What started it all

Ok, I was mistaken. This was not the first WE Mikala and I used to write. But this was what I think started the idea of WE's. So this is the only one written for this picture. 

By Beka K.

Based off of the picture shown above by Jack Vettriano, "The Singing Butler".

Ruth followed Mae into the hotel suite. In one impacting moment she realized how truly wealthy she really was. With the death of her husband, she became one of the wealthiest widows in the state. But with his death came a loneliness she could not bear. Mae closed the door and began to unpack Ruth’s bag. Ruth walked over to the sofa and collapsed.

“Oh, Mae. Please stop unpacking.”

“Ma’am?”

“What are we doing here?”

“You told me that you wished to go to South Carolina. And here we are!” Mae exclaimed as she took a seat beside Ruth.

“But why are we here? What purpose is there in trying to forget my husband? What does Charleston have that say San Francisco or Chicago does not have?”

“I do not know, Miss. Shall I pack or unpack?”

“Pack. I cannot stay in this dreadful room any further.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

Suddenly there was a knock at the door.  Ruth rushed to the door before Mae had the chance. As Mae put the few items she took out back in the bag again, Ruth opened the door. A young man in the hotel’s uniform stood at the door.

“Good afternoon, Ma’am! On behalf of the hotel I’d like to say thank you for choosing us and this suite. Are the rooms to your liking?”

“They are very much! But I believe I have had a change of plans. Would you be so kind as to call a cab for me? And I believe I have already paid my fee for the night.”

She handed the young man a fine tip as he tipped his hat and walked away. Ruth shut the door and walked to the balcony. Charleston was a beautiful and busy city. Not as busy as New York was. In New York City, Ruth had no room to breathe. She needed some peace. A place where there were no other people to intrude in her life. Perhaps she would go back home and buy the old Gripson Mansion and spend the rest of her lonely and miserable life there, alone with Mae.

Mae called for her a moment later and they were back downstairs waiting for the cab to arrive. Minutes later the cab arrived and Ruth and Mae took their seats inside.

“Where to ma’am?”

“Little River here in South Carolina. It is up near North Myrtle Beach.”

“That sure is a long drive.”

“I know.”

The driver was not jesting when he said it would be a long drive. But finally, after 3 hours and a few wrong turns because of her waning memory, she was finally standing on the white sand of her youth. She could still recall all the days she spent on this particular beach. So many, many memories. She slipped off her red heels and let the cool sand cover her toes. Her red silk gown swayed in the wind. Ruth could tell a storm was in the works. The sound of waves crashing on the beach made her heart swarm with wonderful emotions. She took a deep breath of the salty air and began to laugh.  Again she wondered why she was here. What was drawing her to the home of her youth?

As soon as the words escaped her thoughts, she saw a car down a ways, parked on the sand. She began to walk towards car. As she crept closer she watched as one of the back doors opened and a man stepped out. She still could not see the man’s face from this distance. But as she got closer and closer something tugged at her heart. It could not be him!

She stopped ten feet away from him. He still stood behind the opened door. She watched as he walked around the door and right up to her. She could not believe her eyes.

“Hello, Ruth.”

“Charles.” She said, trying to control the giddy schoolgirl inside of her.

“My, it has been a long time. The years have been good to you.”

“And I should say the same to you too, Charles. You are still as handsome as ever.”

“An old man like me, handsome?”

“Old? Ha! If you are old then I am old and I am certainly not old, Charles!”

“I jest!” He said with a smile. His face was aged but still as strong as she remembered.  She wanted to fall into his arms then and there.

“Would you care for a dance?” He asked extending his hand as an invite.

“But there is no music!” She laughed.

“Did we ever need music? Our love was music enough.”

She smiled and took his hand.

As the day began to wither away and the light fading with each moment, Ruth was lost in the world of love. Ten years had not changed her or Charles. They picked up right where they had left off, on this same beach, ten years ago.

“Charles, did you ever find love?”

“None compared to you.”

“I thought I had found it. But with every passing year, we grew farther and farther apart. And now that he is gone, I find myself regretting every second of our life together. Not because I wasted my time but that I wasted his. He could have died happy in the arms of a woman who loved him.”

“Don’t blame yourself for things that cannot be changed now. Instead, enjoy my company…enjoy my love?”

He said that last phrase as if it were a question. Were they really picking up where they left off? Was he really meaning what he was saying?

She looked up at his eyes, searching for her answer. And she found it. Their eyes met and were locked.

The wind was howling and rain began to drizzle on their heads. Her maid and his butler were at a standstill around them, struggling to hold onto the umbrellas in their hands. But she and Charles stood still, falling in love all over again.

Charles leaned his head to hers and sealed her thoughts with a kiss. A kiss that promised her, she would not die alone. She would love this man for the rest of her life.