Carol

*This short story is written in response to the bad feeling I had about the character of Carol, in “Robert and Maggie”. Meant to be in jest…or fantasy!

Carol Marsden was a typical 16-year-old girl, attending her last year in high school and obsessed with friends, parties and having a good time. Until she met Robert McCarthy. His tall, handsome good looks swept her off her feet. She began dating him immediately. The two were inseparable. Going on long walks in the woods, having picnics, going to the movies and spending as much time together as they could. Her friends that had been so important to her prior to meeting Robert seemed to fade out of her life, including her best friend, Nancy. Sadly, Carol was oblivious to this. She was too much in love.

She married Robert at the age of 18 right after high school graduation. The romance continued, but it did not last long.

Robert had received a scholarship to medical school. And was spending long hours studying and working at the hospital. She seemed to have lost her place as a priority in his life. Within five years of marriage, she had two young girls to look after, Angela and Bridgette. She had a busy home life, but Robert was in no way a part of it.

Robert worked long hours at the hospital 6 sometimes 7 days a week. When he did have free time, he would spend it at his tennis club with his friends, or attending parties with work acquaintances and often didn’t come home at all. Carroll suspected there were other women. She never confronted him about it because she didn’t want to know the answer. She knew Robert did not respect her, with only a high school education and did not think she was very smart. He had as much as told her that she could not get a job and she should be content with him supporting her. He would give her a monthly allowance for groceries and anything the children needed.

Carol was deeply unhappy, and her health was beginning to fail. She had developed angina, which brought her to her family physician many times. When one by one her girls were old enough to move out of the house and live on their own, the situation became much worse for Carol. She went as far as to ask Robert for a divorce, but he was Infuriated and told her that "no wife of his was going to divorce him". He would not suffer the social stigma attached to that, and she had no choice but to stay with him. He told her that if she ever left him, he would find her, and he would bring her back. She knew he was serious, and she was afraid.

But what Robert did not know was that for many years, Carol had been holding back a little bit from the grocery money every month. She had managed to build herself a fair-sized nest egg. Out of sheer desperation, she devised a plan that bordered on ludicrous! In order to make it work, she would have to enlist the help of old friends and both of her daughters!

Carol asked permission from Robert to go visit her high school friend Nancy across the country. She told him that Nancy was now a physician as well and worked in a major health centre. Robert reluctantly let her go, but with strict instructions on what she was to do and not do. She promised him she would behave respectfully. In her suitcase when she left, she had a few small personal items, pictures and the nest egg she had built.

Nancy waited three days before she called Robert to give him the unfortunate news. Carol had what they thought was an angina attack and was rushed to hospital. It was, unfortunately, a major cardiac event and Carol passed away in the emergency department there. As expected, Robert expressed no interest in a desire to fly across the country to see her.

Two days later, Robert called Nancy to let her know that he was making funeral arrangements. Nancy told him that, as per Carol’s wishes, her body had been cremated. Nancy was planning on attending the funeral, so she would fly Carol home herself.

Nancy, Angela and Bridget all attended the funeral. They watched as Carol’s urn was placed in the expensive mausoleum. They cried the appropriate tears; they drank tea and ate crustless sandwiches after the service.

About a month later, they met up again at Carol’s new apartment. Carol filled them in on the training she was doing to become a legal secretary. She showed off her new place and gave them a tour of the neighborhood. It was the first time they had seen Carol quite so happy!