Love by Mistake

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A knock on the wrong door brings two people together.
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komrad1156
komrad1156
3,778 Followers

"Janelle? You're my sister and I love you dearly, but please, please, please stop trying to set me up! You know how much I loved being a police officer's wife, but I just can't date another cop. Ever. Okay?"

"Okay. Fine. It's just that it's been over two years since..." She still couldn't bring herself to say since her brother-in-law David had been killed in the line of duty so she always avoided saying anything about death or dying. "Since we...lost David."

"Janelle, people grieve and heal differently. Maybe some women can date six months or a year after the loss of their husband, but I can't. Even after two years I wasn't ready to date. I'm just now at the point where I've been able to try again and the few times I've tried it's been pretty awful. Look, I hate when we argue about this and I know you're only doing what you think is best for your big sister, but could you please give it a rest?"

Vikki Englund (nee Jones) really had loved being married to David. He was not only a ruggedly handsome man, he was completely dedicated to his job and to the community he loved and served with so much pride. They'd dated in high school then broken up when she went away to college and hadn't communicated once in over four years to include the many times she'd come home for various breaks. Both of them dated other people but neither of them got serious with anyone else.

When she graduated, she returned home to stay but had no luck finding a job she liked and ended up working as a flight attendant for United Airlines. She moved back in with her parents in Kent, Washington, a modest-sized town just south of Seattle, until she could find a place of her own.

In fact, she as out looking for an apartment the day they ran into each other again. Well, she hadn't actually run into him, he'd pulled her over for speeding. She was in a hurry trying to look at an apartment on her way to work and she was furious when she saw the blue lights flashing. She pulled the car to the side of the road then immediately got out her license and registration just as the officer asked her for them. She didn't even look up as she stuck them out the window.

"Vikki? Vikki Jones? Oh, my God! How are you?" he said as he took her documents.

She recognized the voice and finally looked up at the police officer. "David?" she asked incredulously.

He tapped his badge and said with that smile she'd always loved, "That's Officer Englund to you, ma'am."

She almost jumped out of the car and hugged him. "Oh, my goodness. I haven't seen you in so long! And look at you all handsome in your uniform!" she'd told him truthfully and with genuine admiration.

"Thanks, Vikki, but you were speeding," he said flashing that smile at her again.

Playing along she said in her best Scarlett O'Hara voice, "Oh, officer. I'd do anything to get out of this ticket." She batted her eyes and played coy until David laughed.

He handed her back her license and registration and said, "So you'll have dinner with me then?"

Suddenly, Vikki got very serious and said, "Of course, I will. I'd love to have dinner with you, David."

Vikki was amazed at the way it seemed like they'd never been apart during that first date and four months later she accepted his proposal and married him the following spring in a large, formal, church wedding with all of their family and friends in attendance. They honeymooned in Cancun then came back to Kent to start their lives together. That had been just over 13 years ago.

Vikki had indeed loved being a police officer's wife, but most of all she loved being married to David. Truth be told, it was even more basic than that. Vikki loved being married. It was just a huge bonus that it was to her high school sweetheart. She missed everything about being married from the daily routine to the dependable familiarity that came from living with someone you shared everything with and who knew everything about you and loved you in spite of it to the lovemaking with that special someone. It was so pleasant and so comfortable and so...pleasantly predictable. Some people craved adventure and spontaneity. Vikki craved stability and like most women—love and romance—and David offered her all three of those things and she did her best to provide them to him.

They'd both wanted children, but David couldn't have them. His swimmers were strong, there just weren't enough of them, meaning it was extremely unlikely she'd ever get pregnant. But any odds that weren't 'zero' only meant the probability was low, not that it was impossible, so no matter how small the chance, they'd wanted to maximize whatever opportunity might exist. She'd even quit her job to try and be home anytime was she ovulating—just in case.

