Hello!
It’s another scheduled post tonight as I am right this moment at a party (I don’t usually party this much, two in a week is a miracle if I’m being perfectly honest!).
It’s time for more creative writing! Today is not a freshly written piece, this is something I wrote potentially over a year ago, I’m not sure how long it’s actually been, but I wanted to write a whole book with the same recurring characters in lots of different circumstances. It was lot’s of completely different short stories that all focused on the same two central characters.
I never got to finish it but I want to finish it some day. This is the most recent chapter I wrote and this is the chapter in it’s entirety – no extracts here!
I hope you like it and I hope I get to finish the book one day.
—
They’d been engaged for two months now, Fletcher and Cathy were a popular couple amongst their friends, always teasing about how if he’d gone into Starbucks ten minutes later then her shift would have been over and he’d have been served by her weedy brother Steve and maybe they’d be engaged, sitting on the sofa cuddled comfortably under a blanket with a movie on.
But that hadn’t happened, so here they were. Fletcher had planned this evening some weeks in advance, thinking through each action incredibly carefully.
He’d chosen one of her favourite Disney movies – Tangled – to watch, he’d ordered in pizza and they were now sharing a pot of Ben and Jerry’s Cookie Dough ice cream. She wasn’t dubious as to why he was treating her so – he often bought ice cream and pizza and watched animated films with her because he actually enjoyed it but tonight he needed to get her onside.
“Come on then,” She sighed, draping her legs over his and grabbing his hands.
“What?” He asked – she couldn’t have known his plan, could she?
“You’ve been sat there biting your lip all night – what is it?” Cathy’s tone was difficult to read – she was trying to sound upbeat and cheerful but she anticipated the news he had to share to be bad.
“What do you think I have to say?” He asked nervously, a tremor in his voice probably not reassuring Cathy’s nerves or speculation.
“I haven’t the faintest idea, but giving my all these nice things in one night can only mean you want to soften me up for some bad news. You’ve not been to the Doctors as far as I’m aware so no terminal diseases, I think you’ve still got your job, I’d have known if one of your parents had died, I can’t and daren’t imagine what else it could be; is it me? Have I done something?” She asked, squeezing his hand and biting her lip.
“No, no of course not. You’re perfect, I promise.” Fletcher reached out to cup her cheek. Cathy leant into the gesture and placed her hand on top.
“Then what’s going on Fletch? You’re scaring me.”
“It’s hard to say, I don’t really know where to start.”
“Fletch,” Cathy breathed. “Look at me.” He met her gaze, those beautiful blue eyes that caught him first time and would catch him every time. “I’m here, and I’m listening.”
“Okay.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, okay, uh, there’s something I’ve not told you.” He whispered.
“What? I thought we’d shared everything! And there was that night in Florida where we got a bit drunk and I told you about everything that happened with Matt!” Cathy began to panic, trying to retract her legs from Fletcher’s lap but he tried to hold her there.
“I know I know! But this is… personal and humiliating and I’ve never told anyone, okay? My parents know, I never told Luke, I never told Annie – I have never told anyone this secret.”
“Then what is it? It’s nothing physically personal because we’ve been there and done that. I genuinely have no idea what you’re talking about and that scares me, Fletch!”
“I know.” He whispered. “I know.”
“Just tell me!”
“I, uh, oh wow.”
“Fletcher Luis!”
“Fletcher is my surname,”
“Okay… so what’s your first name? I can’t believe you were going to let me marry you without actually knowing your name.”
“Wait, wait – were?”
“What’s your name?”
“Are you really going to leave me?”
“I will if you won’t tell me what your name is! You’re continually lying to me.”
Fletcher sighed, trying to calm himself and subtly wipe the sweat from his hands. “Montgomery.” He whispered.
“What?”
“My name is Montgomery; Montgomery Luis Fletcher.” He sighed again, his cheeks flushing red as he was duly and thoroughly humiliated. “I have always hated my name so I made my parents call me Fletcher, adopted Luis as my surname and made sure no one ever saw any paper work because it’s so god-damn embarrassing.”
Cathy laughed, lightly but seriously trying to contain it. “That’s it? Really?”
“Uh… yeah.” Fletcher blushed.
“Thank god – I thought you were going to tell me you were calling off the wedding for some other girl.”
“Do you really think that of me?”
“No, that’s why I was so scared. I knew something was up when you planned so meticulously that I’d be home tonight, this was only reiterated when you accidentally left out the pizza menu with my order highlighted and you disappeared off to the shop to pick up some ‘last minute bits’ and came back with ice cream.” Cathy deduced.
“You’re so sexy when you go all Detective Inspector on me.”
“Are you sure there’s no more secrets?”
“A hundred per cent.”
“It’s my job, did you really think I wouldn’t notice?”
“I don’t know, I didn’t think about it, I knew you’d never guess what I’d have to tell you though.”
“No, that was a complete surprise. I hope you don’t mind that I will continue to call you Fletcher.”
“I don’t, I just didn’t want you to be all to surprised when you found out you’d be becoming Mrs Fletcher not Mrs Luis.”
“Why did you wait so long to tell me?”
“Because I thought if anything was going to stop you from marrying me it might be that – I wanted to be certain we were in this for the long haul before I revealed such private information.”
“You realise you’re going to have to tell everyone else as well, right?”
“I’m aware of this, but losing them doesn’t mean half as much to me as losing you.”
“You’re aware that I’m not marrying you and your friends aren’t friends with you because of your name? Yeah, they might tease you and I certainly won’t be addressing you as Montgomery unless I’m angry, but nothing will really change?”
“No, I suppose not.”
“Does it mean that much to you?”
“In twenty eight years you’re the only one I’ve ever told. If it weren’t my grandfather’s name I’d get it legally changed.”
“You know what?”
“What?”
“I don’t think it’s silly – I think it’s sweet. Not only because you trust me enough, but because you and your grandfather have the sweetest relationship and I love what it says about you that you won’t change your name for him.” Cathy pulled him closer, subconsciously caressing his cheek with her thumb.
“It’s been years and years since he died, I was only 5 or 6 – I barely remember him but I remember him fondly.”
“I wish I could have met him.”
“He’d have liked you; I think you’re a lot like what he told me my grandma was like.”
“You really admire him, don’t you?”
“He’s my hero. I know it’s soppy,”
“It’s not, it’s really not I swear.”
—
I quite often get it when I read over old work that I become attached to the characters again – Fletcher and Cathy are two of my favourites.
Thank you for reading,
Sophie xx
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sophie counts clouds 