Finding, the Truth at the End of the Day
Characters:
Rob.
Chris & Amanda.
Editor: Many thanks to Tess for fixed my spelling, grammar, and verb tense mistakes, also offering advice.
History: My version of an ending to "The Truth At The End Of The Day", by leapyearguy published in 2006. I endeavoured to contact the author back in August 2020 and to date receive no reply. So have submitted this possible story ending. I strongly suggest the reader fully review leapyearguy original story, to understand this ending.
Summary to leapyearsguy story:
Rob is the sole heir to a business kingdom. Rich, handsome man about town in his twenties. Upon reaching thirty, his social life slows down. He meets Chris aged twenty-five at the local Deli. They appear to have little in common at first but enjoy each other's company, more like brother and sister. At the peak of their relationship, they take a weekend away to Lake Tahoe where they make love. Rob finds himself falling in love with her. However, she disappears when they return to the city. "They had agreed that their time together would mean no strings, she owed him nothing." So, he lets her go, but always wondered why? By sheer accident, he meets Anne and they soon married. Anne proved to be a good wife. She's tall, beautiful, always on his arm at company functions. She cooks, keeps house, and they are sexually compatible. He learned of Anne's betrayal by chance while viewing the house surveillance system. She had a meeting with Rob's, personal lawyer, Bill Larsen.
Bullards Detective agency quickly uncovered the plot. Anne had signed a prenuptial agreement. So, the only way for her to obtain any real money is to kill Rob. Getting a conviction for both of them on conspiracy to commit murder puts Larsen in jail. As for Anne, just before the trial, Rob takes her on an ocean cruise. While in Iceland Rob tells Anne, he knows of her and Larsen's plot. Rob removes all of Anne's identification papers and leaves her there. He warns; if she returns to the USA, she will be arrested. In Iceland, she would at least be free. Now aged forty, Rob's divorce from Anne is final. He asks Bullards to trace Chris's whereabouts. He figures she would now be about thirty-five years of age.
We pick up Leapyearguy's final paragraph of Rob's reunion with Chris.
Rob walks two steps to the door, turning to look at Chris for the last time. "I read somewhere that there is a woman out there for every man. It may be true, but I feel like I had found and then lost that special woman. I will continue to search for a woman to spend my life with, but my heart tells me that I may search in vain."
oOo
Finding, the Truth at the End of the Day
As I close the door, Chris starts crying. I knew then she did love me, she just needed to admit it to herself. After all, my wife of seven years had conspired to murder me, how could Chris top that!
A small girl came skipping down the hallway. She stopped at the door and looked up at me with a curious smile on her face. I immediately saw a childlike version of her mother in her facial features. But her eye colouring looks surprisingly like mine. Without a word, she entered, closing the door.
I leaned against the thin door, deep in thought. I could still faintly hear Chris crying. The child said, "mummy, why are you crying? Who was that man? Did he make you cry?"
"Just an old friend," came her reply, "with some sad news. Come here and cuddle me."
I returned fifteen minutes later, with a bag of sandwiches, pastries, soda, and coffees from the local delicatessen.
Knocking on Chris's door, the child opens it, saying, "oh, it's you again, mummy is in the shower."
"Can I come in, I brought lunch." Holding up the large paper bag.
Opening the door wider, I took that as a yes.
"So, what's your name," I asked as we sat at the table.
"Amanda."
"Well, hello, Amanda, I'm Rob."
I place the coffees on the table, remove the contents of the bag, spreading them around the table in groups of three. We began eating.
Amanda is telling me, she is in third class, making her about eight years of age. Sandra is the name of her best friend, and mummy won't let her have a puppy. Chris enters the room wrapped in a towel. She abruptly halts with a surprised look on her face, seeing us at the table eating.
I reply to her look, "I've been to the deli, again!"
Amanda said, "mummy, these sandwiches are yummy and Rob got one for you."
Slipping into her bedroom, she returned in a floral summer dress and sat at the table watching us eat.
"You just don't give up, do you!"
"No, not when I love someone as much as I love you."
Amanda nearly chokes on her sandwich and Chris has to slap her back. After a coughing fit, Amanda looks into her mother's face for a time...and blurts out, "wow mummies in love."
Chris's cheeks turn a light shade of red at her daughter's announcement. She tries to protest, but Amanda remains firm, saying, "mummy, I can see it in your eyes."
Chris bursts into tears, Amanda jumps up and hugs her. Looking at me as if to say, "you too!" I leaned over and wrapped my arms around both of them until Chris brings her crying under control.
We continue our meal, listening to Amanda chattering away, with news of her morning's adventure at her friend's apartment.
After our small meal, Amanda insists on showing me her bedroom. Posters on the wall of the latest rock stars, her favourite books, and music. I noticed a hairbrush beside her bed. Surreptitiously I pick up a few hair strands from the brush, wrapping them in my hanky.
At the front door, I pulled Chris into my arms, kissing her lips. After a second, I feel her response.
Leaning back, I say, "Chris, it's not going to end here. If you run, I will find you. I will return, that's a promise.
Dropping to one knee, I give Amanda a quick hug and peck on the cheek. Saying, "See you soon, sweetheart."
I return to the city and ask Bullards to obtain a DNA test on Amanda's hair. Hopefully to prove if she is or isn't Chris's and my child. Within a few days, the results return positive. I decided to start afresh, purchasing an established homestead on fifty acres of wooded forest in the hills outside the city. Here I plan my next move.
oOo
One month later, I return to the small West Coast town in northern California. I Climb the worn wooden stairs to Chris's apartment. She opens the door at my first knock.
"Hi, it's me again!"