Not getting pregnant definitely wasn't due to any lack of trying. Vikki missed making love almost as much as she missed David and the loneliness sometimes became unbearable. Even so, she'd only recently started dating—-and well—masturbating again. For the entire first year, she couldn't even think about sex or men or anything but missing her husband. And then one evening she found herself laying awake in a kind of dreamy haze imagining him on top of her and at some point her hand managed to find its way to a place it hadn't visited in a very long time. Since then, she'd occasionally been able to fantasize again even if it was always and only about David. She still ached for him. The sound of his voice, his beautiful smile, the sounds of him working out in their little home gym, the sight of him coming home each day in his uniform and then later on in a suit once he'd made detective.

And then in an instant, it all came crashing down. He and his partner were looking into a possible meth lab location in an old, abandoned house in the worst part of the city when they cornered the cook—the meth maker himself, and his distributor, inside with a ton of product ready for sale. The cook threw up his hands immediately but the distributor had opened fire on David and his partner. David had been shot three times with a 44 magnum. Two of them hit his protective vest and had that been it, he'd have lived with nothing more than a cracked sternum. But the fatal shot entered just above the vest and the chief of police told her he'd been killed him instantly.

Vikki still cried every time she thought about those final moments and what he might have felt. In spite of what she'd been told she couldn't stop wondering things like: Did he have time for any last thoughts? Were they of her? Did he suffer? She was tearing up just thinking about it as she heard Janelle saying something.

"I know I said I'd stop, but will you at least listen to one more idea? Please?"

"Oh, my God, Janelle! Are you serious? The last guy you set me up with was almost fifty years old, for crying out loud. I don't have daddy issues, okay? I told you my limit is five years older to five years younger. In fact, I could even maybe go out with someone between 30 and 45 but those are my absolute limits. Got it? And while I'm on a roll here, can you stop with the 'really nice guy' thing? Seriously. What is that? Code for nerd or really unattractive?"

It was as if her sister hadn't heard a word. "Okay, listen. There's this really great guy at work—he's an accountant." Vikki rolled her eyes, but Janelle plowed ahead. "I showed him some pics of you and he's very interested."

"You did what? Janelle! What is wrong with you? I can't believe you. I can't even believe you're my sister sometimes. You're supposed to have my back, not put a knife in it!"

Janelle got up and sat next to her sister and said, "Stop being such a drama queen, would you? He really is a great guy, Vik. Just one date. Okay? Just one. If you don't have a nice time, I won't bother you again for a month." She thought about and said, "Well, maybe three weeks."

"Ha! I'd be happy to get one week off from your endless meddling," Vikki quipped.

"I can do a week. I won't try and set you up for an entire week—no, two weeks if you'll just say 'yes' this one last time. Please? Pretty please? He's such a great guy, Vik. Really."

"Rrrrrghhh," Vikki grumbled. "Okay, fine. But if I don't like him, you really do have to make it two full weeks. Deal?"

"Really? Okay! Yes! It's a deal! Oh, Vik...you're gonna have such a good time!" She paused then added, "Just keep an open mind about what a good time means with an accountant, okay?"

Janelle threw her arms around her sister and hugged her while Vikki didn't move. She didn't even hug back. She just said, "Accountant and good time. Uh-huh. Sure." She directly into her sister's eyes and told her, "You are so gonna owe me for this."

The only reason she agreed to go out with him is that Vikki was getting desperate. There was no way on earth she was gonna sleep with some guy she didn't find attractive, but if he was at least just okay-looking and nice to her, she was a sure thing. She'd never share that bit of information with her blabbermouth sister, but it was the truth. It had been right at 28 months since she'd had sex and as pleasant as the fantasies had been, it was no substitute for the real thing.

For the first time since David's death, Vikki tearfully took off her wedding ring and gently set it in her jewelry box on the dresser in their bedroom. "I miss you, honey," she said, "and I know you'd understand and approve. Just know I'll always love you first. You do know that, right?"

She still talked to him although the times she did grew fewer as the months went by. She took one last look at the modest diamond ring he'd bought her on a cop's salary and closed the lid. She then picked up the new prescription for birth control pills she'd filled the day before that was sitting next to the jewelry box, and dropped it into her purse, ready to start a new chapter in her life.

