Angelique closed her sketchpad and stretched lazily. Her cat stood up and arched her back in a stretch of her own. She walked to the kitchen to make a pot of coffee and paused, like always, gazing at the faded photo framed in the hallway.
It had been twenty years and still she ached. She lived that day again and again.
She had gotten up a little earlier than normal and took her routine run on the beach. Tony had been in London for a month working on an IT project and she couldn’t wait to have him home. He had proposed a week before he left and they were getting ready to move in together.
Angelique had planned the perfect welcome home dinner. Reservations had been made at The Boulevard, trendiest new restaurant in town. His new Tag Heuer wrapped in white paper with a gold ribbon. He had been salivating over it for a year. She smiled to herself, feeling the warmth in her chest as she thought of the look on his face when he opened it. How was she going to make it through the day?
Fortunately, she had a major project to work on and had a deadline. Angelique adored her mentor and working on the new line for the spring season was thrilling for her. A gifted prodigy, she had been designing clothing since cutting and pasting scraps of magazine pictures for her paper dolls. Graduation was coming and she had a position with a major design house in the city. The future was bright and when Tony popped the question that night, it looked like every dream was coming true.
Though it was hard to concentrate, she did get her final sketches in to the director on time and ran out to her car. As usual, she had scheduled every minute leading up to the dinner. Tony was planning to come to the restaurant directly from the airport and she only had two hours to get her mani/pedicure and get home to get ready. The beautiful blue dress, one of her own designs, had been hanging on the closet door for a week, her new gold pumps sitting prominently on the dresser.
She had missed him terribly. They were true soul mates. Tony was perfect. She knew from the moment they met that he was the one. They did everything together, when they were together. He was ten years older and had a successful IT business. World wide travel was a part of his life and when she was finished with school, she planned to travel with him to the fashion capitals of the world. She adored him.
When she finally arrived at The Boulevard, she looked perfect. The wait staff knew them well and had given her the corner table where he had proposed just over a month ago. She placed his gift in front of his place and ordered a bottle of their favorite Cabernet. The sommelier poured her a glass and heart pounding, she took a deep breath and tried to relax. He was due in half an hour.
8:30 came and went. Angelique nervously looked at her watch. She picked up her cell phone and called him again. No answer. He always called when he was going to be late. Her stomach ached with anxiety. Where was he?
“Miss Martinez?” She glanced up and her heart froze. Two police officers approached her, hats in their hands. “No, no!” She screamed. The other diners fell into silence as the officers began to speak to her quietly. Helping her out of the restaurant and into their car, she collapsed in tears.
The next few days were a blur. Angelique, numb with grief, couldn’t process all of the details. Small plane down. No survivors. Tony had missed his flight and wanted to be with her for her birthday and had hired a private plane to get there in time. So like him, not wanting to disappoint her. She had no memory of the funeral and no idea how she survived. A part of her died that day.
