Page 73 of The Promise
I see his tear-stained face in that doorway now in my mind, I feel his hand so strong in mine; I see his beautiful smile as he reminded me of our brief and innocent flirtation, I sense the power and strength of how it feels when he holds me. I close my eyes and I feel his lips on mine. I want him now so badly.
Oh God, how I miss him so.
‘True love is so blind that it doesn’t recognize time,’ I continue, fighting back tears. ‘It doesn’t … it doesn’t recognize distance, and it doesn’t even recognize death. True love lasts for ever, no matter what comes in between.’
The audience begin a light trickle of applause as I finish.
‘I’m so lucky to have had true love in my life,’ I conclude, ‘and no matter what trauma I still face ahead, that’s something I will hold in my heart for ever, because nothing can take it away from me. Our love story isn’t over yet. It will never be, no matter what. Our love has nowhere else to go.’
I take a deep breath and I can feel my palms sweatingand my hands shaking as the house lights go up ever so slightly for questions, but the audience are already on their feet. The compère, a friendly lady called Jackie who is much more glamorous and confident than I am in front of such a crowd, takes the podium at the far end of the stage.
I purse my lips together and fight with my eyes not to cry. I’d promised myself I wouldn’t cry today. I just wish he was here. This is a milestone of celebration, a moment in time that I’ll never forget, and I should be proud enough of myself to hold my head up and take questions without breaking down.
‘We’ll have questions now,’ Jackie says as the applause fades and the audience takes their seats again. ‘Just a few. I’m sure Kate is exhausted after her most inspirational story, so a couple of questions from the front, please?’
I gather myself, and when I look into the crowd of unfamiliar faces all staring back at me, I think I see him for a moment, but I blink away his image to the back of my tortured mind. It can’t be him, of course it can’t. When I was getting ready earlier I thought I heard my father’s voice in my ear, and now I’m make-believing I’m seeing David in the midst of over two thousand people at an event he knows nothing about.
‘I’m so sorry, could you repeat that, please?’ I ask the journalist who asked a question that I didn’t even hear one word of.
I compose myself and answer the lady, who wants toknow what professional help I can recommend for victims of trauma, and I spend probably far too long touching on my own training as a nurse and how I specialized in that area. I’m rambling but my head is mangled. I was sure I saw him.
The next question is from my own local newspaper at home and it’s a friendly compliment at first more than a question, but he asks me to explain what my darkest moment was and how I got myself through it. Again, I stumble over words to answer as best I can, and to my relief he seems satisfied with my answer.
But it’s the third question that takes me most my surprise, and I realize that it doesn’t come from the front row where the Press sits, but from the area that my eye was drawn to a few moments ago when I was sure I was seeing things.
‘Do you miss the ice-cream shop boy?’ the man says, and the whole audience cranes their necks in his direction. ‘And more importantly, would you like to see him again soon?’
The question stops me in my tracks, and I feel my heart thump in my chest as I search for exactly where the voice is coming from. I step forward to try and get a better look as more than two thousand other faces all look towards me now for an answer. I see a journalist shift in her seat at the front with her pen poised.
‘I miss him so, so much every day,’ I whisper, and the room begins to spin. ‘I’ve been looking for him in my mind since we last said goodbye and I feel totally lost withouthim. I can’t wait to see him again, but until that moment comes, I love him still.’
The room goes completely silent.
‘He misses you too,’ says the voice, and I feel my heart suddenly glowing strongly inside. ‘He has never stopped missing you and he has never stopped loving you either.’
The crowd gasps and I gulp as tears prick my eyes.
‘Oh David,’ I say, and when I glance across at Jackie on the other podium, she is dabbing her eyes, but it’s David who has got everyone’s attention as he gets up from his seat and walks down through the auditorium towards the stage.
I shake my head in disbelief at the sight of him and all his gorgeousness, with his dark hair neatly cut, a light, shadowed stubble on his face just as I like it, and wearing a long coat over jeans and a white shirt. I can barely breathe and I’m sure my face is a picture of so many emotions – shock, relief, disbelief, delight, but most of all love.
He climbs up the steps to the side and wraps his arms around me.
‘Please come home,’ he whispers into my ear. ‘I’m ready for this. Are you?’
‘I’m ready, David,’ I tell him, and when we head off the stage into the wings, I know now that I want to be with him for ever, and nothing can or will ever come between us again.
DAVID
After celebratory drinks with Kate’s family and friends, during which we pose for photos and we toast her amazing speech, which is rumoured to be all set for some front-page news stories tomorrow, we are both on the crest of a wave. But our night is only just beginning.
Her heels click alongside me as we walk up the cobbled streets of Belfast in search of the hotel we booked on a whim. It’s so good to be alone at last.
‘So, how does it feel to be front-page news?’ she asks me, and I know immediately what she is getting at.
The photographers at the event wanted pictures of Kate and her ‘ice-cream shop boy’ as a story of hope and survival; it was a far cry from the times when we were too afraid to be seen together, never mind photographed for the country’s media.
‘I tried to pose using my best side,’ I joke, and then she huddles me into a corner on the street as the rain falls down on us and we share a tender moment that sums up all our hunger, pain and regret about the months we spent apart. Her kisses are soft and meaningful, yet so full of passion. We’ve so much to catch up on I don’t know where to start, yet I’m settled in the knowledge that we have our whole future to make up for it.
