Love: For Him Or His Vase?

A woman pleads for time with a husband fixing to leave her.

  Drying her tears with the sleeve of her blouse, Amber took a long breath. She looked deep within her own eyes, reflected in the mirror fixed on the restroom's wall. She had to calm down, somehow. Her husband was about to leave for good. He was going to grab the vase and leave. She had to stop him.
    "Why is he pulling this now, right this minute?", she asked herself, tryin to fix the mascara clumping up on her ling eyelashes."Shit," she said pulling them off instead, "water proof my ass! Another hundred bucks down the drain!"
    Looking up in the mirror one more time, she fluffed her hair and put on her best fake smile. Straightening herself, she walked out and into the living room, ready to fight for what was hers.
    "Excuse us one minute could you please, my dear," Amber asked the white haired lady who had kept her husband entertained for awhile, not knowingly, of course.
    Pulling Sam aside, she mumbled to herself, "remember do not cry, that's part of the reason you are here in this now. He gets angry when you show those emotions, especially in front of others."
    Amber stared straight into Sam's eyes and suddenly forgot what she wanted to say. Those blue-green eyes of his always pulled at her heart strings and she felt her knees begin to weaken, but she couldn't pull away to steady herself, those eyes kept her locked in place. She started to miss having those eyes watch her like they used to. Sam's eyes were the first thing about him she had fallen in love with six years ago. They seemed to sparkle constantly and could light up any dark room he entered.
    "Snap out of it girl," she heard herself say, "he's not interested in you any more for a reason, you have to focus on getting him to stay and leave that vase as well."
    Straightening her now melted knees, she pulled herself back into the present and tried not to look up at him again. She stood on her tip-toes and whispered in his ear, eyes closed, "we really should talk about this." She was trying not to sound like she was begging, but deep down she was. The scent of his musk caught in her nose and nearly knocked her backwards.
      "Mmm, I had forgotten that muskiness about him," she told herself. She remembered how she had bought that particular brand for him for their first Christmas and he never wore any other lind after that. It made him smell like he had just been out riding horses in a macho, ruggish cowboy sort of way. He had actually never ridden a horse in his life although he did drive a Mustang.
      Once again, Amber was brought back to the present, but not by her own voice this time. Sam had taken her by the arms, hard and forced her back into the wall saying, " Not now Amber, I need some time away from you."
      "But Sam," she said as he was walking away, possibly out the door. "Oh well," she said to herself, "maybe this will get him to stop, I don't care if he gets mad, as long as he stops." 
      "Sam, please don't leave without talking about this first, please," she was almost on her knees begging.
      Sam turned around and practically stomped back towards her. "Yes, I knew that would work," she mumbled proudly under her breath.
      "Damn it Amber. I told you I need time. Why do you keep doing this?," he had stopped yelling, remembering the house was full of guests.
      "I...I just can't let you leave like this Sam. I can't stand the thought of you walking out on me without any explanation," she said still sobbing, but catching her breath.
    "Please Amber, not here, not now. We have a house full of people. Stop blubbering, you're embarrassing me," he tried whispering to her.
    "Oh, but you can just walk out and not come back while we have these guests here huh? I don't care about any of these people. I don't know them and they don't know me, they are here for you, but you," stabbing her finger into his chest, "you are the one embarrassing yourself by leaving them and me."
      "Stop it Amber. Stop it right this minute. You're not going to guilt me into staying. You are the one who invited all these people here, not me. I did not ask for this. You knew I was going to leave you and you figured if you threw this party for me, it would somehow change my mind, but it hasn't and it won't!"
      "That's not true Sam. I invited these people here because it's your birthday and I wanted you to celebrate it with your friends," Amber said crying into her hands now. "I had no idea you were going to walk out on me, on our marriage today. I did this to show you how much I care. Why can't you see that?," she started yelling again.
      Sam pulled Amber into the hallway. "Wait here a minute and then we can go talk, okay? Will that make you happy? But I'm only going to stay long enough to hear what you have tosay and that is it. You here me?"
