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Back when she was 25, she would have never imagined things would pass so quickly.
She was going to be a star. She would go to Hollywood - see herself in magazines like those pretty actresses and pageant queens she had always idolised and worshipped.
She didn’t think she had been asking for much. All she’d ever wanted was to be famous. But now she was 65 and time felt like it was stringing dangerously thin.
She stood on the porch of her small, quaint house - now Maxine Gilroy with a blanket over her shoulders and a marlboro warm between her lips. She still felt young. She would fool herself into thinking things were still the same, until a breeze wracked through her and her wrist started clicking. Her skin felt tighter. Her body felt weaker. Her dream was as good as dead, but she wasn’t as frustrated as she thought she would be. She held no resentment. She was… Happy.
She took a long drag of her smoke, feeling it burn her throat and invade her lungs. She released the breath and gazed at the suburban paradise in front of her through a haze of grey. She’d never wanted for anything. Just as he’d promised her when they had agreed to get married.
Despite all of what people said, Wayne was still hers. She was his.
She would still think back on what her family and friends would tell her - it was funny after 37 years of happy marriage. He was a Devil. He liked her because she was pretty and young. He’d left his wife for her, and he’d do it again when the next pretty thing walked by. His promises were as empty as his wallet and Maxine was a fool for thinking any different. They hadn’t known a damn thing about her husband.
Maxine glanced behind when she heard the screen door on their house creak open, a smile ghosting her lips.
“Everythin’ alright, darlin’?”
Time hadn’t been too kind to Wayne. He’d always been that much older than her and he was well and truly an old man. His skin sagged and his hair was thin - his skin leathery and pecked with liver spots. But to Maxine, he was the same as he’d always been. He was still that sexy, brazen, younger man. She could see it in his sunken eyes.
She hummed quietly, turning back to her study of their neighbourhood.
“‘m fine…” She mumbled, tilting her head and ashing her cigarette with a painted nail.
She closed her eyes, listening to the sound of hollering children a few streets down as Wayne shuffled up behind her. She sighed when his arms roped tight around her waist - holding her tight like they never wanted to let go. He rested his head on her shoulder and Maxine could hear his gentle breathing, rough from years of laughing and smoking and shouting.
Time had gone too quick for them both. They’d met, they’d married, and life had passed by. They’d never found the career and fame Maxine had wanted. They’d never had the children and family Wayne had wanted. Neither of them minded one bit - never during moments like this. When Wayne would hold Maxine so tight it felt like she was the only thing in his whole world.
He’d brush her greying, auburn hair from her face, press steady lips to her cheek and murmur the mantra he’d expressed every day of their married life.
“You’re special…” He mumbled, barely more than a whisper. “Ain’t nobody else out there like you…”
After all this time, Maxine still knew he meant it.
— — — — — — — — — —
The sun was low in the sky, yielding to make way for the pattern of stars hidden by the light.
Maxine and Wayne had retired a couple of hours ago for their nightly routine.
Wayne would cut the vegetables. Maxine would baste the steak. They would eat together. Wayne would wash the dishes while Maxine drew a bath. They’d both dress down and settle together on their old, comfortable couch to watch TV.
Maxine lay with her head on Wayne’s chest, eyes drooping as she started to grow tired. Wayne combed thick, gentle fingers across her back and through her hair. And there they’d stay until Maxine heard gentle snores from her husband. His hand would still on her back, holding her close even in sleep. Maxine would close her eyes and enjoy the moment. The innocent intimacy and the warmth.
Every night, she fell in love all over again.
Time didn’t seem so scary if she got to spend it with him.