Calm Harbour

Chapter Four

         “Sweetie, are you coming? Our reservations are at seven.” Curtis called from the bedroom.





         “Yes, I’m just finishing my makeup.” Claire called from inside the bathroom. It was their two year anniversary and they were going to dinner in Tofino, at their favourite sushi restaurant. She was carefully putting on her makeup; even though Curtis always told her not to wear any. But, tonight was special, and she wanted to look perfect.





         She finished applying mascara, and stared at herself in the mirror. Her light brown hair was carefully pinned in a half twist on the back of her head, her bangs perfectly swept to the side of her face. Her eyes shone bright blue through the subtle makeup and her smile was perfectly glossed with color. She pumped one more spray of hairspray on her hair for good measure, and when she walked out of the bathroom, Curtis was standing outside the bedroom, leaning on the wall. His face lit up like sunshine when he saw her.





         “You look great.” He kissed her lightly on the cheek.





         Claire smiled. “Thanks, so do you.”





         “You ready?” He held out his arm to her, and she looped her arm in his.





         “As I‘ll ever be.”





         They arrived at the sushi restaurant just before seven. After being seated, Curtis ordered a bottle of shiraz and they shared wine and intimacy with each other.





         Claire always had a hard time with chop sticks. She could never quite grasp how to hold the thin wooden sticks, and most of the time resorted to stabbing her sushi with one stick and eating it that way. Curtis always teased her about it, and attempted to show her how to use them, though, to no avail.





         “You are so cute when you try to eat sushi.” Curtis had his head resting on his hand, and he stared dreamily at Claire as she scooped up a stabbed California roll and dipped it in soy sauce.





         “Cute is hardly what I would call it.” She smiled before placing the roll in her mouth. She swallowed and wiped a bead of soy sauce from her lips.





         “Nah, it’s cute.” He grabbed her hand before she could grab another roll. Claire stopped, and let go of the chop stick. She looked at him. Curtis hesitated, but he smiled at her and got up from his chair and knelt beside her on the floor. For a moment, Claire thought her heart stopped.





         “Claire, you have been my one and only for two years now. I don’t think I can ever live without you.” he paused. Claire looked around, and realized that the entire restaurant was staring at the two of them. He squeezed her hand gently and she looked back at him.





         “Claire, I want to be with you forever.” He let go of her hand and reached into his pocket, from which he pulled a small silver - or white gold - ring with a single diamond on the top. Claire let out her breath that she realized she’d been holding. “Claire, will you marry me?” He slipped the ring on her third finger.





         Claire blinked, letting a tear fall down her cheek. “Oh Curtis. Yes, yes! Of course I will!” He jumped up and kissed her hard on the lips and the entire restaurant erupted in applause. Curtis stood up and elegantly bowed to the audience and then took his seat back across the table from her. Claire was still smiling as she looked at the ring. It was white gold. The diamond had to be at least one karat. It sparkled brilliantly in the dim light of the restaurant.





         “It’s beautiful.” She said softly and smiled into his eyes. He was still smiling.





         It was as though they were the only two people in the world. They barely noticed the waiter who came up to fill their water glasses. Curtis had a hold on her hand, twirling the ring on her finger. It was a perfect fit. They finished dinner and decided to head back to town. It was a twenty minute drive back to Calm Harbour and they talked about stopping at the beach on their way back. It was growing dark, and they would be able to catch the sunset from the beach.





         They left the restaurant and started the drive back. He drove their Grand Prix one handed as he held her left hand. He would often glance over to Claire sitting in the passenger seat, and they smiled at each other; embracing their new future together. The beach was coming up quick, another five minutes and they would be there. Claire sighed, and Curtis looked over at her.





         “What’s wrong babe?”





         Claire shook her head. “Nothing at all. Just happy, that’s all.” She smiled.





         Curtis smiled back at her and then noticed the tremor going through Claire as she looked at the road to see a truck heading straight for them on their side of the road, trying to pass a small car. Curtis grabbed the wheel and stomped on the brakes. The road was wet from the rain that afternoon and he skidded on the wet pavement. Claire gripped the door handle. The truck wasn’t slowing; it was still trying to pass the car. And then the world exploded.





         Claire woke up with her head leaning on the window. Her face was wet. But with tears or blood, she had no idea. She carefully opened her eyes to a man standing outside of her window. He was wearing a paramedic’s uniform and he was attempting to open the door, but it was jammed. She straightened up but felt a bolt of lightning go through her leg and she cried out in pain. She looked down to see her right leg covered in blood and shards of glass. She panicked. Then she remembered. She looked over to the driver’s seat. It was empty. The windshield was completely disintegrated and there was blood on the dash and hood. Claire screamed out to the paramedic, but she could barely get any sound to come from her chapped lips.





         He finally got the car door open and another paramedic came to help her out.





         “Where is Curtis? Where is he? Is he OK?” Claire was frantically trying to ask the men. They didn’t answer her but carefully lifted her from the car and carried her over to the ambulance.





         Claire started to panic, and she asked more frantically. “Where is my fiancé? Where is Curtis?” She felt a hand on her arm and looked up to see a woman police officer sympathetically looking down at her.





         “Ma’am.” She said quietly and looked to the side of the road. Claire followed her line of vision to see a white shroud covered in blood lying on the side of the road.





         “Oh my God, Oh my god!” Claire screamed and tried to leap out of the ambulance, only to be halted by the pain in her leg and the female officer. The pain was so much that the last thing she remembered before fainting was that of her ring lying on the floor of the mangled car.





* * *





         Claire was jolted back to reality by the sound of her cell phone ringing. She sat upright and reached for the phone.





         “Hello?”





         “Hey you, I just wanted to call to make sure you’re really OK.” It was Monika and her voice was quiet and cheerful.





         “Hey, yeah, I am fine.” Claire exhaled and leaned back in her chair.





         “You sure? I felt really bad about lunch.”





         Claire shook her head, even though Monika couldn’t see her. “Nah, it’s all right. I’m fine. It was a long time ago.”





         “Yeah. I know. I just wanted to make sure. I worry about you lately. You are just not yourself.”





         Claire smiled. “I’m really quite all right. Just tired I guess, and stressed. This project has taken a lot out of me.”





         “Yeah, I know that. You’ve been busting your butt since you got the bid.”





         “Yes. It’s almost done though. Only a few more months and then I’ll be back to my normal cheerful self.”





         Monika laughed. “Cheerful.”





         Claire laughed. “You know what I mean.”





         “Yeah, I do. OK, I gotta run. My boss is looking around the corner for me.”





         “OK, I’ll call you later.”





         “Bye.”





         Claire put down her phone and turned to her laptop. She smiled faintly as she remembered that she had been looking at pictures of Curtis and her while she was remembering the night he was taken from her. It was a hard recovery for her after that accident. Her leg had been broken in three places, and she had a concussion. But it was nothing compared to the pain of losing Curtis. She had been stuck in a deep depression for about six months after the accident. Monika had done her grocery shopping, and any other errands that she needed. She had spent most of every day in her bed with the curtains drawn; anything to keep out the world.





         Claire reached up unconsciously and grasped the necklace around her neck. She had had the ring he gave her made into a pendant. It took about a year after the accident to be able to do it. But after Monika and others coached her, she finally took it off her finger and had it made into something she could keep close to her heart all the time.





         She took one more look at the picture of Curtis and her sitting on a rock, the ocean spread behind them, the unknowing future ahead of them and nothing but love in their faces. She smiled.





         “I love you Curtis.” She whispered to the silence and slowly closed her laptop.