Stephen's life was this moment. If Alison wasn't aware of the secret, his eyes tasting every inch of her should have been as effective as a tell-all book. Stephen had been reading her since they first met. For twenty years it's been his curse, his dream, and now alone together in her bedroom, he took turns between sizing her up and thanking God that Alison became his reality.
"That's a little hard to believe, if not frightening." Alison took a step back as she spoke. It's not every day a forgotten glimpse of your past bears his soul. But tempted by courage or insanity Stephen had. He told Alison for twenty years he's loved her. It was a strange, sad sort of love. The kind built from a workshop of hidden desires and torturous "what if" questions. If not as depressing it's as potent as real love.
"I mean what am I suppose to say to this? Thanks for making the trip up to see me? Christ."
Before you throw yourself into a plausible fire you have to see what's coming. Maybe real love demands a happy ending. One with a glorious wedding and a following life that constantly builds steppingstones to heaven's guarded door. But the love Stephen's harbored for Alison for twenty years requires only truth.
The dreams of seeing her again, of tasting her for the first time were driving him mad. This wasn't a Hollywood plot. Stephen's intentions weren't to throw Alison in the front seat of a car and drive off to safety. She was married. The reality that his life would forever go on without her was accepted. It's the truth though, which screamed to be told. If he weren't to have Alison, he'd be damned to be driven mad by her. If the truth shall really set you free, freedom is why love brought him to this point. He had to tell her how he felt. The results were impartial. Stephen only desired having a great weight lifted.
Alison knew. The trick was the truth hadn't set Stephen free it only stoked the fires and had him craving for more.
"I can't imagine what you're thinking, but I had to tell you what I was."
"I don't understand Steve. I'm flattered. Nobody has ever said that to me before, but why", she measured the moment carefully unwilling to risk further explanation, "Steve I'm married." The tension seemed to break from the room. Alison's eyes expressed a sigh, the vulnerability of the other soul in the room cast a long shadow.
"I know. I told myself that a thousand times in the days leading up to this, and the days before when I considered everything that I've done tonight lunacy."
"Please go."
Those words were her right. They spoke a truth of their own. Despite his hunger for more, Stephen's trip counted on the signal. He would leave on cue, as if to save the only small amount of pride available.
Alison slowly walked past him to open the bedroom door. He took a step to Alison, his love leading him to the only place its ever known.