      Sam stepped back into the living room and she could hear him apologizing to the guests for the sudden outburst she had just displayed.
      Amber peeked in to see where he was and noticed that his back was to her, talking to someone from work, probably trying to make up excuses for her. Amber hurried down the hall towards the kitchen, into Sams den. She grabbed the vase, looking at it for only a minute, then ran and put it in her closet, shoving it far into the back behind the millions of shoes she owned, he'd never look there, he hated the fact that she spent so much money on shoes, he would refuse to go near that closet.
      Quickly, she returned to the hallway, just where Sam had left her, and she put her hands over her face as if still crying.
      Sam had returned and grabbed her by the arm, clenching his teeth, and politely smiled to a person who had passed them. He shoved her into the bedroom and said, "Okay, you've got five mintes, but don't ask me again to stay. Say your peace and let me leave Amber, I mean it," he said with such frustration.
      "Okay, okay Sam, Sheesh, chill out. Ouch," she said rubbing the spot on her arm where he had grabbed her. "You didn't have to get so rough, ya know, I'm the one who wanted to talk, not you."
      "Get on with it Amber," he snapped.
    "Alright, okay, I just want to know is there someone else? Is that why you are leaving me? Are you in love wirh her?" Amber asked. "What happened to us? You always said you would never leave me. What happened to that?"
      Getting angry, she could tell, Sam said, 'you are the one who left a long time ago. You didn't walk out, but your heart did. You became a very cold, uncaring person, so yes, I found someone else and you know that, you've always known that. I have finally given up on trying to get you to love me again Amber, so I'm going to go and be with someone I don't have to try with. She loves me and I love her. You had your chance and this time, you're not going to stop me, not like all the other times. I'm not falling for it any more. I'm moving on and you need to learn to do the same."
      "But Sam," she pleaded.
      "No buts Amber, not this time. Just let me walk out and don't follow. I will be back later after everyone is gone. Pack my things, keep anything you want, just make sure to pack everything else including the vase in my den, that belongs in my family and that is where it's going to stay. I mean it Amber, don't try and talk me out of this not now, not ever! It's over and that's never going to change!" He kissed her on her forehead and whispered, "I loved you once, but no more."
and he walked away.
  Once everyone finally left, Amber strolled into Sams den, deciding what of his she wanted to keep. "Nothing in here, but he doesn't need it either," she said aloud. She did decide to pack a big box full of papers and books, just so she could say that the vase was in there. She walked through the rest of the house, finding a few things here and there that she didn't care if he had. She didn't want any of it either. She already had the one and only thing she wanted and it was tucked away safely in her closet.
    By the time Sam came back by, Amber had all of his things packed and set by the door. She had locked herself in her room while he loaded it all into his car, never uttering a word. When she heard the door close for the last time and the lock click, she jumped from her bed, checking out the window to be sure. She watched him drive that Mustang out of the driveway for the last time, turned towards the closet and opened the shutter doors on it wide.
    First, she grabbed her suitcase, throwing it on the bed. Then she packed a few clothes and a few pairs of those shoes Sam could never stand to look at. Then she finally grabbed the vase.
      Sitting down on the bed, she stared at the beautiful iridescent colors which bounced off of it in the light.  She remembered the first time she had it appraised. Years before her and Sam started fighting. As a gift to Sam, knowing how much that vase meant to him and hoping to some day have children running around, she had decided to insure it and therefore needed a professional appraisal. Her mouth had dropped to the floor when they told her it was worth at least five million dollars and that through the years the price would only rise, as long as it stayed in mint condition.
    It had been five years since then and Amber made sure it stayed that same way. Becoming, what Sam called, cold along the way. But Sam never noticed the great care she gave that vase. It was one of the main reasons they ended up not having those children.
    Hugging the vase between her stomach and knees, she cradled the vase, swaying back and forth. Yes, this vase was going to give her more happiness than Sam or kids, or anything she had, had in the past, ever could have.
    She began to chuckle under her breath and then it led to an almost hysterical, uncontrollable laugh, rocking back and forth, dreaming of her soon to be wealthy future.