SERIAL FICTION

The Time Of Their Lives Slowly Runs Out

Shadows Of Mayday #18: Joe and Mattie #2: Neither of them wanted to wait to tell the other about their feelings

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“So, you want a table?” he asked.

“Yes, I want a small table where I can have my meals,” Mattie answered.

“Where do you want it?”

Joe looked around the room as he waited for Mattie’s answer. He saw no space for a table, no matter how small he made it. Maybe she wanted it in the kitchen? However, Mattie explained the large display cabinet would move to her daughter’s place and then that corner of the room would become the dining area. She had no other space for a table, but she was tired of having her meals on a tray on her knees.

Joe stood up and retrieved the tape measure from his back pocket. He walked to the corner she had indicated and took the measurements.

“Shall I pour us more tea while you’re busy?” Mattie asked, and Joe nodded.

He was done in a few minutes and when he sat down again, Mattie passed him his cup of tea.

“So, what’s the verdict?” she asked.

“Huh?” Joe looked at her, not understanding what she meant.

“Can you make me a table?”

“Ah!” Joe laughed, “of course I can. I can make you anything you want. But I guess you want to know whether I can make a table that fits there?”

That was the icebreaker.

Joe and Mattie soon talked about other things than the table. Both of them forgot the real reason for Joe’s visit. They talked about their lives, where they grew up, where they went to school, where they had met their first partners and how their partners died. They told each other about their children, their grandchildren and about what kept them busy in their daily lives.

Joe learned Mattie was the same age his wife would have been if she hadn’t passed. Mattie had been a widow for just over nine years. Her husband died in a car accident on his way to his work one morning. He was a construction worker and fell asleep while driving. He drove into the canal along which he had to drive to his work.

No one had seen the accident happen, because it was dark and there were no other cars on the road that early. His boss called Mattie when her husband didn’t get to work on time. She called the emergency services. By then, because it was getting lighter, the driver of another car had spotted the roof of her husband’s car in the canal, but it had been late to save him.

Mattie had two children — a son and a daughter. Her daughter had two daughters and her son and his wife didn’t want any children. Mattie told Joe about her family. She saw her daughter frequently, but her son and his wife traveled all over the world for their jobs and they visited at irregular times.

She smiled, and a dreamy expression filled Mattie’s eyes when she told Joe how much she loved to have her children and grandchildren around her.

Happiness filled Joe’s heart when he realized they had that in common. He shook his head and scolded himself: don’t be a silly old man! You’re only here for the table!

He glanced at his watch and jumped up.

“I am so sorry,” he apologized profusely, “I haven’t seen the time!”

He had left home just after lunch and now his watch told him it was time to prepare his dinner. He had been with Mattie for hours!

“I don’t mind. I enjoyed your visit,” Mattie said with a sweet smile.

Joe was back to wringing his hands. This woman touched him in a way no woman had since his wife died. He quickly gave her a hand and disappeared through the door.

Making the table for Mattie was his first labor of love for her.

Joe couldn’t get her out of his mind. Her eyes haunted him, but in a nice way. He could constantly hear her voice in his ears, even though two weeks passed before he saw her again. Her smile followed him everywhere. He played their conversation of that afternoon in his mind repeatedly.

By the time he completed the table, Joe admitted to himself: I’m in love.

It felt awkward. Falling in love again had been so far from his mind that he never considered it might happen. How did he have to do this? How should he tell Mattie about his feelings? He didn’t even know if he should tell her about it. Things were so much easier when he was younger!

Joe waited another week before he contacted Mattie. He tried to sound matter-of-fact, and they agreed on a date for him to deliver the table.

He was like a love-sick teenager after the short conversation with her. Hearing her voice had called up her face in his mind and if he even was in doubt, it confirmed his feelings for her.

Three days later, he rang the bell of Mattie’s apartment again. The door opened even before the chiming of the bell died down. Mattie stood there with a huge smile on her face, just as happy to see Joe again as he was to be there. She invited him in.

“I will be with you in a moment,” she said as Joe walked through to the sitting room.

Joe was more relaxed than the first time. Seeing her again had confirmed his suspicions: what had happened the first time he had seen Mattie was love at first sight. All he needed now was to tell her about his feelings.

He had prepared himself for a disappointment, but seeing Mattie and the way she acted towards him, he suspected she felt the same about him.

Mattie walked in with a tray in her hands. The same set of cups, saucers, teapot, sugar bowl and milk jug were on the tray. This time, she didn’t have cookies on a plate, but a freshly baked cake. Joe instantly recognized it as homemade and not bought at a bakery or supermarket.

Joe took a bite of his cake and complimented Mattie on the taste.

“I baked it for you,” she said, and Joe smiled, while a blush covered her face.

“That’s nice, but you didn’t do this especially for me, did you?” he teased.

“Yes, I did,” she admitted, and her face turned a deeper red.

“But why?”

Mattie just looked at him and smiled. Joe didn’t see an old woman in front of him. He saw a beautiful woman flirting with him; a woman trying to tell him something with her eyes. Joe smiled, leaned forward, and took her hand in his. Her hand was soft and warm and she didn’t pull back.

“Mattie,” Joe said, deciding to just go ahead and say it. At their age, there was no time to spill, no time to dance around each other for months without admitting true feelings.

Life was literally too short.

“Mattie,” he said again, “I couldn’t stop thinking of you since the last time.”

“But why not, Joe?” Mattie asked coquettishly and even though she was halfway through her sixties, yet again she looked like a young woman to Joe.

“I think I fell for you the first time,” Joe admitted and held his breath.

“You fell?” Mattie joked. “I didn’t notice.”

She saw the confusion on Joe’s face and quickly continued: “Sorry, sometimes I’m shy and then I make lame jokes. I fell too, Joe. For you. You were in my thoughts day and night from the moment you left here the last time.”

Joe’s chest swelled with love and pride and happiness. On impulse, he leaned closer to Mattie and kissed her on her cheek.

“I’m so happy,” he said, and Mattie nodded in full agreement.

Continued: Shadows Of Mayday #19

Find all chapters here.

This story is a work of fiction, and the author’s tribute to all victims of air crashes. Names and characters are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

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