My Darling Jeremiah,
Do you remember the first time I brushed against you, at the take out window at The Fisherman’s Cove in Old Orchard Beach? A sudden downpour had taken the summer tourists by surprise, forcing all of us into a tight crowd underneath the overhang. I stood close to you and was suddenly overwhelmed by a scent memory of someone I loved, but lost. For a moment… one inexplicable moment, he was there, embracing me in the soft London rain… Until… the world shifted back into focus and it was you, tricking my nostrils, in what must have been fate. My once dead heart swelled with love beyond measure.
I wonder if you can still feel my breath on your neck, as I can still smell your scent, mingled with the afternoon rain and freshly cooked fish and chips. We huddled close together, you and I… while your wife held your daughter tightly to her chest, safe from the rain. When you moved away from me to help shield them from the torrent, I felt a sharp pang of longing, turned quickly to jealousy. It took a moment to gather myself. You weren’t him. You weren’t mine. It ought to have ended there… it would have ended there… if we hadn’t seen each other again.
But we did, didn’t we, Darling? There you were all by yourself, the following evening on my favorite beach. You sat in your chair, staring at the sea, somehow looking at once ephemeral and sexy. I was out for a stroll and upon seeing you, felt suddenly daring, in my red sundress. I know you recall what happened next. You couldn’t take your eyes from me while I allowed the wind to take my skirt wherever it would. I played coy, but I knew you knew it was no accident. It wouldn’t be proper to say what it did to me in certain unmentionable places, Darling, but we both knew where this type of flirtation would lead. Nothing could keep us apart afterward.
Our love, our ongoing tryst, was a whirlwind of passion… the stolen glances, the lustful moments when no one else was around. Midnights on the beach… Do you remember the first time I saw you naked? You were so casual and cool, as if you didn’t feel my watchful eyes upon you as you plunged into the sea. You have long enjoyed your little joke, haven’t you, Darling? But I was never fooled. Our longing is palpable like lightening in the night sky, the crisp scent of an approaching storm, the magic of summer night…
Finally our time has come, My Love. Meet me Sunday night at our beach and we can finally run away together. I will be wearing my sexiest red sundress as an homage. I wait with ragged breath for your tender embrace.
Passionately Yours,
Mary
Jeremiah,
I waited for you, throughout the long night on the beach. I’ve been terribly worried, but I guess waiting and worrying is nothing new for me. I wonder if you are aware, how it feels to spend many long years as the “other woman”?
I can’t lie, Jeremiah, It feels awful, loving you from afar, being on the edge of you life, never your first priority or concern… It has been hard, and I am tired of being so small and unimportant. I thought you would finally come to me and end this misery of hiding but, here I still am, alone.
I have tried to understand your choices and you can’t deny I have respected them and stood by you. I know how strongly you felt about your daughter having a home with both her parents and I cannot say she hasn’t flourished beautifully. I mean it, Jeremiah. I’ve always admired and appreciated your parenting. It felt almost as if I could be a part of her life through you. As you know, I have a great longing for the daughter I could not carry.
I want to tell you a secret and I hope you won’t be angry but… I attended her graduation ceremony. I hid in the back, bursting with pride for both of you. Please don’t be upset! I have watched from afar with so much love and couldn’t bring myself to miss her big day. I hope you know what it has meant to me to see her grow and I can barely wait for her to know me, as I have known her.
This was suppose to be our time… I can’t believe you didn’t come! You have to have been deterred somehow. Oh, Love! I’m so sorry to have doubted. I should never doubt you… I know the strength of our passion. I will wait for you here on Drake’s Island for as long as it takes. Please come tonight… or tomorrow. I need to know you are ok. Don’t make me wait too long… I am terrified to lose you. Waiting Lovingly,
Mary
Dearest Jeremiah,
I want you to know, I kept the promise I made in my last letter. I waited on our beach, every single night, as planned. It was to be so romantic, meeting in the place where we first locked eyes. But it wasn’t to be… I’m so sorry, Darling, this next part will be difficult to hear, I hope you are sitting down…
I
was drugged and abducted by two men. I don’t think they assaulted me sexually,
but they have taken me to some sort of asylum. There are people here… they
pretend to be doctors and say they are helping me but I don’t believe them.
They are sticking to such a ridiculous story! Can you imagine trying to
convince me our relationship was never real and I made it all up? After all
we’ve been through?
Don’t worry, Darling, I am far too
smart for this sort of ploy. I knew we would never be entirely rid of your wife
but I had no idea she could go to such lengths. Now I know… I finally
understand what happened to you in London.
I know she kidnapped and brainwashed you. I know she stole our daughter from my
womb. I was so stupid to believe the “doctors” in the
“asylum” in London.
She is a mastermind, Darling, and we have lost each other once again but I
promise it is temporary.
Darling, I don’t know what she has done to you and our Sophie but I will do whatever it takes to make you right again. She couldn’t keep us apart last time and neither will she succeed this time. I will escape, very soon and the three of us can start anew. I will never let you go.
Forever Yours,
Mary
Natolie Webb 