The Celtic Harp

Brittany sighed, "It's good, but I did it by accident, and through my own betrayal of a man I stood up in front of a church full of people and swore myself to. I don't deserve credit."

Patrick narrowed his eyes, "I see it a bit differently, but go on."

Brittany shrugged, "Well, Madison was cheering me on with Winslow as were Lauren and Katie who I also worked with. I'm sure you won't be shocked that all three eventually took things up a notch and eventually cheated. Each earned a divorce in the process. I did try to warn them to not follow my path."

Patrick looked deep into her eyes, "So you again tried to warn other women from the path you had taken."

Brittany nodded and sighed, "For all the good it did."

Patrick thought and said, "But you did the right thing. It was even more their fault when you showed them what it cost you and they still went forward and cheated."

Brittany sighed, "Meh. It didn't work. I failed... Three times. So Friday arrived and I arranged my own ride to Winslow's home and what a home it was. It was huge with a big circular drive and wings on each side of a big center hall Even as I arrived he handed me a Visa gift card and told me to spoil myself with it. I heard a helicopter that seemed to be close then kept getting closer. I looked out the window and saw the helicopter land. He smiled at me with his billion-dollar smile and said, "Our ride is here!"

We had a helicopter ride to the airport where we got onto a private jet which took off barely five minutes after we boarded. An hour later I was sitting naked on a towel full of Winslow's seed, a full member of the mile high club. I joined it two more times that flight. "

Patrick winced.

Brittany sighed, "I know. So we landed at Naples and took a stretch limo to this luxurious villa overlooking the sea then had dinner at this amazing restaurant with an equally amazing patio with an equally amazing view."

Patrick asked, "Italian restaurant?"

Brittany shrugged, "Wouldn't an Italian restaurant in Italy just be a 'restaurant'?

Patrick chuckled, "Touche!"

Brittany smiled a tiny bit, "So the first day we took a yacht cruise from one end to the other. I had a 5-star meal on deck for lunch at this amazing dinner at yet another high-end place with a seaside view for dinner."

Patrick nodded, "Sounds like the memories of a lifetime."

Brittany shrugged, "In hindsight, not so great."

Patrick looked at her, "And so what happened next?"

Brittany shrugged, "More of the same. Sex, tour, eat, sex, tour, eat, sex, tour, eat. Memories that should logically be lifetime memories but are in fact lifetime regrets."

Patrick nodded, "So you got back to a warm welcome from your brother-in-law. Did Micheal come home?"

Brittany shook her head, "No. He refused to even talk to me. As I said, his brother's visit was a huge wake-up call. Anyway, I had the divorce papers looked at. The offer was a bit one-sided, but my lawyer said they probably were not so lopsided that I should fight them. I tried to talk to him to save the marriage but... his eyes... his dead eyes!"

Brittany sobbed, "I murdered his happiness."

Patrick looked at his watch, "It's twenty after twelve. Ten-minute call. You want one last drink?"

Brittany shook her head, "No. I'll be fine."

Patrick asked, "So did you fight the divorce?"

Brittany nodded, "For two weeks. I tried to get him into counseling and he fought it. Finally, I said I would sign if he let me speak to him for twenty minutes without interruption. He accepted that."

Patrick asked, "I take it that it did not go well?"

Brittany shook her head, "We met at my lawyer's office and he did listen as agreed. I started with an apology and ended with one and basically begged for another chance between the two apologies. At the end, he said with a lot less hostility, just sign them. He was just broken at that point and wanted to end things."

Brittany half broke and said, "He said, "Please. If you have any love for me. Set me free.""

Brittany was clearly reliving that moment and the haunt in her eyes was palpable. It was twelve twenty-eight and two minutes to closing and she sobbed, "I saw the hopelessness then, so I signed the papers. Upon signing him he said the last thing he ever said to me, "Thank You.""

She sobbed, "He thanked me for releasing him!"

Patrick sighed and said, "Let me get you an Uber."

Brittany shuddered then smiled weakly, "Thank you."

Patrick sighed, "A sad tale, but it is time for me to close."

Brittany sighed, "Thank you for listening, you probably don't want to hear me blather on for the rest of the story."

Patrick smiled beatifically, "And I surely do. How am I to help anyone if I don't know how this sad tale ends!? I will definitely see this situation at some time and I will warn her of the coming disaster! I know I can help someone! And I WILL!"

Brittany smiled a bit brighter, "Okay then, We leave in two days, I will be back tomorrow night at some time, perhaps around when the last person leaves. I will finish and you may be able to help someone not take my awful road."

