Moving on With Brock: A Passionate Second Chance Romance

“SURPRISE!” 

The shouts of everyone startled Portia as she turned on the lights in her house. There had to be at least 30 people all smiling at her and clapping as she gazed around her family room. Carrie, her best friend, seemed to be leading the way for this surprise party. Portia wasn’t wholly surprised, though. After all, when had Carrie ever listened to her about anything? 

So, of course, when Portia explicitly told Carrie that she wanted to downplay her birthday this year, why wouldn’t Carrie plan a surprise party? Carrie always had a tendency to not hear what she was told or to hear it in a completely different way than it was spoken. 

Well, Portia certainly wasn’t going to be rude to these nice people that had shown up to help her celebrate a milestone in her life that she would just as soon have skipped over. It wasn’t their fault that Carrie chose to ignore Portia’s wishes. That’s why she smiled and started commenting on how surprised she was and how wonderful it was that everyone had come. As soon as she could do it politely, though, she pulled Carrie into the kitchen with her. 

“Why would you do this?” Portia asked her. 

“What? Throw you a surprise party for your 30th birthday? The question should be why wouldn’t I do this?” Carrie retorted. 

“I specifically told you that I didn’t want to do anything special for this birthday and you know why.”

“I know that you’re being stubborn and that it’s time for you to start moving forward in your life," Carrie said while looking stubbornly at her. "Portia, what happened to you and to Gideon was horrible. I’m not disputing that and I’m certainly not taking away from the sheer awfulness of it all. But, Sweetie, it’s been nearly two years now. It’s time to start taking some baby steps out into the world again.”

Portia simply looked at her friend and she could feel the tears that were starting to well up in her eyes. Two years ago, she and her husband were attacked in their house by a burglar. Gideon died while defending her. She, on the other hand, was under a coma for a few weeks, and when she came about, he was already buried. She also lost the baby she was carrying. The burglar was sent to jail and a year later was shot in an attempted jailbreak with others. But that did not help her move on. It was still so hard to remember Gideon and to accept that she had lost the chance of a very happy life with him and their unborn child. The burglar's life couldn't bring that all back.

Carrie saw the impending tears. Quickly grabbing a napkin, she handed it to Portia. 

“No. You’re not going to cry tonight! I won’t allow it,” Carrie ordered. “You’re going to blot your eyes and then walk back into that room where some of your best friends are waiting to help make this day a happy one for you. Now, come on. Dry your eyes.”

That was something else about Carrie. Portia had never been able to argue with her when she was being perfectly logical. It was true that Portia had tried to simply hibernate after what happened but she hadn’t felt like getting out and socializing. Besides the fact that her heart was in tiny pieces, she felt it was somehow disloyal to Gideon for her to rejoin the living. 

Of course, she knew that was also ridiculous. The one thing that Gideon would have wanted her to do was be with people that cared about her and could help pull her out of that very dark place she was in. 

So that’s why she would be going out into that roomful of people to smile and thank everyone for being a part of her wonderful day. 

PORTIA dried her eyes, took a deep breath and walked back into the family room. 

There was more cheering and well-wishing when when they saw her. The smile Portia had plastered on her face soon started to feel almost real. If she were to admit it, she would have to say that Carrie had made the right decision in putting this party together. 

It kept her from hiding at home that night watching sad movies so she would have an excuse to sit in the dark and cry all night. 

“Come over here and see your presents!” Carrie exclaimed as she took hold of Portia’s arm and led her across the room. 

Portia’s dining table had been set up as a depository for birthday gifts, and it was absolutely loaded with gaily wrapped presents of all shapes and sizes. That’s when it hit Portia that her friends had really missed her and that she had been unfair to them by not allowing them back into her life, especially at a time when she had needed them the most. Even though, after a while, Carrie had started to drag Portia out to dinner and movies, to her credit, she had never once tried to set her up with anyone. Carrie knew that would be taking things too far. 