It was bad enough Vikki had agreed to another blind date, but to make matters worse, the guy's car had somehow ended up having to go in for some kind of repair that very day and now she was going have to go pick him up. She was already in a bit of a mood having dreaded agreeing to do this blind date for the last four days, and she was ready to call it quits when she couldn't find the right street after ten minutes of driving around a neighborhood she wasn't familiar with. She glanced back down at the yellow sticky Janelle had given her then realized she was two blocks south of where she needed to be. She changed direction then saw the house number and parked along the street in front of it. She didn't get out right away. She just sat there for a while trying to let her mounting frustration pass. She'd gone back to work several months ago and only had one more night in town before a five-day trip to New York and she really didn't want to spend it going out with another...'really nice guy' she'd never even met.

After a couple of minutes of calm, deep breathing, she got out of the car and headed up the sidewalk. She checked the house number one last time, took another deep breath, and rang the doorbell. She waited for nearly a minute then rang it again hoping and praying no one was home. Just as she was about to turn around and leave, someone opened the door.

"Hello. Can I help you?"

She forced a smile and replied, "Oh, hey there! I'm Vikki. You know, Janell's sister?" She looked at him and was suddenly totally confused. He did not fit the description of the man Janelle told her was such a great guy.

Before he could speak she said, "You're... a lot younger than Janelle said you were." The only upside was he was also a lot cuter than her sister had made him out to be. Vikki was expecting to meet a guy in his late-30s, someone closer to her own age, who was almost certainly a bland-looking accountant Janelle kept telling her was...a really great guy. To Vikki, that almost always meant not-so-nice looking and here she found herself pleasantly surprised thinking maybe this wouldn't be that bad after all.

The younger man smiled and said, "I think there's been a mistake. I don't believe we know each other." He didn't stare but he had quickly checked her out in a very casual, very non-threatening kind of way. "I mean, if I had met you before I definitely would have remembered."

Vikki wasn't exactly thrilled about going out with someone who looked like he might still be in college, but she had to admit he was more than just cute. He was actually—hot. His smile was amazing and those dimples made her tummy flutter. "No, of course we don't know each other. That's how blind dates work," she said trying to be polite without getting frustrated again. It was bad enough she'd agreed to a blind date, even worse that she'd had to pick him up, and now he was pretending he had no idea why she was even there. If he wasn't as attractive as he was, she'd have already gotten in her car and gone home.

"Whoa! Blind date? Are you sure you have the right address?" He saw a bewildered look in her eyes but he also saw she was a very attractive woman and dressed exactly the way he loved a woman to dress. She was probably ten years or so older than him, but she was really, really good looking. He couldn't help but think maybe he should just play along and see where this might lead.

"You're not Jeffrey Ballenger, are you?" she said finally realizing something was very wrong.

"No, sorry. I'm not. I'm Brent Warner, but does it help that I wish I was this Jeffrey guy?" he said smiling to try and soften the blow about misunderstanding was going on.

She reached into her purse and pulled out the yellow sticky. "Is this 1187 Caravaca Drive?"

"Oh, now this all makes sense," dimples said. "No, this is 1187 Casavedra Avenue." He pointed over her shoulder toward the road and said, "Caravaca is right over there. Just go back down the this street and turn left."

"Oh, my heavens. I'm really sorry. I'm also so embarrassed I don't even know what to say." She stepped back and apologized again.

"It's okay. Really. And it's totally understandable. We get mail for him all the time and he gets ours because of the house numbers and similar-sounding streets." He snapped his fingers and said, "Hey! Wait a minute. I know Jeffrey Ballenger. Yeah. Of course...Jeff. I know him. He's a nice guy. Some kind of accountant or something. A little nerdy, but real friendly. Lives alone with a couple of cats, but he's a really decent guy. I knew the name sounded familiar. I just couldn't place it at first."

Vikki blanched at the phrase 'he's a really decent guy' which confirmed her suspicions. And he was a cat lover. Vikki didn't hate cats, but she was a dog person who thought cats were about as exciting as a pet rabbit or a goldfish. She was now seriously thinking about telling Jeffrey she couldn't find his place. Just not until tomorrow on her way out of town.

