The Secret

Alan poured Ellie another glass of wine and stood, taking their plates into the kitchen.

The meal had been simple but perfect. They had talked, Ellie about her children and her job and Alan about his work and the amount of travelling he had been doing. They laughed as they shared memories of the week in 1992, especially the karaoke night.

He came back to the table with dessert.

'It's tiramisu. Bought, not made, sadly. But good all the same. And I opened your wine, you will have more, won't you?

Ellie smiled. 'Yes, I will and bought tiramisu sounds good to me, less washing up!'

'Have you been having fun with Poppy? He grinned at her, his hazel eyes sparkling as the light from the candle hit them.

'You know Poppy, you can't have a bad time when she's around. I have drunk more alcohol in her company and I don't often stand on a sofa, drunk at 3 a.m., singing along to Dirty Dancing. It's been a blast and I think she has more stuff planned this week. She's a whirlwind!' Ellie laughed.

Alan laughed. 'You don't know how close I was to asking her about you, so many times. It was hard to bite my tongue.'

'We agreed to keep it quiet though. You were just doing what was right and to be honest, Poppy didn't know anything, until this week. I didn't tell her about us until last night.' She looked at him as she drank more wine.

'What did she say? I bet her face was a picture!' He laughed at the thought of it.

'She didn't say much so I guess you could say she was shocked! But she recovered quickly enough and gave me lots of very helpful advice about tonight, most of it I am ignoring you will be pleased to know!'

He laughed. 'What did she say?'

'Nope, I'm not saying! It's too embarrassing but lets just say she wants to buy a hat for our wedding!' Ellie laughed and took a mouthful of tiramisu. Alan looked at her, thoughtfully, before eating his own dessert.

'What was it like, when you went home?' He put down his spoon and lifted his glass, his face serious as he looked at her.

'Well, theres a question...' Ellie sighed. 'It was very strange. It was as if there had never been a problem between me and Pete. He started behaving exactly as if we had just got married. It was probably the most difficult week of my life. I couldn't get you out of my head and I didn't want to either, so every time he came near me, I pushed him away.' Ellie looked at him 'I did something really bad, actually.'

'Go on...' Alan was sad she had been so unhappy but he knew how she felt.

'I knew I would have to give in eventually and make love to him, so I pretended he was you.... isn't that just awful?'

Ellie bit her lip and smiled, her eyes glinting with naughtiness, then she laughed. 'I never told anyone that...I feel guilty all over again!'

Alan leaned forward and took her hand in his. 'Don't worry, I wont tell, as long as you don't tell anyone that I had to do the same...'
Ellie put her hand to her mouth to stifle a laugh and failed miserably. They both laughed until their sides ached and Ellie sighed happily. 'Oh my god, I can't believe what we went through, all in the name of love...'

Alan went to get her bottle of wine and refilled their glasses, took her hand and they went to sit in front of the lit fire.
They sat quietly, watching the flames and Alan put his arm around Ellie's shoulder and she snuggled into him.

'Tell me about Rima...' She said quietly.

'Really? Well, we met up the week after you left and she took one look at me and asked me your name.' Alan frowned as he remembered.

'She knew? Oh god, so did Pete! After we made love, he asked me who it was... I didn't tell him, I said nothing, but he brought it up time and time again. I always stayed quiet though. Did you tell her?'

'No. I told her it was none of her business, seeing as she was the one who decided we had to split up. And I refused to talk about it, even when we got back together. But it was never the same and anyway, I still loved you. I still do, actually...'

He looked down at her and smiled a small smile, unsure of her feelings for him.

'That’s OK. I love you, too...' She smiled at him and he wrapped his other arm around her, hugging her to him tightly.

'Will you stay?' He asked her.

'Oh I think so. I packed my toothbrush anyway. Poppy's advice...'

She giggled as he bent his head to hers and kissed her.