this afternoon and there’s gonna be a great party at the Murphy’s pub and everyone’s invited.” “And how are you?” I asked. “Fine. As you said: as always when I get to see my daddy.” She smiled. “There’s something I need to tell you since like forever…” She paused. “I’ve got a new boyfriend.” “That’s something nice to hear. What’s his name?” “He’s called Joey and I met him a while ago at a friend’s birthday party.” “Joey, huh? I’d like to meet him. You gotta introduce him to me one day, promise?” “Sure. How about you? Any new girl in your life, dad?” “No. But you know that as long as I have you, I’m happy. You’re my only girl and you know that.” “But dad, I don’t like seeing you all alone in your house. And you know that too. Couldn’t you at least try to find a companion? I just want my daddy to be happy.” I just smiled at her. “You’re the one that makes me happy and you’ve always been, Liz.” I sighed. “And now let’s talk of something else. Where do you want to eat tonight?” “Let’s go to the Chinese around the corner. I like that place best.” “Then the Chinese it shall be.” First we went back home to get rid of her traveling bag. Then we walked to the Chinese which took us less than five minutes. We had a nice long chat about ongoing stuff, news et cetera. We had half a bottle of Bordeaux to accompany the great meal. After another ankara escort good chat it was around 9 p.m. and about time for us to go. As the waiter handed us the bill, I said, “I’m inviting you today.” But Liz was faster. “Says you,” she said giving the waiter a 50 dollar bill, “you invited me the last three times, now it’s my turn.” We got back home before our ways parted for the night. She had to meet up with some of her local friends before getting to the Murphy’s as she had said. As for me, I made my way to a bar I used to go every now and then again. It was some sort of a rock and blues club where they would play old hits like Still got the Blues, Texas Flood or Hey Joe. And this day was special: They had a blues band supposed to come on stage. They were called Joe and his Broken Men. As I entered the club I was recognized by the security guy. “Hey Jack! How are you tonight?” “Fine, Tom,” I replied, “thanks for asking. Did I already miss something?” “Don’t worry, it’s not gonna start until an hour or two.” I headed straight to the bar. They had a new girl around 25 fixing the drinks. I ordered a good old fashion coke for I had to take a ride home after that evening. She was good looking, hazel eyes and orange sized breasts hidden behind a dark green tank top. And she was kind too. The bar had always had nice staff. As she handed me my glass, she smiled at me. She was cute, so I made my best to smile back. I took a deep look in her eyes as the first chords of Red House came from the speakers. I would have asked her for a dance and joined the people on the dance floor but she had a job waiting to be done and she smiled like this for every customer, I guessed. My eyes travelled over the crowd and estimated that there were 150 people and an average age of 35. So I was one of the eldest in there. I was wondering whether I had to feel part of the younger crowd or if I should rather feel like a gaffer trying his hardest not to look too old. I didn’t waste that much time on that thought. I am here to have fun, right? I thought. I let the music guide my body only stopping to get small sips of my coke. Soon a lady around 40 joined me and matched her moves with mine. She held a Campari and soda in her hand. I figured out that she was insanely drunk and I gently wove her aside. She soon found another guy to dance with who was at least 15 years younger than she was. Some other women tried to get me to dance with them but I turned them all down. I wasn’t out for nookie that night; I only wanted to enjoy the Broken Men. After an hour, they began their sound check. They didn’t take too long. By now everyone had slightly drawn nearer to the stage to greet the artists. All three of them were men a little younger than me. The singer and guitarist greeted the crowd with a short “Hi there! I’m Joe, and these are my wonderful Broken Men!” I could hear some people answer with a loud “Hey Joe!” But the first song wasn’t Hey Joe, although they covered former blues bands. They started with Little Wing by Jimi Hendrix. They went through a whole range of well known songs of Stevie Ray Vaughn, Gary Moore, Joe Bonamassa and so on. Their talent was indeed impressive and the sound was great. More than once they were rewarded by great ovations coming from the audience. After a good two hour show, they had done their job. It was getting early in the morning but I wasn’t tired enough yet. I headed to the bar to get me another coke. As I ordered my drink, I could make out the shape of two people arguing from the corner of my eye. I couldn’t make out who they were, but I could tell ankara escort bayan it had to be a guy with his wife or his girlfriend from the voices. I wasn’t acting concerned until I had my drink fixed. I watched a little bit of the scene. It was happening a two feet from me. Before I realized what was really going on I saw a male hand rise up as if to slap someone in the face. I understood that the situation was going to escalate so I grabbed the man’s wrist. He spun around to see who or what was blocking the track of his hand to his companion’s face. He reeked of alcohol like the worst vodka you could get. