Reunion - The Royal We writing prompt

We had known each other for years, we had been attracted to each other instantly on the night we met and had remained close friends ever since.  Over the years, we had shared triumphs and sadness.  When we had been together, it was exquisite.  It was initially the ecstasy of two minds united, unwavering.  Everything else we had was built upon this and was amplified by it.  Nobody else could quite understand Nick the way Penelope did; and nobody could quite reach into Penelope’s soul the way Nick did.  With the bumper highs, however, came the dismal lows.  Nick had betrayed Penelope’s trust in a way she thought she could never forgive. We found ourselves at an impasse and suddenly there was no room for negotiation between the two people who had been born to complete one another.  There had been a great swathe in our history defined by silence: Penelope moved far away in impotent protest and Nick thought only of his music and his family.  Nick had tried contacting Penelope from time to time, he could not ignore the ache. Penelope remained resolutely elusive. In hindsight, perhaps nothing could have stopped us from drifting apart.  For years, Penelope had tried very hard not to think of Nick - her other - every waking moment. Nick did the same.  It was unthinkable that we could come to this.

Yet, here we were now.  Standing here together, after the agony of a seemingly endless separation, holding hands, fingers entwined, sharing a quiet, private moment together.  No one would guess that we had ever been apart.  Unable to cope with the enduring absence of the past decade, Nick had left everything behind in search of her - determined to make amends and rekindle a flame with the spark that only Penelope possessed.  Yes, we were in love, we always had been.  The only unhappiness either of us had ever known was during those years when we were apart and had tried to convince ourselves, and the world, that we did not care.

Nick looked at Penelope, radiant in her white floor-length gown and veil of impossibly fine and delicate lace, dotted with priceless diamonds, like dew on a silken spider’s web.  Impulsively he pulled her to him and we kissed.  It was a fiery kiss, full of longing and reckless abandon, full of a sacred devotion bordering on religious zeal.  It was the unquenchable fervour of lovers temporarily reunited.  We knew it would be our last kiss and we filled every breath of that kiss with the urgency of the moment.  We could no longer see each other through the tears.  Penelope sobbed silently.  We heard footsteps approaching and stood apart.  Nick allowed himself to melt into the shadows of the curtains at the back of her dressing room, both of us feeling as though an irreplaceable piece of our selves had just been removed.  Penelope took a deep, steadying breath and turned to greet her bridesmaids at the door with a photo shoot smile painted, like a mask, onto her face.  With that one last embrace, we had accepted the end of our story.  Nick slipped out of the room and back to the hollow existence of his music and his family, regret his constant companion. Penelope strode, without conviction, down the aisle of the church to stand next to the man who worshipped her and who would become her husband by the time Nick arrived home.

577 words