《The Reality of Life》


 Epilogue

    ¡°Sergeant!¡± The cadet tipped his hat to him as Rob walked across the courtyard to the dormitory block. The sky was grey and the clouds were full of rain just waiting to burst and make the day even more miserable. Rob pushed the door to the dormitory blocks and made his way to the recreation room. He hated sitting in the recreation room as it was normally full of cadets being loud but he did not want to be alone, not today. He walked in to the recreation room and was greeted by cadets who all froze and fell silent. There was a resounding echo of sergeants to which he nodded in response as he took his place on the tattered green sofa and pulled out his paper. The tv was on some late night chat show and was host was flamboyantly talking to the camera. Rob rolled his eyes and turned back to an article about the economy when something the chat show host said caught his attention.


    ¡°Hey, turn that up will you?¡± he asked the cadet closest to the tv.


    ¡°We have an exciting show for you tonight folks, very exciting indeed!¡± the chat show host exclaimed as the audience cheered. The chat show host went on to introduce a number of guests, the majority of whom Rob had never heard of. He was not particularly interested in any of them, but there was one he was keeping an eye out for.


    ¡°Last but not least please give it up for the lovely, the beautiful, the mesmerising Grace Stafford!¡± the talk show host yelled and stood up as the audience cheered. Rob¡¯s breath caught in his throat as the doors on the tv pulled back and there she was, standing on the screen in front of him, just as he remembered her. Clearly money suited her and she looked happy and healthy and full of life. Her blonde hair had clearly been styled for the show and was pulled back in to a ponytail with a few curls falling around her face. Her make up was subtle and elegant. She wore a sequin golden gown that hugged every curve and showed off her figure. She was giggling and waving to the crowd as the host ran up to her and gave her a kiss on each cheek and pulled her in for a hug as if they were life long friends.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t she look lovely folks?¡± The chat show host held her out for the audience as they all cheered and Grace blushed.


    She could never take a compliment, Rob though as he chuckled to himself. They made their way to the sofa and there was some banter and jokes between Grace and the talk show host which confirmed to Rob that this was not Grace¡¯s first time meeting the chat show host and that they were in fact good friends who spent time together off the air.


    ¡°Now lets get down to the juicy stuff, you¡¯re just about to head off on the book tour for your third and most anticipated book yet. Tell me more about that?¡±


    ¡°Oh yes well there¡¯s not much to tell in truth James and I don¡¯t want to give too much away otherwise what would be the point in people buying it?¡± Grace giggled, ¡°what I can say is that it is about life. Just life in general, which most of you are probably thinking that normal life is not very exciting which is why people tend to read books to get away from day to day normal life. But what I want people to take from this is book is the traps and pitfalls in life and I hope that many people can see themselves in the main characters and that they know that they are not alone in the mistakes and the problems that they face in life, cause I can guarantee that we have all been there before.¡±


    ¡°Now you just got married about six months ago to the hilariously funny Baker Velasco. I did get to attend the wedding folks and I can tell you that it was such a beautiful day and Grace and Baker make the sweetest couple ever!¡± A picture appeared on screen of one of the wedding photos. Grace was laughing in a lace white gown. On anyone else it would have been described as the simplest gown ever but on her it looked beautiful. Next to her, with a face covered in cake must have been her now husband Baker Velasco. He was a well built fellow with brown wavy hair that went to his chin line and a beard. He was wearing a dark blue suit and was staring at Grace with a look of adoration.Stolen story; please report.


    Huh, that¡¯s ironic, Rob thought to himself. Once upon a time Grace had berated him about cutting his hair as it was too long and quote ¡®made him look like a waste¡¯. Now her husband was sporting a lovely head of hair that Grace would¡¯ve deemed as too long or not smart enough, especially on their wedding day. Rob had heard of Baker Velasco. He was a comedian who was part of a comedy troop that Rob had actually introduced Grace to. He remembered that she had once bought him tickets to go and see them for his birthday, however, things had not gone to plan and she had ended up going to the show with her friend. He wondered if that¡¯s where they had first met?


