Second Chance Bride (Rapid Romance Short Stories)

Second Chance Bride

Part One

I’ve li
ved in a small town all my life. I did what all my other girlfriends did and married my high school sweetheart. All the girls were jealous because I scored the star football quarterback.

Jason Preston was handsome, strong and charming and I was totally in love with him; in fact I still am even after more than two years of married life. However it is not married bliss. Jason, or JP as everybody calls him, was anything but a perfect gentleman away from the public eye.

It all started only a few months after we got married, six months to be exact. The first time Jason came home late and smelling of booze he said it was a work outing that he had to go to because everyone else was there and it would be good for his promotion prospects. Then it became a second and a third time until it turned into a regular event, two or three nights out every week drinking with his friends.

I never knew which night it would be or what time he would get home. Despite the way he treated me I always waited up for him and I always cooked him dinner. Jason never expressed any gratitude or apologised for his behaviour; I am partly to blame because I didn’t kick up a fuss. Instead I accepted his behaviour and normalised the routine; he would come home drunk whenever he wanted to and I cooked him dinner as if nothing was wrong.

Things got worse when Jason started going from job to job; he either got fired or quit before he got fired. The more it happened the more often he got drunk and the more he blamed me. Now I was close to breaking point but despite this I still loved him deeply. However I knew that unless Jason changed his ways our marriage was doomed.

Finally I decided to confront Jason with the ugly sham that was our marriage. I made his favourite dinner, arranged a romantic setting for the table, and prettied myself up so much that even a raging homosexual couldn’t resist me.

But as usual Jason was late home. I waited so long that I must have cried myself to sleep. I only woke up when Jason stumbled in and started cursing.

“What time is it dear? I must have fallen asleep waiting up for you and now your dinner is cold.”

“Never mind that who was that male voice I could hear? And don’t play the innocent act with me, I heard him. Tell me where he’s hiding so that I can give him the hiding of his life and then I’ll teach you a lesson you bitch!”

“JP there’s no one here but you and I. It must have been the radio you heard. Neil Finn is the host, you remember Neil from our school. It’s his nightly show and I was listening to it to pass the time while waiting up for you.”

My explanation only made Jason worse.

“That nerdy bastard. He was a jerk at school and now look at him; a regular Romeo being a dog with all the women in town whether they are single or married. And now he’s got you under his spell. That’s the last time you can listen to him! You’re a married woman and you should behave like one!”

“You are a married man and you are the one that needs to behave. I’ll listen to Neil Finn’s radio show, or anyone else’s if I want to and you won’t stop me. Oh and one other thing, I’ve now got a job at the local Wal-Mart as a cashier.”
“Oh great so not only are you cheating on me with a small town celebrity star of the radio you are now telling the world that I can’t support my wife.”

“How can you say I’m cheating on you? You are the one that’s never home so how do I know you’re not cheating on me. And have you noticed our place lately, take a careful look around at how shabby it looks with the threadbare carpet and the old second hand and hand me down furniture. Look at the area we live in, the cheapest, dirtiest part of town. This apartment block is infested with vermin of all kinds including the human version but do you care? Hell no you are too busy getting drunk to worry about providing a decent place for us to live or to worry about how safe your wife is living here. Your dinner’s in the oven, cold as usual. I’m off to bed now and don’t bother coming to the bedroom. You can sleep on the couch!”

I went into our bedroom and locked the door but this didn’t stop Jason from raving on the other side of the door.

“The reason I don’t come home earlier is because of your ranting and constant questioning and demands. It’s your fault that I can’t hold down a job and it’s your fault that I get drunk all the time because I can’t live up to your high expectations. If you weren’t such a bitch of a wife I wouldn’t be so miserable.”

I ignored his taunts and curled up in bed and started crying into my pillow. For the first time ever I had stood up to Jason but all I had done was make things worse.

It is strange how things pan out in life. Jason was the big man at school, popular and he could do no wrong. Neil was the opposite with very few friends, certainly not popular, and the boy most likely not to succeed. Now things were the opposite. Neil was famous and successful and Jason could hardly hold down a job and he was very unsuccessful.

I couldn’t deny that I still loved Jason but now I was worried that he will go out even more. I decided that I needed to do something to win him back from the booze because I was sure that deep down Jason still loved me with all his heart.

Part Two

Despite my belief that Jason still loved me and the fact that I now had a job for the first time since College, Jason’s behaviour didn’t change. He still went out drinking whenever he wanted to and he never told me when he would be home.

My job was really my only solace as it provided me a break from the four walls of our depressing apartment and I met people through work who were friendly and helpful. I had even started to brighten up our apartment a little to make it look halfway decent even though the money I was earning was only a basic wage.

Because Jason was hardly ever home early the radio became my stay at home companion. Every night I had it tuned to Neil Finn and his
music montage show. Knowing Neil from school made the show seem somehow more intimate and I pretended that Neil was putting the show on just for me. There’s another irony. At school there was no way I would have gone out with Neil and now I am fantasising that he is courting me!