The next day, Brittany arrived at The Celtic Harp at half past nine with her friends who slowly filtered out as it got closer to midnight. The second last patron left at five until midnight and Patrick came up with a fresh iced water and said, "So... please continue! You sound like you regret your decision to go with Winslow. How did things go right after you signed the divorce papers?"

Brittany nodded, "So I numbly sat in the lawyer's office for a good ten minutes after I signed the papers realizing I had killed my marriage. Michael said nothing as he got up and left. I wasn't worthy of even a goodbye."

Brittany sighed, "I guess I really wasn't."

Patrick nodded sympathetically, "I'm sure he was very hurt."

Brittany nodded, "And it was me doing the hurting. Anyway, We both worked and had good jobs so there was no alimony involved so we had no contract. I kept tabs on him and even tried to reach out a few times. He ignored me completely."

Patrick added, "It can take a while to heal from something like that."

Brittany shook her head, "He never healed. Neither did I. He still carries that pain that I caused him.'

Patrick asked, "And what about your pain?"

Brittany shrugged, "I deserve my pain. I just wish I could heal Michael."

Patrick nodded, "So ya never got back together? Ever?"

Brittany shook her head, "He avoided me. I can't blame him. So, it didn't take all that long before I gave up on my relationship with Michael completely. I did stalk him on social media. He muddled along and never seemed to recover. He just seemed to exist. I tried to quietly help him. I even sent some acquaintances to try him out. If I couldn't save our relationship, maybe I could help him find someone and maybe help him find happiness."

Patrick sighed, "I take it, he never found anyone."

Brittany shook her head, "No. He is still alive... but really he is dead. His heart is dead. I saw him last year. His eyes just held sadness."

Brittany sighed and thought back, "If only I had not..."

It was like reliving the nightmare again. Brittany quietly cried.

Brittany came back to the present and steeled herself. Talking to Patrick was almost like reliving the whole disaster.

Patrick asked, "What happened to Winslow?"

Brittany shrugged, "No one knows. He just disappeared one day a year or so later. It was a pretty big story locally. They never could pin it on someone. He was seen with a woman who was the sister of one of the leaders of a local biker gang. Her husband found out and divorced her. Any time they tried to make a case, he had one hundred gang members swear he was someplace else."

Brittany clearly had no love for Winslow and was clearly only lamenting hurting Michael. She sighed, sobbed and shuddered then said, "I wrecked Michael."

Brittany forced herself to stop her sobbing, finished her beer, went to her wallet, and pulled out a hundred Euro note. She said, "Keep the change. Thanks for listening and now you fully understand how deep and terrible regret can be. Maybe, if you see such a situation, you can stop a different woman from making the mistake I did. I wish I could go back to a date seared in my mind, Friday, March 17, 2023, with what I know now, and make things right."

Patrick asked, "Do ya now?"

Brittany said, "Yes. I ruined two lives. I wish I could go back with my current wisdom and knowledge and not destroy Michael."

Patrick suggested, "And maybe help yourself."

Brittany sighed, "Even if I could only fix it for Michael. At least not ruin him, then I could at least look at myself in the mirror."

Patrick smiled then smiled even wider at Brittany's now unselfish wish just to not hurt her ex and said, "Wishes should be granted in the manner they are desired. I see a pure heart and remember..."

He looked Brittany directly into her eyes, "Sometimes what you already have truly is enough!"

Brittany felt the effects of her beer briefly and her vision blurred.

Brittany felt the world move and the scene changed. Her friend Madison said, "Hey! Isn't that Winslow Charleston, the manager of Charleston Funds? He is sek-say and worth billions. What is he doing here?"

Brittany was disoriented, "What? Where is Patrick?"

Madison looked at her with a puzzled look, "Who is Patrick?"

One of the women in my group, Sara, went to his table to flirt and talk to him. Sara was clearly flirting heavily with Winslow and trying to entice him to come meet her friends. Brittany heard a voice, "An interesting situation, isn't it? This might not be a good situation to be in right now!"

Brittany looked toward the voice and saw Patrick with a smile. He waggled his brows and then nodded toward Winslow. Brittany looked at Winslow and then back toward Patrick.

Patrick was gone.

Brittany shook her head and thought, "What? How?"

As Sara talked, Winslow scanned the table then looked at her and flashed a smile.

Winslow got up and held her gaze. He got up as if to join the whole group of women, but he was looking directly at her.

Brittany panicked

Winslow was approaching her!

SHIT!

He was coming this way and was still looking at her!

SHIT SHIT SHIT!

