Shattered

16. Can't Help Falling In Love

Beth was staring at him blankly. The programme was being concluded but her attention was towards him. Of course it was. It had to be after that speech. And what he just said.

He didn't know what had made him say all of that. He was only supposed to say few thank you's and leave the stage. But when he stood there and saw Beth. He saw Beth, not just as a part of audience, not as someone he introduced as his wife but as a person, the person who was beginning to change things around. He saw her and remembered this time and then he remembered how he was before he had married her. How alone and troubled he always had been.

With her, he never felt like he was just a part of the crowd, he felt like he was someone in that crowd, someone important. Sure they weren't the love struck couple who they pretended to be in front people, but they had become friends. And he needed her now. He needed her. Not because she was a friend or someone he could talk to. No, they weren't like that. Their friendship was like that, their lives weren't like that. But something about her presence made him see the silver linings.

She never sat down with him like Melissa did to sort out problems. Maybe because they didn't have so much problems. Maybe because they are still running away from their problems. But he could see it. See a life where she was with him, where they took on the world and all its challenges. And maybe one day they could be more than what they are now. He wanted to believe that. He was beginning to believe that.

You are falling for her. He heard the voice from his dreams again. I You are forgetting me. He heard Melissa's screams. He was forgetting Melissa. No, he wasn't forgetting her. He finally beginning to accept that she will not come back. He finally beginning to see the reality and understanding that there is something more than grief. He might just have a chance at being happy. Did he? He may.

Everything he said was true. His words in the speech or the ones he spoke a few minutes back. Everyone of them. He knew that if he ever fell down, she would be around to help him stand back on his feet. She would walking every step that he would find challenging. She would be around, he knew that.

The sudden music playing in the hall, caught their attention. The band has started playing and everyone was going on the dance floor. How could they not, for they were playing Elvis Presley's classics. 

Beth looked like she had been sucked into a void of thoughts. She was growing pale and her eyes were almost watering.
"Beth? You alright?"

"Yes." He knew she was lying again.

"You don't-"

"I am fine. Just old memories."

He wanted to know what was troubling her but he knew the wounds old memories can cause. Some of them never heal. She still looked disoriented. She was sipping her wine to hide. He looked at the couple's on the floor, and then at his wife.

"Come on."

"What?" She looked at him. He offered her his hand.

"They are playing can't help falling in love. Come on."

She considered the moment and smiled. "Okay."

She put her hand in his and he swayed her towards the dance floor. "Take my hand...." He sang.

"Oh dear god, you are a terrible singer."

"Maybe, but I a great dancer." He put on his charm.

"Decent." She teased.

"Well, I guess I will just have to show you." He teased her back. And he spinned her to the beats. She smiled again and switched her footwork to show he wasn't the only one who knew how to dance. "You know how to dance?"