I know that my fantasising sounds pretty stupid and immature but for me it was the only form of escapism I had from my miserable married life. However despite my misery and the way Jason treated me I still wanted our relationship to work.

One night while listening to Neil an opportunity presented itself which could help me to win back Jason.

Neil had asked for song requests over the airwaves and this got me thinking.  In two days time it was our wedding anniversary so I decided to ring into the show and ask for a special favour.

“Hello is this Mr Finn? It is oh great. Look I’m after a special request for this Wednesday at 7pm. Can you do that?”

“Well I’m not sure ma’am, you’ll have to give me some details first Miss …?”

“Sorry Mr Finn. My name is Theresa Preston and I …”

Neil interrupted me in mid sentence.

“This is not Theresa Jones who married JP, Renwick High’s all star quarterback, the Theresa who nerds like me called Mother Theresa because she always treated people so nicely no matter who they were?”

“Umm yes I guess it is but I don’t know about that Mother Theresa stuff.”

“Well Mother Theresa if your request is something I can do then I most certainly will do it. Now what is it?”

“Well Mr Finn …”

He interrupted me again.

“Please Mrs Preston call me Neil and may I call you Theresa?”

“Of course you can call me Theresa …” I hesitated for a second before continuing, “Neil, now my request is that it’s our wedding anniversary this Wednesday at 7pm and I was wondering if you could play a special song for me and Jason?”

“That’s what my show’s all about Theresa, it’s about cheering people up and making them happy. So how is your marriage going?”

I was taken aback by Neil’s comments and slightly offended. How did he know that I needed cheering up and why did he ask about my marriage? What had he heard, in fact how did he know anything about my life. While all these questions were swirling in my head Neil interrupted my thoughts.

“I’m sorry Theresa I just have to go back on air and intro the next song. I’m just going to put you on hold. I’ll only be a minute or two then I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere okay.”

Before I could answer he was gone. Although I was starting to get a bit steamed up by what Neil had asked I decided to wait on the phone because I really wanted to get my request played.

While I was waiting I heard Neil’s voice waft over the radio airwaves.

“Hello my loyal listeners I hope you enjoyed the last song. My next song is dedicated to an old school friend of mine who I have only just caught up with after all these years. She was and still is a great girl and so I dedicate this song to her. It’s Lionel Richie’s ‘You’re Once Twice Three Times a Lady’. Enjoy.”

As soon as the song started playing Neil was back on the line.

“Hi Theresa I am so relieved that you are still on the line so sorry for keeping you waiting. I hope you like my song choice, it’s for you. Now where were we?”

I decided not to answer his earlier questions, as he seemed to have forgotten about them. I also didn’t want to mention anything about the song he had dedicated. While I was quite flattered by his choice I didn’t want to encourage him.

“I was about to tell you what my request is for Wednesday at 7pm.”

“Oh yes that’s right your wedding anniversary. Okay what love song would the love birds like, perhaps the Renwick High School song?”

Neil chuckled to himself but I ignored his attempt at humour. Neil was starting to really get under my skin. But what really bothered me was that I was starting to fall for his charm even though his comments were annoying.

“The song I would like, if you can possibly fit it into your busy schedule, is Whitney Houston’s song ‘I Will Always Love You’.”

Neil ignored my sarcasm and he didn’t seem to notice that I had tried to put on an icy voice.

“Of course I can do that for you Mother Theresa and your quarterback hero JP. In return I would like to ask you out for lunch at some time and we can catch up, just for old times sake of course. “

I could not believe that Neil was flirting with me and I started to think about what JP had called him – a Romeo who dogged around with women all over town whether they were married or single. However before I could say anything Neil continued.

“I need to check my diary so you don’t need to answer now. I have your phone number on our phone now so I will ring you early next week and we can sort out an appropriate time then. In the meantime it’s been great catching up with you and I look forward to taking you to lunch. Ciao baby.”

He hung up before I could reply.

“What a pompous arse Neil has turned out to be. Just because he’s a big celebrity in a small town he thinks he can click his fingers and any woman will come running. Well I’m not any woman and I knew what he was like at school; a shy awkward kid who didn’t have many friends. Jason must be right about him. He is a Romeo and after any woman he can get. I guess he has to make up for all the time he lost while at school when no girl would even look at him.”

Just then Jason came through the door.

“Who are you talking to Theresa or are you just talking to yourself, practicing all the complaints you will give me tonight?”

I was taken aback by Jason’s sudden appearance but his sarcastic comments no longer surprised me.

“You’re back early, how come you aren’t out with your drinking buddies?”

“I still live here you know and I can come and go as I please. What’s for dinner or have you spent the whole afternoon daydreaming and talking to yourself?”

“You do remember that I work too don’t you? Despite that dinner is ready and it’s still hot. You having a freshly cooked dinner which is still hot is something of a rarity so we better eat now before you have a change of heart and take off drinking again.”