Love Story Like No Other

 "To be honest with you, I'm not interested in a casual friendship."  he spoke rather bluntly.  "In my book, a relationship requires commitment.  I need to know:  Do you want to be with me, or not?"

    She stared across the table into his penetrating brown eyes.  "I need time to think about this." she said, with customary caution.

    "I'll wait."  he smiled, but there was a hint of sadness in those eyes.

    Inwardly, she shunned his proposal.  She had always taken pride in the fact that she needed no one else to complete her.

Life continued as usual, until one balmy summer afternoon, when she tripped on the staircase in front of her office building.  Concrete met her flailing hands after she performed a double somersault midair.  Her elbows absorbed the shock, and pain rocketed through her arm.  

        She called him, because he'd told her he was in the area.  When he arrived, he saw her scrapes and pained expression.  His own face showed concern as he helped her stand.  She tried to smile as he opened the door and handed her the seat belt.

    "It's gonna be okay, Amie." he reassured her.

     He sat beside her in the emergency room while she made some phone calls and waited for a doctor.  Somehow, amidst the pain of her throbbing arm, she was seized by a sudden desire.  Giving into it, she reached for his hand.  His grip was gentle, but firm.

    With that one touch, she realized how wrong she'd been.  She was not complete by herself.

        It was far from romantic.  The greenish glow of the fluorescent lights, combined with the gray-white walls and smelly chairs, made for a rather ugly setting, but none of that mattered.  She somehow summoned up the courage to tell him that she wanted to be with him forever.  He was overjoyed.

Suddenly, her friends didn't understand her.  His threw a party.  She laughed about it, later.  The amazing part was that he loved her, not the other way around.       

Every day with him was a new adventure, and she was thrilled to be spending the rest of her life by his side.

        Near dusk one evening, they went for a walk on the beach.  The clouds had been drizzling rain all day, and the air above the lake was a misty gray.  They ran toward the shore, and dipped their toes in the water.  She laughed when the cold shot through her legs, because his hand was warm.  They flung themselves down on the sand, and watched the stars appear.

    There was something in the air that night, or maybe it was how joyfully he looked at her, that opened the floodgates of her heart.  She told him her dearest and deepest buried dreams, and he listened.  Eventually, a realization dawned on her.  These were her plans.  Lying there, taking in the soft sand, salty air, and warmth of his hand, she knew that her biggest dream had already been realized.

    "I'm sorry." she apologized.  "I've been talking only about myself.  What have you dreamed up for us?"

        The darkness hid his face, but she could hear the smile in his voice.  "Lots of stuff." he replied.  "But I want to surprise you along the way."

    She squeezed his hand a little tighter.

    As the years raced by, things weren't quite as easy as they'd seemed at first.  She saw her own dreams shattered, one by one.  As each one was ripped away, she felt like she'd been set adrift on the open sea. Her emotions threatened to engulf her.

     "Do you realize what's happening?" she yelled.

      He stretched out his hand.  "Let me show you."

    She hesitated, then reached for him.  They stood together, and his grip was gentle, but firm, and she remembered something that she'd known since that night on the beach.  She already had everything she needed.