A Second Chance - II

Now, if I just dunk this. Rafael faked a left, dribbled the ball and sprang towards the basket. Yes! As his team mates lifted him, his eyes automatically landed on her. There she was. His heart rate upped a bit when she smiled back .She was possibly about to say something, when he got dragged by his team to form a rowdy huddle.

As he walked off the court, he could hear the men chant victory slogans. As their gaze reconnected, he could see the suppressed laughter in her face. He did not blame her. It wasn’t exactly the NBA playoffs but the men all behaved liked it was. Her smile increased in wattage as his stride brought him nearer to the stands. It took all effort to not run the last few steps to her. I can’t believe she is mine, thought Rafael, as they hugged.

As he headed to the locker room for washing up, Ashley proceeded to the bar as always. As he saw her walk away, he could not help but think about their up-coming trip. Nowadays, they did not get as much time with each other. The trip was just a weekend away and yet, Rafael could not wait for it to begin. Their itinerary had been planned weeks in advance. Everything was ready.

He just had to pick the ring tomorrow on his way back from work. I hope she says yes, thought Rafael. She should, ideally. But proposals could be tricky business and they had a complicated history.

During college, whenever Michael had met Rafael, Ashley featured prominently in Michael’s conversation. Everything led back to Ashley. Absolutely everything. Ice-cream, coffee, movies, music. Rafael could see Michael was falling for her but the idiot did not know it himself.

Thankfully, Michael had figured it out for himself. Rafael met Ashley when she came home to meet their parents. In the days leading to the wedding preparation, Rafael got to know her better. He could see why Michael was in a hurry to marry this woman. Ashley was everything Michael needed in his life.

Ashley’s parents were just like her. Warm hearted, sunny people. The families were happy. The couple was deliriously happy. The two families had decided to spend Christmas together. It was a quaint holiday planned outside the city and everyone was looking forward to the break.

It had been quite a Christmas - food, wine and people you love. It had started snowing with gusto and Michael had decided to get some lumber before they got snowed in – a trip which he should not have taken. Michael hated driving through fresh snowfall. If he would have just woken Rafael up, things would have been so different.

When Michael was not responding to his cell phone, Ashley had woken Rafael up. Rafael remembered the frantic drive to the lumber yard. One look at the mangle of blue metal, and Rafael’s heart had dropped to his stomach. Had Mike lived, he would have been a vegetable. Mercifully, he had died on the spot.

A family Christmas had turned uglier than anyone had ever imagined. Ashley was beside herself. His parents were inconsolable. Rafael had hidden his own sorrow somewhere and acted the older son. He cancelled the wedding preparations and made funeral arrangements instead.

When Ashley left the city and went back to her parents, Rafael had almost felt deserted. The one person who could share the sorrow with him was going away. When she had moved back to the city, she got in touch with him. What had initially started as companionship of a shared sorrow, had turned to more than that. He did not know exactly when, but they had stopped talking about Michael and had started talking about each other. Two years after the fatal crash, Rafael asked Ashley out.

As he reached the bar, Rafael could see Ashley sipping a deep red colored cocktail. There was an olive green colored drink waiting for him. Ashley was definitely more adventurous than him when it came to trying food or drinks. As Rafael took a tentative sip, the bartender who always served them, walked up to them and asked,’ did you like your drinks?’

As the three got into an easy conversation, Rafael could not stop thinking about the ring he was to pick tomorrow. The ring was a princess cut solitaire, sitting on a band of platinum. It’s been close to five years since the accident. She was back to being the bubbly, cheerful Ashley he had known and come to love. Yet there had been times where there would be a shadow over her. She had been honest about it to him which is why he was feeling confident about getting a ring now!

I just hope she is ready to take this step, Rafael thought. If she wasn’t, he would wait till she was. Being in love had burnt her once and he hoped she was ready to take the chance again.