“Clockwork” – Flash Fiction
From 2005.
Alicia sighed as she bent down and smelled the camellias. Raymond had remembered their anniversary. Of course; in 27 years he’d never forgotten.
She smiled as she walked into the kitchen. How many women could be this lucky? Handwritten love notes tucked into her jacket pockets. Romantic lunches on the spur of the moment. And the flowers. From carnations to orchids, he knew just how to brighten her mood.
“Who got you flowers, dear?” Raymond asked. He was frowning. Alicia couldn’t remember him looking this…panicked?
Her anniversary. Their anniversary? “The office, dear,” Alicia said clumsily. “I’ll take them into the bedroom.”
The bedroom door closed behind her, her fingers fumbled for the card. Raymond’s masculine writing, “To my darling Alicia.” She telephoned the florist.
“Standing order?” she said, drumming her fingers on the dresser. “But you couldn’t reach him today? I see. Thank you.” Alicia hung up the phone and looked at the closet.
The notes. The notes Raymond slipped into her clothes…She picked up the telephone and called the dry cleaner. “Personal valet service? I see. Thank you.”
Alicia locked the bedroom door and paced back and forth. In her mind she saw a giant calendar, with markings labeled Alicia, dates turned over and over by some monstrous machine.
Raymond tried the door, then knocked. Alicia looked at their wedding photograph. So much promise.I love you, she thought. Said so many times that the record slips into the groove.
Flowers, notes, cards. Until Alicia had come to expect it. Until her response was as automatic as his trigger.
Alicia picked up the telephone and dialed. “Paging service? Yes, I’d like to have a reminder set up.”
She looked at the door, dry-eyed. “Standing order.”
27 years of delusion? Don't you think there would've been a clue in their daily lives that the guy wasn't all that attentive?? But I guess we all choose what we want to believe.