The Last I Saw Him

"Two days ago, many of us lost something important to us. We lost our son, our best friend, our employee, our finance...."

The paster glanced towards Carol. She looked the most broken then anybody in the small church, She felt as if her heart wasn't in her body, like someone had taken it, and never gave it back. Ever since the death, she couldn't think, blink or react anymore. She lost her best friend, and her true lover. "And, we'd like it if she came up and said a thing about Chris."

Carol glanced around. Had her parents really arranged for her to talk? Everyone in the church gave her encouraging faces, which made her feel even worse. She had to do it now. She slowly stood up, and marched to the poduim. After a few seconds of drying away her tears, she finally came up with words to say. "Christopher Willkins was the best guy I ever meant. He always treated me like a queen and he always told me he loved me. It's sad how someone only at the age of twenty could....leave us-"

She chocked. "Please excuse me for a moment." Her voice cracked and Carol found herself about to be in tears again. Every time Chris came up, she couldn't hold them in. She ran from the podium and pushed the big, glass doors.

After dropping herself on the sidewalk, she let it all flow out. Finally, Carol looked up at the sky. "God, why did he have to get killed? Why?" She fell back down. Her eyes were red and puffy, and her head had hurt, but Carol didn't care. Crying was the only thing she could do.

~*~

TEN DAYS AGO

Carol Whipper giggled as she was being led through the beach by Chris. He managed to keep her on her toes, always surprising her. Carol was dressed relaxed, she wore a halter top and skinny jeans, along with her high bun. Christopher felt bad when he tied the bandanna around her eyes, it was so cute he didn't want to ruin it. "Are....are we there yet?" She asked. She couldn't feel the wet sand seep through her flip flops anymore, or hear the crashing of the waves.

"Yes, but before you remove your blindfold..." Chris grabbed her hips to pull her into a kiss. She felt as if she were carried away by a million butterflies. His kisses gave her the feeling of warmth and sparks. It wasn't often that she got those kisses, even though Christopher was only twenty years old, he was in the army. Carol always grew sad when he had to leave. She only got to see him for a week, and that was once in a while. When Christopher was away, he wondered what Carol did, he always feared that she would meet a guy and dump Chris, but she hadn't. Two years ago, they brought a tiny apartment together, it was romantic, The beach was nearly the front yard. It seemed romantic at the time, but Chris thought when he was away that it was too romantic, and thought that one day he thought Carol would decide to just give up on their relationship. That's why he knew what he was going to do was what he needed to do.

"Wow Chris, have you been making out with the general? I swear your kisses get better every time." she stated. Chris grinned. He removed the blindfold from Carol's eyes and huge smile grew on her face. They were at a place behind the beach where Chris always ran away to when he was little. The little spot had tall, green grass with little daisy's mixed in. And, through the grass, Carol saw that he had set up a little picnic. There were many bowls full of chocolate covered strawberries and chocolate covered pomegranates. In the middle were there main course, hot dogs and chips. "Oh my gosh Chris." Carol said. Chris grinned at his perfect girlfriend. "So, I take it you like it." he said. He walked through and picked up his iPod.

"This is perfect!" Carol exclaimed. "Almost." he said. Chris flipped through his song selection until finally settling on a slow Adele song. He sat himself on the picnic blanket and motioned for her to sit. She sat down, her cheeks warm and red. She sat her head between his lap. "Perfect getaway." she said

. He leaned in and gave her a long, sweet kiss. The sun had disappeared and the sun shone over them by the time they finished their meal. Christopher had convinced Carol to feed her the strawberries with his hands. He told her it was romantic, which was usually a reason for Carol. "So, I wanna ask you something." Chris said, digging into his pocket. Carol looked at him. "I wanna say that I love you, a lot, when I'm around you I'm in heaven, and I know that If I let you go, I will never be happy again. This ring will ensure you that I'll never leave, and that we will be in love until the very end." He pulled the small ring out into view and Carol gasped. "What are you asking me, Chris?" " I'm asking you to marry me." he said.

Carol grinned. "Of course I will!" Carol threw her arms around him. Chris smiled. "And get this, I wrote a resign form, and in two weeks..." he paused, building up suspense. "I won't have to be in the army." he said. Carol didn't know whether or not to be sentimental or happy. "Because of me?" Carol asked. Chris nodded. "Because me and you...." he grabbed her hand. "Forever and Always."