The First, Or The Last

One

Bright Cellars Merlot had been the shared interest that had once brought Beverly and Andy together twelve years ago, in the very same room they were in now. The question which now stood between them was whether or not it would become their shared memory or the night they decided to end their marriage.

Two

They sat on the edge of the queen hotel bed like a pair of teenagers who didn’t know what to do next. Andy pulled out the bottle of Bright Cellars Merlot from his overnight bag and began opening the bottle.

“Where did you get that?” Beverly asked when she saw the bottle.

“Four years ago.” Andy said. “A week after Michael was born.”

Beverly laughed. “A Bright Cellars Merlot instead of a Cuban cigar to celebrate your first boy? Now I’ve seen everything.”

Andy blushed. “I thought the occasion deserved something with a little more class than a smelly old cigar. Plus, Michael was conceived over one of these bottles in case you’ve forgotten.”

Now it was Beverly’s turn to blush. It had been the night to remember. The great rich wine, their passionate love making, and the knowledge that their love would get them through anything.

Of course this latter sentiment hadn’t been true at all.

Two girls, a boy, and a mountain of bills they could never catch up to; the only thing constant between this husband and wife was the endless stream of resentments that never seemed to slow down.

I can’t do this all myself!

What do you expect from me when I come home exhausted?

If things don’t change or improve, it’s over!

I agree.

So here they were, in the room where they made love for the first time, with a bottle of Bight Cellars Merlot, hoping to ignite the spark they once had on their very first date twelve years ago. Or just decide to make this their last date and call it quits.

Three

Andy got up from the bed and poured the wine. Beverly remained seated, took in her surroundings, and felt like a fish out of water the more time passed. Thirty-seven years old, not too far from the young woman she had been the night she first entered this room, Beverly couldn’t help but feel ridiculous. Having three kids over the course of six years, she had gained an extra forty-five pounds of lingering baby weight, no matter what she did to get rid of it. How she thought this date night would make her feel twenty-five again and save her marriage was beyond her.

Andy didn’t feel much better. From where he stood, also standing with extra weight around in his belly and the spot on the back of his head now close to complete baldness, he didn’t know if he had the confidence he once had the night he and Beverly had their first date. Then there was the more ego centered and embarrassing fear, the fear that if things did heat up in here, that Andy would be able to get it up. He poured thick red wine into the complimentary hotel cups, doing his best not to stay stuck in his head and focus on his wife.

Beverly took the cup Andy offered and then stood up to meet his gaze.

They locked eyes.

“A toast,” Andy began. “to wherever this evening may take us.”

“For better, or for worse.” Beverly said.

They stood for a moment before they both gently touched their plastic cups, then they both drank their first cups of wine in one gulp.

Four

For the first few hours in the room, they refilled their cups of Merlot and just talked about anything and everything. Something they hadn’t done much of since their first child was born six years earlier. After the kids, life of taking care of them and trying to keep up with all of the bills, somewhere they had lost their ability to talk without screaming at each other.

The wine helped. They both knew it, but they didn’t let it bother them. Their love began the day they met through mutual friends tasting Bright Cellars wine, the selection bringing the two strangers together was the Merlot. They had talked about the wine, their career aspirations (both were aspiring fiction writers), and ended the night in Beverly’s hotel room with glasses of wine and deep new found love for each other.

Five

Looking at each other now, twelve years later, they saw the love they both shared, close enough to be seen, but far enough to make them both doubt whether or not they could ever see it again.

Brave from the wine, Beverly reached out her hand, Andy took it.

“Do we really want to end here Babe?” She asked.

Andy couldn’t remember the last time she had called him that, and neither could Beverly.

“No I don’t, Bev.” He said. Then with tears in his eyes, he looked into her eyes. “Do you?”

Beverly thought for a long moment before she answered. She didn’t want to take this lightly, even if she was lighter from her third glass of wine.

“You’re my best friend Andy.” She said. “It would break my heart to end this. Not just for our babies, but for me, for us.”

Andy nodded. “I agree.” He said.

They both looked to each other, realizing in some weird way they had come full circle.

Six

They got into bed and held each other for a long time before anything else happened. When these did happen, when their kisses turned something stronger and deeper, all their doubts and fears seemed to have disappeared. Washed away by the truth that they still loved each other, and still wanted to take whatever time they needed to unite.

Seven

The next morning they woke up with mild wind head aches and a new sense of purpose for their family and their marriage, and a half bottle still left. Just enough for the both of them to have that hair of the dog cure they needed to get back to reality that this had been a new first date for them, and it wouldn’t be their last.

The End