The Girl They Couldn't Give Away

The Girl They Couldn’t Give Away –

By Paul McCann

 

Barbra was abandoned at birth and never knew her parents. She was brought up in a convent by nuns who took her in from her fosters parents who took ill and died suddenly .At 17 Barbra ran away from the convent and got a job selling flowers to people on the street . She was very fortunate to have good looks on her side which helped her to sell the flowers to passers by . Men often commented how beautiful to look at she was as well as intelligent and quiet .At least once a day she would have a proposal of marriage made by someone . Barbra was probably the girl most sought after in the city .

Barbra hadn’t shown interested in anyone until Finn came along . It was love at first sight .

They met in an unusual way late one afternoon .

It was Valentines Day and Barbra had sold three times her normal amount of flowers which on this occasion were long stemmed roses and she was on her way to the bank to deposit all the money she had made . She was so happy about how much she had made .

 

Out of an alley a man slipped up from behind and grabbed her handbag . Barbra screamed for help as the thief ran off with the bag that had all Barbra’s money in it . Barbra gave chase but couldn’t keep up with the robber . Suddenly from a shop doorway a homeless man who pounced on the thief and a fight ensued . By the time Barbra got there the thief had escaped but not with her handbag . The brave homeless man held the bag and then handed it over to Barbra .

There was an instant attraction when their eyes met .

He spoke first .

 

“ Hello , my name is Finn . I believe this is yours .“

 

Barbra saw there was some blood in his clothes and then noticed the knife that was embedded in his arm . From her mobile phone she rang for an ambulance .

A short time afterwards Finn was being treated in hospital while Barbra waited there by his side . Later that evening he was discharged from hospital .

As a way of showing her gratitude Barbra bought him dinner in a take away and then took him back to her flat to eat the meal . After dinner she offered Finn to stay for the night in the spare room in her flat . They never went to bed as all that night they sat up talking . They shared some secrets and bond of trust was established .

Barbra told him about living in the convent after her foster parents died and Finn told her about quitting his job as a police detective after his girlfriend was killed by a gangster in retaliation for him putting some gang members away in prison and eventually becoming homeless .

When morning came Barbra gave Finn a key to the flat and went off to work selling flowers . Finn was encouraged and did a few things he hadn’t done in a long time , first he had a shower and them he made some breakfast and after that he went looking for a job . Barbra had given him a reason to become a better man .’

That day Finn secured a job driving a taxi . It was a big day for him and he had surfaced from the place where he had disappeared years before .

 

Three months later Finn and Barbra were in a strong relationship . He had managed saved some money and bought a cheap car . They both sold flowers during the day and at night and Finn drove the taxi .

6 months later the inevitable happened , Barbra and Finn were engaged to be married . The date was set , the flowers were arranged care off the Florist they worked for , the wedding car was booked and paid for care of the taxi company , the priest from the local Catholic Church was going to do the ceremony .A small number of guests were invited . Barbra and Finn were so happy and looking forward to a life together as a perfect couple . Barbra asked Mr Hein the florist if he would give her away as she never had a father to do that and Mr Hein said he would be honoured .

On the morning of the wedding Finn stood at the altar waiting for his bride to arrive . Time seemed to stop and Finn became very uncomfortable waiting . The small gathering of people were looking around them and the Priest tried to tell a few light hearted stories to ease the tension in the church . One hour had passed when the lone figure of Mr Hein walked up the aisle of the church . He informed Finn that Barbra was not in their when the wedding car arrived . Then he gave a letter addressed to Finn he had found in is suit pocket . It was from Barbra .

The priest informed all the people that the wedding was cancelled and everyone got up and left the church .

Finn returned to the shop doorway that once was his bedroom and sat there in silence for an hour before reading the letter .’

 

Dearest Finn ,

I know you probably won’t understand what I am going to say but I am unable to make a lifetime commitment , because of my past . The past few days I have been thinking about how my parents abandoned me and I started to think of us having children and how I could not be a good mother because of the way I feel towards my Mother .All my life I have been angry and resented what my parents did to me . With my emotions and negative feelings about things I feel our marriage is doomed and would not want you to go through that later so I decided to leave before it happened . Finn I hope in time you will forgive me what I have done to you .

 

Barbra .

Finn was devastated . He sat alone staring into space and then he started to remember the person he once was , the police detective . He took up the challenge the missing person case and immediately went to work to find Barbra . He recalled her mentioning that she had lived with the nuns in a convent . So immediately he checked every convent in the city but came up empty handed . Then he went to the registry office and tracked down the names of Barbra’s foster parents as well as her biological parents . With the help of his old friends in the force he checked hours of close circuit television around the city in the hope of finding Barbra’s whereabouts . He showed photographs of Barbra to the staff at the airport , the bus companies , the train stations and then he got the breakthrough he needed . One of his taxi driving buddies remembered picking up a girl who looked like Barbra . He also remembers being very happy about picking up the fare as it was a three hundred mile trip to Mother Of Mercy Convent . He said that the lady only had one suitcase and never spoke a word the entire journey .

Finn was overjoyed and immediately went to get Barbra .

 

When he arrived at the front gate of the convent , he knocked at the front door .

No one answered so he knocked again but no one responded . Then he heard the sound of what he considered to be angelic voices, they seemed to be coming from an open window in a small building nearby . Finn went to investigate and as he looked in the through the window he saw that it was a chapel and in the front pew a group of nuns all sat together singing . Then he saw Barbra there in their midst singing along with them in harmony . The nuns finished singing and they all left the church with Barbra walking with them . Finn followed them as they made their way into the convent and was undetected when he too made his way into the convent . One by one all the nuns made their way to their rooms and Finn watched until he saw the room that Barbra occupied . After things went quiet , Finn softly knocked on Barbra’s door .

“Come in sister . “

She said

Finn slowly opened the door and went inside .

Barbra cold not believe her eyes and was stunned into silence . Finn sat beside her bed and said .

“:I love you Barbra . We don’t have to be married . Lets just be together without any commitment . We don’t have to have any children . Just as long as we have each other , that’s all I want. “

Barbra was still in shock and said ,

“How did you find me and do you really mean what you just said ?”

Finn smiled and said ,

“Yes , I meant every word , you are the only thing that matters in my life and you should know Barbra once I was a detective and I always get my man or woman . ”

Barbra started to cry and laugh at the same time .

The tears followed and Finn wiped them all away .

They kissed and laughed and they spent the night together in the convent .

In the morning Barbra introduced Finn to all the Nuns in the convent before making the announcement that they would both be leaving and returning to their jobs in the city . All the nuns were happy for Barbra and Finn and later that day they said goodbye . Finn and Barbra remained a couple and were inseparable .

They never married and they never had any children and they lived happily ever after .

 

The End

By Paul McCann