    ¡°Oh yes we had a wedding,¡± Grace gushed at the photo. She was smiling so hard that Rob was wondering whether or not it hurt her face.


    ¡°It was just a small gathering of family and close friends and our animals were involved obviously. But me and Baker took six months off just to enjoy marital bliss and now we are back at work again. In fact this is my first interview since before the wedding so feel honoured,¡± Grace teased the host, ¡°but I am going on tour now and so is Baker with his comedy troop so go and buy tickets folks!¡± The next picture that followed was a picture of Grace on a stunning palomino horse with Baker next to her on a grey horse. They were smiling at each other and holding hands as two dogs were running along next to the animals. There was some more chat between Grace and the talk show host and Rob was slowly starting to withdraw more in to his thoughts.


    Well she looks happy, clearly life has gone well for her, he thought as he picked up his paper and turned back to the article he was reading.


    ¡°Sir, do you mind if we change the channel?¡± one of the cadets asked and Rob grunted in response, he had seen enough of Grace and her happy life. It was almost like she was unintentionally rubbing her happiness in his face.


    Oh get a grip Rob, he huffed as he stood up and stormed out of the recreation room. I need to think, and he stormed out of the dormitory block and in to the cool air outside.


    The clouds had finally burst and rain was beating down on the cold concrete. Rob breathed in the wet air as the rain ran down his face.


    She cannot be rubbing it in your face Rob, he thought as he took off across the court yard and towards the track. He feet were pounding on the floor and his breathing was heavy.


    You had your chance with her and you ruined it, just like you ruin everything. She is happy now, so get over it. It¡¯s not like she¡¯s sending you messages at every chance she gets. She has clearly forgotten about you and has moved on. Rob was angry, yet he had no reason to be. He had ruined every chance he had with her, he had broken her in to a million pieces and then left her to put herself back together. Of course she was going to move on, what did he expect? A little part of him always wished that she had stayed hung up on him, that she had tried and fought for him. But she did. Three years their relationship spanned and those three years he had used her, he had lead her on, and he had emotionally broke her until she had had enough and she had left. She had moved on with her life like he wished he could. But when it came to Grace Stafford, he could not. She had a hold over him, and he was afraid that it was a hold that he was never going to be able to break free from. Five years after their relationship had broken down and she was so much better off. She had made something of herself, she had found true love and was happy and what had he done? Yes professionally he had made a career for himself, the military was a good career after all. But in his personal life he was miserable. He filled his life with objects and pixels but that only gave him moments of feeling happiness, never true happiness. He cannot remember the last time that he truly laughed, or the last time that he truly smiled. He always wondered what if? What if he had treated her better? What if she had came back for him? What if things had been different? But that¡¯s the thing about life, you cannot spend forever wondering about what if¡¯s. If you do, you will never see what is in front of you. Rob had decided that he had had enough of wondering about what if¡¯s. Five years was long enough pondering over Grace and their life that could¡¯ve been but wasn¡¯t meant to be. He needed closure. It was in that moment that Rob made a plan, a plan that might reopen some long closed wounds, but at the end of the day, would allow him to move on with his life like she had done. This was his hope anyways!

 Chapter One

    June 30th 2014


    ¡°Here¡¯s to the summer!¡± Lily Martin cheered as she held her champagne glass with her manicured hand.


    ¡°Here¡¯s to friends!¡± Grace cheered as she copied Lily.


    ¡°Here¡¯s to our future!¡± Lily countered.


    ¡°Here¡¯s to love!¡± Grace cheered.


    ¡°Oh boo!¡± Lily stuck her tongue out of her lipstick covered mouth, ¡°you are obsessed with finding a great love Grace!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Grace exclaimed, ¡°I am determined to find myself in a great summer love affair, one that will most likely break my heart and be told about for decades to come.¡±


