All the Time in the World

A short story I wrote, make what you will of it. Let me know what you think.

I woke up dazed. For a moment I thought I would wake up at home, but things had changed and I lived with him now. I scratched a line into the bed frame with my nail, and then I turned around to see if he was there and he was.  Still not used to sharing a bed, I was startled by how close he was. He caught me staring and smiled. “Good morning beautiful,” he said as he touched my cheek. Shivers went down my spine, his touch was still uneasy to me.  I turned over to look at the only window in the room and the sun was beaming in. He was right, it was morning already and I had actually slept through the night.

His watch barely touched my skin but still felt ice cold.  It was the same watch he wore on our first date. We met on a dating website my mother forced me to join.  "Judy you're almost 30 and you still have no boyfriend, how will you ever bring me grandchildren", she always nagged. After weeks of messaging him, we finally met to have dinner. I wasn’t sure who to look for when I got there until I noticed a man wearing a bulky gold watch. The watch was unmistakable and I knew I had seen it in his pictures before.  It looked almost antique, probably his grandfather’s. 

“Hi, I’m Dean. It’s so nice to finally meet you”, he greeted me. He looked different from anyone I had ever seen before. Dean had the average features of any man but there was something unique about him. His smile was different for sure.  At times it resembled The Joker’s. His appearance definitely intrigued me. We seemed to realty hit it off that day and when I got home I had no doubt that there would be a second date.

“I’ll go get breakfast”, he said. I had almost forgotten we were still in bed. I watched as he got dressed and left the room. I got up to look in the mirror. I almost didn’t recognize myself; my hair was so oily it went from a light brown to a shade in between dark brown and black. I desperately needed a shower.

He never cared about how I looked, as long as I was there for him to look at. One time Dean showed up at my house with a box of chocolates and my favourite coffee beverage because he heard I was having a bad day. I looked as if I’d been out all night, but the first thing Dean said was, "You look gorgeous". “Thank you.” I should have stopped there but I just couldn't help blubbering on, “I actually haven’t showered in a couple of days. Oh no why did I say that?  You must think I’m disgusting. Oh my, why am I still talking? Okay I’m just going to stop now.” Dean didn't say anything but just smiled instead. “Thank you for the drink, how did you know it was my favourite?” I asked, trying to cover up the awkward silence. “A boyfriend should know his girl shouldn't he?” I didn't dare respond because it was the first time Dean had referred to me as his girl and I didn't want to risk sounding like a giddy teenager.  It was just like him to respond with a cute remark instead of answering the question.

We spent the rest of the day watching movies and goofing around. It was then that I realized I loved Dean, but would never have risked telling him that.  I hadn’t known him for too long but I knew I would never find anyone like him. I couldn’t describe it, but there was just something different about him that separated him from the rest of the world. Maybe it was his weird smile or his mysterious persona. Either way, I knew he was different.

“Knock Knock,” he said instead of actually knocking.  Without waiting for a response, he unlocked the door. “I brought your favourite, smiley face pancakes with a side of maple syrup,” he said as he set the tray of food on the table beside the bed.  It was my favourite, but this was the fourth time this week he had made it for me, I guess he was running out of breakfast ideas.

When I first met Dean I never could have imagined things turning out this way. We always seemed to have a good time, but after a while it all became a bit repetitive. After a couple of months of dating I began to lose interest, I still loved him but I just didn't see where it was going. I knew he could tell and I knew he was planning something big because of it. On our 3 month anniversary, Dean invited me over for dinner. I was a little surprised he had invited me over since I had never been over before and I knew how he liked his privacy. So I was sure he had a romantic evening planned.

We drove for almost 30 minutes when he asked me to put a blindfold on. He said we were close and he wanted it to be a complete surprise. My excitement grew, I was almost positive Dean was taking me to a cute cottage on the lake instead of his house because we had already been driving for so long.  After what seemed like forever, we finally pulled up. I took my blindfold off and saw what looked like the cutest little cabin.

As I got closer and my eyes adjusted to the light, it started to resemble this old hunting cabin my grandfather would take me to. “Is this where you live?” I asked, confused. “Yeah, this is where I come on the weekends. It’s cute, don’t you think?” he responded. “Yeah, I guess there’s a certain charm to it.” “Just wait until you see the inside” he smirked, grabbed my hand and pulled me inside.  

We walked through the door and entered what was probably the living room; there was no way of telling since it was just one big empty room. “Haven’t bought furniture yet? I hope you haven’t brought me here to redecorate,” I said jokingly. “Yeah,” he laughed, “that’s why I brought you here.” He smiled at me but this wasn't his usual smile, it was different.  Dean seemed nervous, like he was hiding something.  I got excited because I realized there was more to the surprise than just this. “Judy,” he said. I felt a frisson of emotion as he stared into my eyes. This is it Judy, hold yourself together now, don’t cry. All you have to do is say yes.  He looked at me with sincerest smile I had seen yet, kneeled down on one knee, lifted the loose floorboard and hit me over the head.

I remember waking up in a small room, restrained to a bed.  I began to panic and scream. No matter how hard I tugged and pulled the ropes wouldn't come loose. I then shut my eyes and relaxed. This all had to be a nightmare because if this was the truth then the truth was wrong. I felt blood trickle down my head and only then did I notice I was bleeding. I was so full of adrenaline that I hadn't felt the pain. I then came to grips with reality and noticed that my body ached all over. This was no dream, no night mare; this was just as real as the blood rushing down my head.

I heard a click and then he walked through the door, locking it behind him. “De�'” I stopped myself. I looked into the eyes of the man standing in front of me, this wasn't Dean. “You poor thing, what have you done to your wrists?” he said, pointing to the gashes on my wrists I got from the rope.

 I only had one question for him. “Why?” I struggled to say. “Time,” he said, pointing to his watch. “There’s never enough time,” he continued, “People always leave you, no matter how much you love them, no matter how much you care! It takes less than a second and then they’re gone from your life forever.  All the time you spent together, all of it wasted, none of it enough. All they leave you with is a broken heart and a good for nothing sorry, but not you. You’ll never leave me because we have all the time in the world”. He looked down at his watch and smiled.  I looked at the broken man standing in front of me. There was no arguing with him, I could see in his eyes that his mind was made up. Then I scratched the first line into the bed frame.

“Why aren't you eating?  Do the pancakes not taste well or something!” he yelled.  I hadn't realized he was still there.  I looked over at the 292 lines on the bed frame. I sighed; time seemed to be all I had anymore.