Robert, Her Billionaire Widower

He had let go of the memories. He had let go of the only physical aspect of her that had remained. Now he was letting her go in his head. He was letting her go in the only place she could exist anymore: his mind. This was important, and Vanessa was so happy that it was happening. She wanted him to be better so desperately. She was glad that she had the privilege to watch it happen. She was glad that she was able to be here while Robert got better, while he finally let go of the ghost of his dead wife.

Robert had not looked at Vanessa since they had come to the lake. Vanessa understood the significance of this. He didn’t want to look at her until he had let Marie go completely, and she didn’t blame him.

Finally, Robert sighed. He shook himself as if trying to wake up from a dream and turned to look at Vanessa. He smiled.

“Hey,” he said.

Vanessa smiled back and said, “Hey you.”

“I love you,” said Robert. “Shall we go celebrate our one month anniversary now?”

“Yes,” said Vanessa, “I think I would like that very much.”

And so, hand in hand, they left that lake behind along with Marie. She was still there in Robert’s head of course, but this was not in any unhealthy way. She was just a memory now, no longer a ghost

*****

It was a beautiful winter’s day, and Christmas was coming up. Vanessa was busy looking for a present online that she could get Robert. It would the first Christmas present she would ever give him, so of course she wanted it to be as personal as possible. She was thinking of making something for him, as you can’t really get any more personal than that, but she just didn’t have much of an idea about what she could possibly make him that would be any good.

She was just thinking of what kind of a gift would be perfect for their very first Christmas together when Robert came into the room. “Hey you,” he said, “How are you? What’re you up to?”

“Oh nothing, I was just working on the book,” said Vanessa. She had started writing again, a novel that was quite romantic but also very dark. It was coming along great. The book about Marie had sold ridiculously well, and Vanessa was being praised as a writer as good as the author that she was writing about and this gave Vanessa a lot of confidence.

Robert had opened a stationery with all of the money that they had. Between his dividends and her royalties from the book, they had enough money between them that neither of them would have to work, but he just wanted something to do. The stationery gave him something to focus on, something small and manageable that he wouldn’t have to worry about all of the time. It was a great feeling, according to him, and Vanessa was extremely happy that he had something in his life that he truly enjoyed doing because she loved him and wanted him to feel happy at all times. She was overjoyed that things were working out so well between them. She was overjoyed that their relationship was so perfect in such a real way.

“So I wanted to talk to you about something,” said Robert. “Or rather… I wanted to ask you something. Would that be okay with you?”

“Yes of course,” said Vanessa, wondering what he wanted to ask that he was asking in such a cautious manner.

“So, things have been pretty amazing between us,” said Robert. “So amazing that I don’t really know how to describe just how happy I am when I’m around you. I just… I love you so much that I want to be with you, I mean really be with you. I want to be your partner and I want to make a commitment to you. So I was wondering if… I mean… Oh fu*k this.”

He got on one knee and brought a ring out from behind him. “Will you marry me?”

Vanessa was utterly shocked. She hadn’t expected this at all. She loved him for doing this, of course, she loved him with all her heart. She also loved how he had gotten so nervous while proposing. That was most definitely like him, more than anything else.

“Yes,” she said, tears flowing down her face. “Yes! I want to marry you, I will marry you. Yes, Robert, my answer is yes.”