    ¡°You bloody creative writers, ever the hopeless romantic!¡± Lily sighed as she applied more make up to her already perfect face, ¡°is it not enough for you that we have finished our first year of university and that we are back home for the whole summer? Can we not just have some fun?¡± Grace smiled as she watched Lily in the mirror. Lily had been Grace¡¯s best friend for seven years, through thick and thin, Grace knew that she could count on her. She was beautiful, funny, reliable and most importantly, Lily made sure that Grace was her best self. Grace could not see her life without Lily and when life had caused them to study at different universities it felt like the world had stopped. Lily had the body and boobs to die for a she knew it. She was lucky to have the fastest metabolism ever so she could eat take aways for days on end and still look like a super model. With being very slender at the height of 6 ft1 she was often described as a tall drink of water with legs that kept on going and an ass that would not quit. Men would throw themselves and her feet and she knew exactly what to do to play them. Lily was wearing a black skirt with a grey halter top that complemented her porcelain complexion and showed off all kind of skin. Grace, who was not as confident as Lily, was playing it safe with a black and white stripy dress as stripes that best suited her more fuller body type. Grace had always carried a little bit more weight than some of her friends.


    ¡°The taxi¡¯s here!¡± Lily shrieked as she downed her drink, ¡°let¡¯s paint the town red!¡±


    With it being the first weekend back from university, Lily and Grace had decided the celebrate making it through their first years by going out on the town. Grace knew that with Lily it was going to get very messy. But the main aim of the night to have some much needed fun and blow off steam. Climbing out of the taxi, Grace looked around and laughed. The main square of the city centre was surrounded on all sides by bars and clubs. The queues were starting to build up. The sound of music and laughter filled the air. Grace had throughly enjoyed being at university, learning new things and making new friends, by she missed home and most of all, she missed her friends. Grace pushed open the door to the bar and the noise from the music came flooding out.


    ¡°You ready?¡± Lily squealed as she grabbed Grace¡¯s hand. Grace nodded and Lily laughed and headed in the direction of the bar. The music was pounding and the bar was already starting to fill up. It was expected to get much busier throughout the course of the night. Lily danced her way through the crowd of people, over to the counter and whispered something to the bartender, who nodded and disappeared. Lily was notorious for ordering drinks that were high in alcohol. She loved watching people get drunk. It was a bit of a bittersweet experience if you were Lily¡¯s intended victim for the night. The bar tender returned with four large jugs in his hands.


    ¡°Glasses ladies?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Nope, just two straws please,¡± Lily winked as she picked up her jugs. Grace took a sip out the jug. This was clearly some cocktail that was more juice than spirit. Grace could taste the sweetness of the sugar, and then grimaced as the alcohol then hit the back of her throat.


    ¡°Jesus Lily! What the hell are these things?¡± Grace asked and she shuddered. Lily smirked, tapped her nose and swaggered off to the back of the bar and towards the booths. There, sat all crammed in to one tiny booth, were six of Grace¡¯s closest friends. As she took a seat she looked round the table and smiled. Grace was so lucky to have her friends. They had all been friends since they were eleven and their friendship would keep growing. These were a group of people that you could go weeks without speaking to and, when you did speak, it was like you only saw them they other day. They understood that life sometimes got in the way of plans but no matter what happened, they would always be there to support you. These were the kind of people that Grace wanted to surrounded herself with, for the rest of her life.


    ¡°Hey Bonnie, isn¡¯t your fianc¨¦ coming out later?¡± Lily asked.


    ¡°Yeah, he¡¯ll be out around ten and some of his friends will be joining us too,¡± Bonnie replied. Lily looked across the table at Grace and winked. Grace rolled her eyes and took another sip of her drink.


    Throughout the course of the night, the girls got more and more intoxicated. If they were not dancing they were stood at the bar waiting to get another drink. They had in fact lost track of time and it was a couple of hours before they returned to their booth. Grace sat down at the booth and looked around. She did not recognise a few of the faces. She guessed that Bonnie¡¯s fianc¨¦ and his friends must have turned up. Grace smiled to the fellow on her right as she took a sip out of her drink. She could feel herself loosing control, her head was starting to feel fuzzy and the swaying had begun. Suddenly, Grace could feel herself sliding lower and lower in her seat and the next thing she knew she was lying on the sticky carpet.


    ¡°Whoops,¡± she hiccuped. The gentleman who had been sitting next to her bent down to sit her up.


