Distant Hope 1

Anna Hoover sat in the corner of the funeral room and watched as everyone who had known her father came to pay their respects. Men in black suits with tall hats and women in fancy black dresses drenched in pearls shed tears as they came to her father’s coffin. She was feeling empty. She’d been crying for days now and it seemed as if the tears kept refilling. She was exhausted, beyond dead tired, and still people kept telling her things would be alright. Like hell they would be; she’d lost the only person who meant anything to her. She would now have to pick up her life again like she did after her divorce. Speaking of her divorce, her ex-husband, Jake Cutter, walked into view with a bouquet of white roses. When their eyes met, he walked toward her. It wasn’t that she hated Jake. A part of her still loved him fiercely, but it was because he didn’t know that the meaning of “I Do,” meant you kept your pants zipped except for your wife. So she was an idiot for marrying him when she did. So he cheated on her and stole half of her inheritance when they divorced. So he hated her father and never really respected the man. But she had to give him some credit for showing up. She thought he wouldn’t show up. He’d proved her wrong.

            She and Jake met in high school when he made the quarter back star. She was a young girl who was trying to find out who she was. In high school she didn’t have the hips she did now or the chest. But when Jake found her to be attractive, she fell head over heels. They were glued together even though her best friend, Jedidiah, had warned her of his type. She’d ignored him and eloped with Jake after high school graduation. When Jake got an offer with the firm he was with now, they packed and left. She left behind her life she knew in southwest Minnesota and headed to the big cities with Jake. A few years later, her mother died and her father moved to live with them. That was when the problems started; actually, the problems were already there. Her father moving in just proved she’d been trying to hide them. Jake hated her father living with them and stayed out of the house. Pretty soon, they were sleeping in separate beds and after that he came home smelling like a woman. It was a downfall from there and the best thing since she tied the knot 12 years ago was when she signed her divorce papers.

            “How you doing?” Jake asked when he reached her.

            Jake’s voice brought her back to the present and she stood up. He was still handsome as ever, silvering hair had dusted his temples and he had aged well. Those bright blue eyes were always her favorite to look into and he looked great in his black suit. But the ringless finger tugged at her heart and she pushed their history aside as she took the roses he handed her.

            “I’m fine,” she replied.

            He bent down and pressed his lips to her cheek. “I’m so sorry, Anna.”

            She sighed and tears filled her eyes. When he reached for her, she pulled back and shook her head. He got the picture and nodded as he walked to the coffin. She stared at the roses and realized he’d gotten her father’s favorites. Her father, Earl Hoover, loved white roses and often had them planted around her house. But the house that she had lived in now was in Jake’s possession. He’d gotten it in the divorce and she ended up with her beat up Chevy. She felt the tears slip down her cheeks and to any onlooker it looked as if she was weeping for the loss of her father. But inside she was tearing up because the man she’d loved all her heart had turned cold. She set the roses on the chair and walked to the restroom. She walked to the sink where she turned on the faucet. She ran her hands under the warm water and took a deep breath. As she splashed water on her face, she heard the stall open behind her. Anna reached for a paper towel and dabbed her face when she looked in the mirror and saw the woman standing behind her. It was Gloria, Jake’s girlfriend, dressed in a sleek black dress that showed more cleavage than needed. Her blonde hair was streaked with brown strands and she wore deep red lipstick.

            “You look tired, honey,” she said as she walked to the sink to wash her hands.

            Anna tossed the paper to the waste basket and straightened up her spine. Gloria Tanner was known around for sleeping with married men. She found them to be a challenge and she’d destroyed numerous marriages. Anna’s was the latest one. She swallowed down the urge to strangle the woman.

            “You look like a slut,” Anna said.

            Gloria’s smile faded as she turned the water off. “Well, I have the man in my arms. I can be what I want, can’t I?”

            “What are you doing here? It’s not a bar.”

            Gloria gasped as if she’d just realized where she was. “Really? Oh, here I thought we were going dancing!”

            Pain escalated through Anna and she slapped the woman across the face. Surprised, Gloria turned to face her, but Anna pushed her against the wall. “You listen to me, Gloria. All the women whose marriages you destroyed may be whimpering in silent, but not me, ok? You messed with the wrong girl. I don’t whimper and run off scared.”

            Gloria shoved her off and fixed her dress. “Go ahead and threaten me, Anna. But I’m the one he comes home to. You’re the one dealing with the name of a divorcee.”

            Anna smiled and walked to her. “I’d rather be a divorcee than a whore.”

            The smile on Gloria’s face faded as Anna turned and walked out.