Brittany looked down at her drink and then had an idea. She picked it up and slammed it down in one gulp!

BURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRP!!!!!! It was almost like the giant burp in the movie 'Elf'.

Winslow stopped and looked at Brittany disgusted. He turned and faked a trip to the restroom.

Madison looked at her, "Winslow was headed right for you! What the hell was that?"

Brittany said nothing but smiled and thought, "A reason to call my husband and ask him to pick up his wife because she has had too much drink to drive and when I get home, wear him out in bed."

Brittany smiled and pulled out her phone, an Iphone 14. She had an odd thought, 'The Iphone 32 was so much better than Iphone 14'.

She was confused by the thought and then dismissed it. She shrugged and she picked up his contact photo, "Michael, can you pick me up? I've had too much to drink..."

Friday, March 17, 2045

Brittany was in Dublin with her husband, Michael, and her twenty-one-year-old son, James. Michael was off with her son who was taking a special St. Patrick's Day evening tour of the Guinness factory as a father and son special bonding time. Brittany walked into The Celtic Harp and looked around. The barkeep was a short dark dark-haired man who looked to be about thirty years old. His name tag said 'Sean'. She went up to the barkeep, "What time does Patrick start?"

Sean looked at her and shook his head, "There is no Patrick working here."

Brittany shook her head, "Yes there is, I talked to him twenty-two years ago... uhhh... I mean today."

Sean shook his head, "You must have the wrong pub. There is no Patrick here. What will ya have?"

Brittany sighed, "I'll uh... have a Guinness."

Sean thought sarcastically, 'Tourist!'

Brittany took a seat near a corner and looked into the darkness of her beer sighed and thought, "I would have liked to see him and thank him."

She took a sip and smiled, life was good. Was it a premonition? Was it a dream? She felt sure she had lived two lifetimes... nah, couldn't be. The memories of the seduction and Amalfi trip were faint like the memories of a dream.

Brittany looked at her watch and paced herself, the tour had another hour to go before she would meet up with her family.

"Is this seat taken?"

Brittany looked up, Patrick had his usual smile and a glint in his eye.

"Patrick!"

Patrick sat down with a Guinness and looked into her eyes, boring into her soul, "Have you been a good girl?"

Brittany nodded happily, "I have been a very good girl! So it WAS you?"

Patrick sat back and smiled, "It was me?.... What? There is a saying about not looking the gift horse."

Brittany nodded, "Okay, but... Thank you. I don't know how or why, but thank you."

Patrick smiled, "I recall someone wishing that they could get a second chance. I also recall you asking if I could help someone not cheat on her husband by warning her. Maybe I chose to help you. Interesting paradox there... Yes?"

Patrick smiled, "Ya know, magic is just a reflection of the heart... and an amplification of what is in the heart." Patrick's gaze bore into her soul at that point, "I see a heart very much in love with her husband. Life is good?"

Brittany again nodded, enthusiastically, "Yes. I had my son in 2024. Michael started a small machine shop right around the same time. We do custom work for the automotive industry. We do okay and have a nice house. Life is good."

Patrick sat back and smiled contentedly.

Patrick laughed, "That was some belching ya did when Winslow came at ya!"

Brittany laughed, "I have an older brother, Tom. He could burp the entire alphabet."

Patrick laughed, "So can I! I can do it in Irish Gaelic too!"

Brittany laughed, "I could only get to 'T'. My brother was a bad influence.

Patrick laughed, "Are ya sure? That belching sure seems to have worked to put old Winslow off."

Brittany leaned back, chuckled and sighed, "Perhaps."

Brittany looked at him, his eyes, neither young nor old... timeless.

Brittany looked at him and asked, "Are you...?"

Patrick stopped her, "Don't look the gift horse..."

Brittany nodded.

Brittany looked at Patrick and said, "YOU ARE! I know it!"

Patrick laughed and gave her a 'just shut up' look, "Are what?"

Brittany sighed, "Okay. I'll stop. But... Thank you."

Sean the bartender came over and asked Brittany if she wanted another Guinness. Brittany looked at Sean and smiled, "Let me ask my friend."

Sean asked, "Friend?"

Brittany looked back toward Patrick to ask him if he wanted another Guinness.

Patrick was gone and so was his Guinness.

Sean thought, "Not just a tourist. A crazy tourist."

Brittany did a double take then chuckled and said to Sean, "No thanks. I need to keep a clear head."

Sean rolled his eyes.

Brittany sat back happily. Life was indeed very good.

*******

Don't overthink the story. I hope you enjoyed a short light story with a happy ending.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Tomh1966