    ¡°You alright love?¡± he asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.


    ¡°She¡¯s fine,¡± Lily interjected as she pulled Grace up off the floor, ¡°she just needs some air.¡± Lily guided Grace to the door of the bar and out to the smoking area.


    ¡°Sit here,¡± Lily ordered and plonked Grace down on a chair. She took a deep breath and inhaled, sputtering slightly as the smell of smoke went down in to her lungs.


    ¡°Drink this,¡± Lily shoved a glass of water into her hands and Grace to a big gulp.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    ¡°Better?¡± Grace nodded as she pushed herself up out of the chair and stumbled back inside and towards the dance floor.


    Grace thudded down on the seat of the booth and looked around. Their party had grown so large now that it had taken over at least two booths and the majority of the dance floor. Grace had lost Lily a long time ago but she knew that they would end up bumping in to each other again, most likely in the toilets.


    ¡°A penny for your thoughts,¡± a voice interrupted her. Grace looked up with a start and found a man sitting in front of her.


    ¡°Hey,¡¯ she slurred, ¡°you helped me up earlier.¡± The man chuckled.


    ¡°Yep, that¡¯s me, your knight in shining armour.¡±


    ¡°Well aren¡¯t you full of yourself,¡± Grace blushed, looking down at her drink, ¡°next thing I know you¡¯ll be whisking me off to travel the universe in your blue box, taking me to see time and space!¡±


    ¡°You like Doctor Who?¡± he puzzled.


    ¡°Yeah what¡¯s not to like? He travels time and space. The things he must see,¡± Grace defended. The man raised and eyebrow at her.


    ¡°What?¡± she questioned.


    ¡°Nothing, I just wouldn¡¯t have thought a girl like you would have been interested in a show like that.¡±


    ¡°A girl like me?!¡±


    ¡°Yeah a girl like you. I mean looking at you. You¡¯re beautiful!¡± he exclaimed, gesturing at her. Grace blushed and looked down at her drink with embarrassment. ¡°You cannot take a compliment can you?¡± Grace shook her head and looked up at him. This was the first time all night that she had really taken a proper look at him. He was attractive in a boy next door kind of way. He had dark brown eyes and dark brown hair that had been styled with a little bit of hair product in order to stand up in spikes. He had freckles and a trustworthy and friendly face. He was not much taller than her and was very well built for his height. She could see his muscles under his t shirt. He was not dressed fancy, just a basic jeans and t shirt combination but it suited him.


    ¡°Take a picture?¡± he teased as Grace blushed. ¡°I¡¯m Rob,¡± he said as he held out his hand.


    ¡°Grace,¡± she replied, took his hand and gave it a firm handshake.


    ¡°Nice to meet you Grace.¡±


    ¡°Want a picture guys?¡± a photographer hired by the bar interrupted holding up his camera. Grace looked at Rob and smirked.


    ¡°Nu-uh,¡± Rob shook his head, ¡°I did not do pictures!¡±


    ¡°Oh come on, you told me to take a picture!¡± Grace pleaded.


    ¡°Nope, no way!¡± Grace was not going to take no for an answer, and in that moment she decided to do something that was completely out of her comfort zone. Smiling she threw herself over the booth and landed on Rob¡¯s lap. She grabbed a hold of the collar of his t shirt and pulled him round the side of her and in to the view of the camera.


    ¡°Now!¡± she yelled at the camera man. The camera flashed and the photographer looked down at the screen and smiled, ¡°grab your coat¡­you¡¯ve pulled!¡± Grace laughed as the photographer walked away shaking his head. Grace suddenly came crashing back down to earth as she felt Rob chuckling underneath her. She could feel his muscular arm tight around her waist and his warm palm on her knee. She looked down at his hand and then looked up at his face. His chocolate brown eyes met hers and his smile faded as he explored her face.


    ¡°Your hand is on my knee,¡± she breathed as she tightened her arm around his neck and placed her hand and his chest to steady herself.