"You know, to add insult to injury, I just recently started dating again and I've never had to pick a guy up before and then I end up knocking on the wrong door. Again, I'm really sorry—Brent, was it?"

"Right. Brent Warner."

"Well, now that I've totally made a fool out of myself, I'll just be moving along..." she said pointing to the street she needed to get to. She knew she wasn't going 'over there' or anywhere else but home. She just needed to gracefully make her exit from this guy's front porch.

Warner realized she really did seem genuinely embarrassed. To him it was nothing but an honest mistake and no big deal and he told her so. He wished her well then closed the door and watched her walk out to the street to get into her car and that's when he made a snap decision to go out after her.

"Excuse me! Hey! Wait just a minute, okay?" She turned around and saw him running toward her saying, "Hold on for a sec! Please?"

He'd only run 30 feet and he was clearly in very good condition, but he sounded out of breath. "Listen. Before you go, I was wondering if...well, I mean...do you believe in fate or chance or...you know, stuff like that?"

"Stuff like that," she thought to herself. She found it incredibly annoying when young people said 'like' every other word. She was already irritated again and was finding it hard not to get upset after finally getting away from him and now here he was back in her face.

"I tend to believe we make our way through life without the aid of unseen, external influences. You know...like fate or like chance or like...other stuff."

He realized what she was doing and why so he knew he was now digging himself out of a hole of his own making when the odds were already hugely stacked against him. "I'm sorry," he said starting over. "What I was trying to say was that perhaps there's a reason you knocked on my door instead of his. Maybe the universe is trying to tell us that you should go out with me instead of...Jeffrey."

"The universe?" she said cynically raising one eyebrow. "And how does the universe manage to do these things?" she asked now almost enjoying this little encounter. She'd been a philosophy major in college which was almost certainly the reason she hadn't been able to find a job related to her degree.

"I don't know," he told her honestly. "What I do know is that sometimes life has a way of unfolding where we might be looking for a certain thing and miss it when it's right in front of us because we were expecting to find it in some other way and didn't see it."

"And what might I be looking for and unable to see...Brent?" she asked him.

"Well, you're brave enough to go on a blind date so..." he began.

"Or foolish enough," she said interrupting him. "Sorry. Go ahead." She looked at her watch knowing she was going to be late, something she'd always hated in any guy who asked her out and suddenly grew impatient before realizing she'd already decided not to bother looking up Mr. Ballenger.

"So my guess is you're looking for what all of us are looking for. Love and happiness." He rested his chin between his thumb and index finger as he sized her up in an exaggerated manner before saying, "And in your case I'm guessing you're a hopeless romantic." He lowered his hand then said, "So, you know...stuff like that," smiling at his use of the phrase this time. "And as to the hopeless romantic part, I don't even have to ask. It's written all over your face." He paused and said, "Which is very pretty, by the way."

Vikki was reeling from that comment. She was indeed a hopeless romantic and he'd absolutely nailed it. She somehow managed to keep her composure and said, "Oh, okay. And I'm going to find that here with you because...the universe...somehow magically brought me to your door. Is that about right, Mr. Warner?"

His smile was so genuine and so captivating, she found it distracting to the point where she almost didn't hear him say, "So you do get it. That's great. I think that's another sign we should be together."

Vikki surprised even herself when she burst out laughing. "Oh, now that was funny and just so original!" She opened the car door and said, "Signs. The universe. Fate." She got in but didn't close the door. "Brent? I'm sure you're a...really nice guy—but you can't honestly believe a woman my age was somehow mysteriously led to the door of someone your age so that we could be together for reasons you can't explain and which make no sense." She waited for a moment then said, "Can you?"

"No, I can't. Not really," he told her. "But how do you know it didn't?"

Vikki shook her head and said, "I have to go now. I'm really sorry I bothered you."

She went to close the door but Brent gently grabbed it and stopped her. "Just one date. You're already going out with...Jeffrey." He said the other man's name in a snobbish-sounding British accent as he jutted out his chin which made Vikki laugh again in spite of herself.

"Look! I can make you laugh. That's gotta be a sign, too."

komrad1156
komrad1156
3,778 Followers