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” I said stoically. “None of your business,” he stammered while raising his free fist to land it on my face. Before either one of us could make another move, I felt a strong hand grab me by my shoulder. It was Tom. “I’m sorry to bother you but I need to put the two of you outside,” he said in a friendly yet bossy tone. I followed without any resistance. This other guy needed to be hauled off by three security employees. As soon as he was outside, he fell to the ground and fell asleep like a rock. I heard a familiar female voice call my name: “Jack! Everything alright?” I knew that voice but still I wondered who was asking for me. I looked in the direction I had heard the call from. And I saw a well-known but aged face come towards me: It was Heather, the lady who had left me for another man twenty years before. My eyes locked onto her face. I was hallucinating, I thought. But I was wrong, of course. So there we were, Heather and I, remaining in front of the entrance with Tom standing right next to us. “I’m sorry Jack. I’m afraid I may not let you enter here tonight again,” he said wrinkling his forehead. “It’s the rules. You cause ruckus, you gotta stay out. I’m sorry.” Heather stepped to him to whisper something in his ear. He had to bend over for she was not a tall woman. After two minutes, both of them seemed to agree on something I wasn’t quite sure about until she showed me; she took me by my hand and guided me into the club again. “Don’t worry, I’m in charge of you now,” she told me blinking her eye. We sat on two bar stools and ordered some drinks. There sure was a hell of a lot to talk about! Twenty years without any contact. Twenty years without any information – mutually! I wasn’t sure what to say to crack the ice. So I took a large sip of my drink. “You look great,” she stammered. “Thanks, you too. How long has it been? Twenty years? Maybe more?” Her eyes travelled over my hands eradiating a slight feeling of shame and guilt as if she were desperately fumbling for words to express her excuses. They flashed at the moment she recognized a golden ring on my ring finger. “So you’re married again? Who is the lucky lady?” she asked. “You should know better. Take a better look. It still is our wedding ring,” I replied, “and I wear it not to let any ‘lucky lady’ to come too close to me.” “And? Does it work?” “It works pretty well. But it doesn’t protect me from everyone, like you see,” I said waving my hand to point towards her. “So you want to tell me, I’m no welcome face for you anymore?” “My words…” “So thanks for your honesty, I really appreciate that. But you won’t get rid of me that easily,” she said icily. “And thanks for helping me earlie,” she added. I didn’t even look at her; I just stared at the slowly vanishing liquid in my glass. “Your boyfriend?” I looked up to meet her eyes. “Yeah, kind of. A real pain in the ass. Why do all the guys need to be total lunkheads again?” She seemed searching for escort ankara something to look at as these words passed from her tongue to her lips. I allowed myself to slide a hand under her hair that covered her temple and to take a close look to her face. She had a large bruise right beneath her hairline. “So this would not have been the first time I guess,” I commented. A tear left her eye. She snuggled against my hand. Her cheeks were quickly reddening from her now freely erupting feelings. I stood up again. “I think it’s time for me to go now. Want a ride?” She lightly nodded. I offered her my hand. “So let me take you with me.” She followed me emotionlessly and blankly looking into space. As soon as she had taken a seat in my car, she burst into tears. I audibly gasped for a long deep breath thinking of the awkward yet Kafkaesque situation. It was me and my ex wife, who had left me for another total fuckhead, and was about to drown my car in a lake of tears in that very moment. I just needed a few seconds to cool down. The instant before I turned on the ignition did last at least two minutes instead of those mentioned few seconds. On the way home Heather told me of her failed relationship between her sobs and how this dickhead had become aggressive due to his growing thirst for booze. I didn’t really listen. As far as I was concerned, she just used me as a shoulder to cry on, that’s what I thought. On the question where I could let her out, she seriously asked me if I’d take her home. I had to ask her to repeat herself for I wasn’t sure about what I had just heard. But of course she pressed on and I gave in. She had just had an awful evening and the indulgent man I was couldn’t take the risk to anything happen to her. That’s just how things were. So I took her home being totally oblivious of Liz, who could possibly have come back home by the time it was. But she wasn’t, so I remained ignorant of her. Hardly arrived home, we had already made ourselves comfortable on the couch in the living room. She looked around and her tear filled eyes. She was lying in my arms still sniffing every now and then. “It looks just like I remember it. As if I hadn’t gone,” she said. “Yeah! I left everything in place, just in case you’d decide to come back someday. I hoped you’d come back and feel this place is where you belong,” I replied. She clutched my arm. “It feels like home indeed.” New tears ran down her cheeks. “It’s the only place that really felt like home. And you even left the picture from our wedding on the TV.” “Yes,” I answered coldly. “Why would you do this? It must have been like killing yourself every time you watched TV.” “It just felt right this way.” I tried my best to sound inapproachable. “You’re still mad at me, are you? Well just be. I deserve it. I was a fool to leave you.” “Yes I still am, sometimes. But it’s so long ago that whenever I get mad again, I’m asking myself why because it’s like I have already forgotten long ago.” “And you hoped I’d come back every day. Why didn’t you just give up on that disappointing idea?” “You are here. This proves my hopes were not in vain. I didn’t get why you would leave me at all. We were a family! We were happy as we were!” Some old feelings I thought had drowned long before swelled up again. “You do exactly know why! Didn’t you read the letter? Or do you still not have a clue about anything yet?! You have always been incomprehensible to any of my problems!” Both of us were shocked from those words. The whole room seemed to black out for a second before she added an almost silent “…but I missed you.” An uncomfortable hush filled the room. My mind raced through millions of thoughts in unison with my heavily speeding heart. I could tell from her facial expression that she felt exactly the same. I only noticed that we had approached us as I sensed her weighty breath on my lips.