    ¡°Yes it is,¡± he whispered as he removed his arm from her waist and placed it under her hair and on her neck. Grace was feeling breathless, she was not the kind of girl who kissed guys in a drunken state. Yet she could feel herself getting pulled deeper and deeper in to him. She was slow leaning down, her eyes flicking from his full lips to his eyes. He licked his lips and she could feel his stirring beneath his jeans.


    ¡°GRACE!¡± A squeal came from behind them and pulled Grace out of her trace. Grace shook her head and pushed herself off Rob¡¯s lap. Lily was stood behind them, her mouth held open casting an accusatory look at Rob. ¡°I want to dance,¡± Lily proclaimed and pulled Grace off towards the dance floor. Grace looked behind at Rob and mouthed I¡¯m sorry. Rob laughed and shook his head.


    Lily and Grace spent the rest of the night dancing to the thumping music. It was 1¡¯o¡¯clock in the morning when the girls had decided that they had had enough. It was time to stagger to the pizza shop, get some food and jump in a taxi for their beds. They headed to the smoking area where the rest of their party were enjoying the cool air and said their goodbyes. Grace spotted Rob taking a drag of his cigarette and stumbled towards him.


    ¡°We¡¯re going home now!¡± She told him. He looked at her confused, ¡°you¡¯re going home?¡±


    ¡°Yeah my feet cannot take much more dancing and I need some food inside me.¡± Rob looked disappointed at this news.


    ¡°Give me your phone,¡± he ordered and held out his hand. Grace rummaged in her bag and handed him her phone. He quickly clicked away at the key board and then handed her it back, ¡°I have put my number in your phone, you better text me!¡± He put his arm around her waist and her breath hitched as he leant in and kissed her cheek. She closed her eyes and breathed in the smell of him. She could smell his cologne, the sweet smell of wood mixed with whiskey and cigarettes. ¡°It was lovely to meet you Grace,¡± he whispered in her ear. She shivered as she felt his breath travel all the way down her spine. Grace blinked twice and smiled as he winked at her. He knew exactly the spell he was weaving over her, and she was willing to let him. The pizza shop was filled with other drunk people all waiting for their food. Lily and Grace were tucking in to their cheesy chips, Lily slurring about the ¡°epic¡± night. Grace could not stop smiling, she was smiling so hard that she feared that she would be unable to stop. Fate had smiled down on her and she had literally landed in the lap of a brown haired stranger who had whisked her off her feet in a matter of seconds. Grace could feel herself falling and she knew that she was gonna fall hard.


    ¡°Where to love?¡± The taxi driver asked, Grace gave him her address and settled in to the seat and stared out of the window, replaying the events of the night. Her message tone went off in her bag and she jumped up rummaging round in her bag for her phone. The screen lit up her face and a little smile danced across her face.


    Stranger from the bar - It was so lovely to meet you tonight Grace. I am just texting you to prove to you that I have taken your number and that I have every intention of seeing you again. Please let me know when you have gotten home safely. Rob x


    Grace - I¡¯m sorry, my mother told me never to talk to strangers </img> I am just in the taxi on my way home now with my date - my cheesy chips. I cannot wait until I get home and I am going to take them to bed and have my wicked way with them x


    Stranger from the bar - Well that¡¯s not fair! You have only know your cheesy chips for 30 mins and they get to go to bed with you. I have known you for at least 5 hours and I don¡¯t even get a look in </img> clearly I need to put the work in with you! x


    Grace - if something is worth having you have to work for it x


    Grace smiled at her phone and rested her head on the window. She didn¡¯t know what her future was going to be with Rob and whether it was going to go anywhere further than just a few exchanges of messages but she did know one, that she was very excited to see where it was going to go.


    Grace fumbled around with her keys and eventually, after dropping them a few times, managed to get in to her house.


    ¡°Hey boy,¡± she whispered as she patted her dog on his head as she walked past him. Grace climbed the stairs and in to her room. She pulled off her shoes, threw back the duvet and flopped down on the bed. Picking up her phone and typed out a messaged:


    Grace - I am home now x


    Stranger from the bar - Sweet dreams x


    Grace smiled and put her phone face down on her bedside table. Flicking off her lamp she rolled over and drifted off in to a dream filled sleep.