Time Is Up

From the moment Clive saw Alison across that crowded floor he knew he was in love, yet Clive was quite the shy guy more so when it came to meeting women, but he knew he had to make his move or lose out forever to the most beautiful lady he had seen in such a long time, and with his heart ponding so loud it wasn`t surprising that people close by couldn`t hear it, Alan his close friend who came to the dance with him was more of a ladies man, so Alan was always Clive`s advisor on what to say and what to do when talking to a lady.

Alan was in eye view of the same young lady, and as he looked at Clive then looked again at the young lady he knew his friend was hooked, Alan slowly walked over to Clive, and nudged him on his shoulder with his shoulder “Well mate are you going to make your move or what?” the music was so loud that Clive turned and almost jumped in fright “God you startled me there Alan, erm are you having a good time?” asked Clive, at this point Alan leaned close to Clive`s ear and said “Well mate, are you not going to make your move, or shall I do it for you?” a redness came over Clive at that moment as he obviously knew he was watching this young lady, “Go on……Do it man, all you have to do is say hello to her” stated Alan.

Clive`s palms were sweating he felt so hot under the collar and his mouth constantly dry, and thinking “What do I say, what do I say” getting himself all in a fluster, Clive turned to speak to Alan when he realised Alan was nowhere to be seen, Clive now on his own breathing heavy and wondering what he should now do, when suddenly he spotted Alan talking to the young lady he had his eye on for a long time “I don`t believe you Alan, I seriously don`t believe you, and I thought you were my friend” thought Clive, as he watched he saw Alan leave the young lady when the young lady glanced over across the dance floor and saw Clive watching her.

Out of nowhere Alan reappeared, and tapped Clive on the shoulder “Well mate, you not going over to ask her to dance” said Alan, again Clive`s face grow red with embarrassment “I can`t, I don`t know what to say to her” replied Clive, again Alan leaned over to Clive and whispered “She`s waiting for you to ask her to dance, you idiot…” Clive turned and faced Alan with wide eyes “Really?” asked Clive, “Yes really, so get over there and ask her to dance…..Before I do” Alan said with a grin on his face.

Finally, Clive plucked up the courage to walk across the dance-floor and head in the young ladies direction, as he got closer again his heart ponded so fast he thought it would pop out of his chest and lay on the dance-floor, as he got ever so close the young lady stood up, and smiled at Clive, as he finally reached her they both stood gazing into each other`s eyes when the young lady said “Hello I`m Alison, and you must be Clive?” as Clive stood there he just couldn`t say anything, it was as though his mouth had been sewn up, and all he could do was muster a mumble in a very nervous voice, “Erm, yes I`m Clive and it`s nice to meet you Alison” once the formalities were out of the way, Clive asked Alison if she would like a drink, “That would be nice thank you Clive, but first are you not going to ask me to dance?”.

Now Clive not being able to chat to girls with his nervous disposition, had his own method of getting around that, he was actually a very good dancer, and like many other`s on the dance-floor he could match them from move to move, Alison was so impressed on how the dance-floor sort of clung to his feet and every move was exciting to watch, and it was clear to see why people on the dance-floor moved away purely to give Clive all the room he needed to do his thing, at that point Alison thought of the movie “Saturday Night Fever” were John Travolta took to the dance-floor and parted the crowed with his swarf moves dancing to “You Should Be Dancing” it was a shame that Clive could never mix his confidence on the dance-floor with his talking to ladies.

Alison thought he was like a god on the dance-floor, he was good looking, dressed to kill yet she could see he lost the will to speak when it came to speaking to women in a comfortable way making new friends, yet working with women Clive treated each one as an equal it was that barrier that needed to be knocked down to show the real person in Clive, but Alison knew there was something about Clive she liked but at that point in time she couldn`t fathom out what attracted her to him, but whatever it was it was a good feeling.

Now, Clive never one for gambling he always thought that as a mugs game, wasting money on easy looking bets just didn`t appeal to him, as he had seem so many people get caught in that wed of deceit and lies that surround the gambling world, so he avoided it, like he would avoid the plague, even gambling on someone`s life didn`t appeal to him either, Clive was one of the most honest men you would want to meet, he could be charming, very friendly and funny in his own band of people who he felt comfortable around, and now…..the biggest challenge that was bestowed upon him was to win the love of Alison.

They both had been seeing each other for months now, meeting up on a regular basis on a weekend, maybe for coffee and a mid-day afternoon at the cinema, snuggled up watching a good movie, not that the movie was ever watched, but….. he knew he was in love, and Alison could see the change in Clive, the confidence that grew each time they met was so nice to see, yet Alison never said anything purely to avoid any embarrassment towards Clive, and with all the kind gestures of flowers, chocolates etc, Alison could feel her herself slowing falling in love with Clive.

It had been three years now since that moment Alan had made them see with in reason what they were missing out on, so I guess Alan was playing cupid, he was such a good friend to Clive and was always there for him, as Clive was the only child he never knew what it was like to have a brother or a sister, but I guess Alan was the best thing to a brother, from an early age they did things together but the moment girls were involved poor Clive hid away, he just lacked the confidence to even attempt to get on with girls, he just sat there whilst Alan gave out all his patter on how cool he was and the girls loved it

Alison and Clive arranged to have a romantic evening in to celebrate their time together, and not one bad word between them, if anything pure love, something rarely seen, as time was getting on and years flowing Clive now knew it was time to ask that very important question, yet as again lacking in confidence he had to confide in Alan, after their perfect evening in and Clive not wanting to push his luck declined the offer for staying over, not that he didn’t want too, he just thought it wasn`t the right thing to do at this moment in time, and when that time came, he would know it would be so special to them both, for waiting rather than rushing into love.

