Chapter 3

Mike  was already at the breakfast table, making short work of a bowl of cornflakes, when Jon finally decided to show himself.  After discovering the mood he was in, Mike wished he had stayed where he was.

"There's no need to take it out on me!" he said.  "it's not my fault she turned you down!"

"Thanks for your sympathy!"  Jon slammed the cupboard door shut, nearly sending Mike skywards.  "With friends like you..."

"Oh, put a cork in it!" said Mike, losing his temper.  "I've had enough of this, you walking around with a face that would curdle milk!  You'll just have to accept her decision, and deal with it, and stop making my life thoroughly miserable, or I'll move out!"

"Don't let me stop you!" snapped Jon  "I can manage very well without you, you know!"

He turned his back on Mike, and leaned on one of the worktops, his face in his hands.  Mike got up from his seat, and put his hands on his shoulders.

"Can you?" he said, softly  "I think you need a friend right now, even if you won't admit it"

Those gentle words of comfort were all it took to break him completely.  He did not trust himself to speak.

Mike did not say any more, he knew what he had to do.  Making the excuse that he was going to see a friend, he walked out of the door.  When he arrived at his destination, he knocked at the door.  Donna's mother was surprised to see him there.

"Oh, hello,Mike!" she said  "I didn't expect to see you here!"

"I'm sorry to bother you" he said "but could I have a word with Donna, please?"

"Of course - come in"

After bringing two cups of tea, and a plate of biscuits, Donna's mother left them alone.  Donna spoke first.

"This won't make any difference to the way I feel, sending his friend here"

"He didn't" said Mike "He doesn't know I'm here"

"Oh!" said Donna, she seemed surprised.  "Where does he think you are?"

"I told him I was going to see a friend.  I thought if he knew I was coming here, he'd go nuts"

"Well, Mike, what did you want to say to me?"

"I just wanted an explanation, Donna. Why did you turn him down?  I thought you loved him"

"I don't think that's any of your business!" said Donna, giving him an angry look.

"I beg to differ" said Mike, annoyed at her attitude.  "When I have to listen to my friend cry himself to sleep every night, and try to find answers when he asks me why you broke his heart, then I think it is very much my business!  It's because I care about him that I'm here!"

"I care about him" said Donna, not looking at him.  "I love him, I always will"

"Then what's the problem?"  Mike was becoming exasperated.  "I don't get it!"

"I'll try to explain" she said  "With the kind of life you lead, there's always temptation in your way, women throwing themselves at you.  When you're away, and you're missing, you know, female company, it's easy to be tempted.  I don't want to hold him back, Mike. I love him too much for that!  I want him to live his dream!"

"Donna, he'll be living his dream if he marries you!  That's what he wants more than anything!  He's not interested in other girls.  I'll tell you something, shall I?  The last few days, since you turned him down, every night he's cried himself to sleep, the very mention of your name reduces him to tears - he's going through hell, Donna, his heart's breaking - and watching him like that is breaking mine, too...."

He could not say any more.  Donna put her hand on his arm.  Finally, he found his voice again.

"Donna, please!  Do you love him?"

"Yes, more than anything in the world!"

"Can you imagine your life without him?"

"No!  I honestly can't!"   She was crying now, but Mike was not about to stop.

"Well, if you love him, and can't imagine your life without him - what's stopping you?  You're unhappy, he's unhappy - there's only one solution, and you know what that is!"

"Give me time to think about it, Mike" she said, her pride not letting her say what he wanted to hear.  "I really will think about it"

"Well" said Mike  "don't take too long - I don't think my nerves can stand it!"

A couple of days later, they were both watching TV when there was a knock at the door.  Mike got up to answer it.

"Visitor for you!" he said, as Donna walked in behind him.  He tactfully withdrew into his room.

"Can I talk to you, Jon?" she said, sitting down next to him.

"If you want, it's a free country!"

His pride was wounded, and he was pretending to be indifferent to her.

"Please, can you turn the TV off?  I want to talk to you"

He pointed the remote control at the TV, and threw it on the table, then, folding his arms, he turned to look at her.

"Well, what did you want to talk to me about?" he said.

She decided not to say she had been talking to Mike, she did not think it would go down too well.  She took a deep breath, and began to speak.

"I've been doing a lot of thinking over the last few days" she said.  "And I've come to a conclusion"

"And what is that conclusion?" he said, standing up and walking over to the window.  He stood there staring out at nothing in particular.

"I've missed you" she said, her eyes filling up with tears.  "Even in those few days, I missed you so much; I wanted to ring you, but my pride wouldn't let me. I thought you'd turn me away, I thought...."

"Will you get to the bloody point!!"

He had not meant to raise his voice, but, all day, he had been suffering from a splitting headache that he could not shake off, and he was on a very short fuse.  Immediately after he said it, he regretted it.  Donna covered her face with her hands, beginning to cry uncontrollably.  He hurried over to her, and took her in his arms, apologising profusely.

"I'm so sorry, Donna!" he said "please, what did you want to say to me?"

She lifted her head, and looked at him, her eyes still wet with tears, and said, her voice trembling:

"I wanted to say, I know what I've said before, that if I loved you, I should let you go, but I've realised, the longer I think about it, the more I realise, I can't let you go - I just can't!  If the offer's still open, will you have me?"

"You mean, you will - you'll marry me?"

"Yes!" she whispered  "I will, if I can change my mind!"

"It's a woman's privilege!" he said, suddenly letting her go, and searching his pockets in vain for a handkerchief.  She offered her own, saying:

"Here, it's not been used! But I've a feeling it soon will be!"

"I'm sorry!" he said, burying his face in her shoulder, in an attempt to hide his tears.  "I can't help the way I am!"

"I want you the way you are!" she said, her touch making him cry even harder.  "It's because of the way you are that I love you so much!"

"What made you change your mind?" he said, his hands framing her face, his eyes searching hers.  "Something must have happened"

"It's simple" she said  "I tried to imagine the rest of my life without you, and I couldn't!"

"Same here!  Let me love you, Donna, let me look after you.  I want to laugh and cry with you, and I want to grow old with you!  How does that sound?"

"It sounds just fine to me!" she said, half laughing , half crying  "It sounds just fine!  Let's do it!"

As they sat there together on the sofa, so close together they were almost one, their lips locked together in a kiss that seemed to go on forever, they did not notice Mike standing in the corner of the room watching them, the sight of his friend so blissfully happy warming his heart.  This was just the beginning......