**Whats Shortened Cant Be Lengthened**
Whenever Tilly showed her wedding photos to friends, shed always sigh and say,
«Oh, what a nightmare this dress was! Gorgeous, yes, but so heavy and awkward! Next time I marry, Ill pick something light and airy.»
Everyone laughed, thinking it a jokeand it was. They all knew Tilly had married for love. It had been a whirlwind holiday romanceTilly just twenty-one, Oliver twenty-eight.
August, the warm sea, sparkling wine, a starlit skyall the ingredients for romance came together, and soon they were signing the papers at the registry office. Of course, Oliver had to divorce his second wife first, while Tilly relocated to his hometown.
Manchester to Brighton and backthat route would become painfully familiar to Tilly for the next ten years.
But at first, the young couple had to rent. Oliver had given his flat to his second wife after shed threatened to overdose, throw acid at the third wife, or leap from a window if he didnt return. In time, though, she quieted downperhaps hed promised to come back? His first wife was barely a memory. That marriage had lasted a year and a halfthey just didnt suit. Later, Oliver had even handed her off to a friend, making everyone happyhimself included.
Wife number two had lasted longerthree whole years before Oliver realised the terrifying truth about her. A woman who refused to have «human offspring,» as she called babies!
None of this troubled Tilly. She was self-assured, ambitious, confident in her beauty and uniqueness. Oliver adored her, certain hed found heaven on earth. If he bought flowers, they were armfuls; if a coat, then three in different styles; shoes? She could change them daily. He whisked her off to Paris, Rome, even the Swiss Alpsbroadening her horizons before their first child arrived.
Soon, little Emily was born. While Tilly doted on her, Oliver bought a house and furnished it with careall for his beloved girls.
They celebrated the move, enrolled Emily in nursery, and Tilly threw herself into studypreferably back in Manchester, where her friends and mum waited, where even strangers felt warm. Under familiar oaks, she felt at peace.
Emily stayed with Olivers mother, who adored her. During term time, Tilly stayed in Manchester. Oliver, fiercely jealous, would chase after her, staging ridiculous «accidental» meetings in another city! Not that Tilly gave him reason to worryor so it seemed.
Truth was, she longed to escape domestic life. Shed study forever if it meant no dishes, no floors, no husband or child to tend to. Life was shortwhy waste it on trivialities?
Soon, her handbag held three degreesall with honours. Psychology was her main field, and she carried her certificates everywhere, job-hunting with zeal. Oliver was adamant:
«Do we need the money? Ill go mad waiting for you! Tilly, lets have another babya boy or girl, I dont care, as long as youre here.»
But Tilly saw no more children in her future. Shed done her dutygiven Oliver a daughter. What more did he want? His mother, hearing Tillys lofty excuses, offered to raise Emily herself. After all, the girl needed love, not a mother whod rather float in the clouds.
Without hesitation, Tilly agreedthen vanished back to Manchester without a word. «Ill call from there,» she decided.
But Oliver was already waiting. He knew her tricks.
«Tilly, wheres Emily? Why arent you in Brighton? Is there someone else?» he demanded.
«Ollie, relax! No admirers, no suitors. Im just bored with you. I want freedom,» she said calmly.
«Freedom? From me? From our daughter? Wheres the love gone? A midlife crisis? Well get through itits nothing, love,» he pleaded.
«We wont,» Tilly said flatly.
Oliver rushed to her mother, who shrugged.
«What can I do? You wont change her mindshes stubborn as stone.»
He returned to Brighton alone, baffled. How to reason with her? Reunite the family? It was madness. «No good deed goes unpunished,» he thought. Maybe he just didnt fit.
Weeks passed. Tilly never returned, though she answered calls tersely: «Im fine.»
Time marched on.
Eventually, Oliver decided to sell the house, take Emily, and move to Manchesterall to save his family.
Tilly was icy. Why unsettle Emily? New school, leaving friends And his mother wouldnt approve.
Excuses. Tilly was basking in freedom, running a dressmaking business, renting a flat, juggling admirers. No time to spareand now husband and daughter? Why? She wanted the past erased, as if it had happened to someone else.
Oliver ignored her, moving to Manchester with Emily, still hoping. His love for Tilly lingered.
Hed meet her after work, bring Emily (the spitting image of Tilly)all in vain. Tilly was unmoved. Finally, she ended it:
«Oliver, leave me alone. Lets divorce. Emily can stay with me.»
But Emily was elevenshe didnt need shelter. She had a devoted father, a grandmother praying for her daily. She remembered her mother, loved her, but couldnt understand why shed abandoned her.
Time flies. Life goes on, repaying each as they deserve.
Oliver stopped «fishing on dry land.» Hed never reach Tillys heart.
Fate gave him an ordinary womandown-to-earth, no flights of fancy. Now they live in a village. She has two sons from a first marriage. No Paris or Rome for herjust wellies for muddy walks, a warm coat for chores, and seeing the children settled. That was enough.
Oliver found peace with her. («Where things are simple, angels dwell; where complicated, none at all.») Soon, they had a daughter. True happiness, even on the fourth try. The first three marriages? Best left unopened.
Tilly lives with her mother now. A business partner once promised her the moon, then swindled her. Her dressmaking venture fell apart. The queue of suitors vanished.
She works as a school counsellorthose degrees finally useful. No regrets. Though the human soul has depths no one can plumb. Maybe even a «free spirit» like Tilly will one day feel a spark of remorse. Who knows?
Emily, now grown and married, lives in Brighton with the grandmother who raised her.
On her wedding day, she wore a light, airy dressa gift from her mother, Tilly.