The following morning Clive called Alan “Hey Clive, long time no hear dude, how`s things with you and also you and Alison, I take it it`s still Alison” Alan said, with a deep breath and trying to keep calm Clive asked “Alan…..I need some help and advice” the conversation went quiet for a few seconds “Go on, I`m listening…..What are you up to my friend?” asked Alan in a cagey mannor, again it went all quiet before Clive blurted out “I want to ask Alison to marry me, but I don`t know how to do it, what do I say what do I do?” came a panic in Clive`s voice…”Woh…..woh…..Take a deep breath here Clive, I know it`s a big deal but you have to make sure you heart and mind are ready for this?” Replied Alan.

After what seemed hours talking boy talk, Clive seemed so much positive in his way on how he wanted to approach this situation and making it so special for Alison, he knew she was the world to him and all he wanted was to spend the rest of his days with the woman he fell in love with all those years ago, he like Alison decided to arrange a special meal but he knew he had to try hatd to build all the confidence he lacked to make this a day Alison would not forget, and to do all this in front of some many people in a restaurant, Alan was kind enough to get friends and family involved, so it was going to be a team effort from them both, and Alan wanted to help best way he could making it that extra special for them both.

Clive had all this in his head for the past two years, waiting and waiting for that right moment to pop the question, checking out on holidays for their honey moon should Alison accept his proposal of marriage he was totally obsessed with Alison and everything about her, people could see just how much in love he was with her, yet close friends kept saying time and time again, “Are you sure this is right Clive….She is your first proper girl friend” but Clive would never listen, even though he knew their love was strong, deep down he didn`t really know Alison all that well, like she should do, Clive had a never fallen out of friendship with Alan but even through the years Clive and Alison were together even Alan questioned it all, but Alan was treading on egg shells and he just didn`t know how to approach this situation.

No one could ever say that Alison and Clive were not in love, everyone could see this, but Clive being Clive once he had his heart set, no one or nothing could make him see reason, after their deep conversation Alan was happy but for being such a close friend of Clive`s he had a awful gut feeling about the whole marriage thing, so on his own back Alan had to do some digging around, as in all fairness even Alan didn`t know a lot about Alison apart from that night they all first met when Alan played cupid for his best friend, so behind Clive`s back Alan started checking things out as the last thing he ever wanted was to see his friend heart broken.

Weeks had gone by, and it was getting close to the night that Clive wanted to propose to Alison, everything was set in place, yet as ever Clive was a total nervous wreck, he just wanted everything to go as smoothly as possible, Clive had called Alan time and time again on the phone and there was never an answer, Clive needed his friend more than ever to help him get through this, yet still no reply from Alan, he now knew he was on his own and had to face this head on, Clive had previously called Alison to arrange this evenings dinner at their favourite restaurant and for some reason even Alison`s phone wasn`t been answered.

The time came, and Clive was at his wits end, no communication from Alan nor Alison, so Clive carried on as if things were normal, planning everything out right down to the last detail, friends were there Alison`s family Clive`s family were also there, all seated and waiting for the big moment that everyone could celebrate,  everyone who had been invited were segregated behind a partition ready to be revealed at the right moment, Clive seated and waiting for Alison to enter, the restaurant was busy and everyone enjoying themselves when suddenly Alan and Alison arrived and walked in, Clive with a beaming smile stood up and approached Alison, he gently kissed her on the cheek, Alan was behind her, but for some unknown reason Alan looked quite worried.

Everything started wonderful the meal was exquisite the wine flowed and as Clive was now feeling merry and a little confident he did what any loved one would do, right in front of all strangers in the restaurant he lowered himself on to one knee right in front of Alison and pulled out a small box from his jacket pocket, as he opened the box he gazed into Alison`s eyes and said “Will you marry me” the whole of the restaurant went deafly quiet waiting for the right response from Alison

At this moment of Clive asking Alison to marry him, Alan walked over to them from the table he was sitting at, and before Alison could muster a word from her lips, Alan said “Clive you can`t marry Alison” as Clive stood up slowly after this remark he looked at Alan in a bewildered state about him and then asking “Excuse me Alan……What was did you say?” Alan walked around their table and towards Clive “Mate, you can`t marry Alison” again Alan said, now it was very rare to see Clive get angry as he was always the mild mannered type of guy “I don`t understand Alan, what do you mean I can`t marry Alison?”

Alan took a deep breath, “You are the best thing to a brother to me Clive and the last thing I want is to hurt you, but I`m telling you bluntly, you can`t marry Alison” Clive walked close to to Alan and now face to face Clive asked “Give me once good reason why?” Alan looked in to his friends eyes and said the words that would cripple the whole world that surrounded Clive, everything he built up for Alison was now about to come crashing all around him “She`s already married Clive, whilst you were together and even though you both saw each other on weekends only she was living with her husband”

Clive now looked at Alison, and tears welling up “Is this true what I`m hearing?” Alison started crying and amongst the tears she was trying to tell Clive that she was in the processes of divorcing her husband to be with him, yet all that Clive believed in was now turning into a nightmare he turned to Alan and said “All these years, I thought you were my friend, more, like a brother and all that you have given me is a destruction and a broken relationship between us both” Alan tried to explain that he only found about all this a month ago and that he was only now looking out for his best friends interests.

Clive laid the ring on the table, looked at Alison and said “I really do hope you find true happiness and someone who will love you for who you are …..NOT for lies” Clive turned and looked at Alan, then without a word left the restaurant leaving a trail of destruction to his closet relationships his friend and what would have been a marriage based on lies