Now, though, surrounded by caring friends, music, laughter and all those presents, Portia started to feel a glimmer of hope that she may be able to move ahead and leave the past behind her. She would never forget what happened, but she just might be able to get over it. For once, she even wanted the ability to do that. 

Portia glanced down at her left hand, and her engagement and wedding rings sparkled back up at her. 

They were customized with small diamond chips and amethysts. She and Gideon had designed them and had them made. While she knew she would never give them up, it might just be time to at least move them to her right hand or even get a chain to wear them around her neck. 

Food and drinks flowed freely and everyone was having a wonderful time; even Portia. When it came time for her to open presents, everyone gathered at the table to watch. She was surprised and relieved that there were no sentimental gifts. People had tried to do that for her following Gideon’s death. She probably had nearly every
Chicken Soup for the Soul
book ever written in that time frame. Inspirational gifts were not what she needed and she was grateful that, so far, there had been none.

These were fun gifts, and the books that she did receive were new ones by her favorite writers. She was really starting to get into the swing of things when she picked up a gift bag that was shiny black and stuffed with silver tissue paper. 

It was small and lightweight. Still smiling from the other presents she had opened, she reached into the bag and started pulling out the silver tissue paper. 

Then, she withdrew the gift.

The bag contained a soft blue baby blanket with pictures of little blue bears all over it. 

The room immediately went silent. 

The mutterings started quickly enough, though. Echoes of “Oh my god!” and “Who would do such a thing?” were floating throughout the room. Carrie was at her side instantly holding her up. She snatched the bag and blanket from Portia’s hands and started digging through the rest of the tissue paper clearly looking for a card. But there was no card included. 

“Did anyone see who brought this in?” Carrie demanded of the people. 

There were lots of denials, plus with the shocked looks on their faces, it didn’t seem that any of the attendants could have possibly brought in the gift. Even though only half of the presents were opened, the crowd started to disperse pretty quickly. 

It was safe to say that the party had effectively come to an end. 

CARRIE led Portia over to the sofa and sat her down while she went back and dealt with the guests. 

Within a few minutes, she was back at Portia’s side handing her a glass of red wine. Portia accepted it silently and started to sip it. She still hadn’t said a word. 

“I’m so sorry, sweetie,” Carrie said, her voice full of guilt and worry. “I can’t imagine anyone doing something like this but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t any of the people here tonight.” 

Portia took another sip of her wine and finally looked at Carrie. There was anger in her eyes.

“No, it wasn’t anyone here tonight. But you know what? I’m going to find out who did put it there," she told her angrily. "This is so fucked up, and I’m going to find out who hates me enough to do something like that. I won’t be anyone’s victim anymore. It ends now!” 

Carrie sighed, and with a worried look in her eyes, she patted her hand and nodded. "Okay, sweetie. Do you have a plan?"

AN early evening a week later, Portia was wondering what the hell she had been thinking when she accepted Brock’s dinner invitation. 

Yet, here she was in her bedroom, still trying to figure out what she was going to wear tonight. She just couldn't think of postponing even after what happened today. 

She received an anonymous email that contained threats to her life. It mentioned Gideon, and that she was soon going to follow in his wake. 

It shook her to her core.

But as with the gift, she got angry and refused to let it scare her. Maybe it's because of what happened that she's was going on with this date. She could not, and would not, let anyone or anything disrupt her plans of moving on. This was the best way to honor Gideon's memory, that she moves on with her life and that she tries to be happy.

Anyhow, she hadn’t even asked him where they were going to eat. That would have been a lot of help to her in choosing an appropriate outfit. 

Well, I suppose I’ll just go with the simple black dress,
she told herself. It fit her well, wasn’t too dressy, but was more stylish, and could work in just about any place they went. The V-neck showed off her cleavage nicely and the heels she paired with it did her legs justice. She picked up a red shawl at the last minute just in case it became a bit cool while they were out. Deciding to wear her hair down was the best idea, too, she thought. 

At precisely 7:30, her doorbell rang. Portia peered through the peephole to see Brock standing on her front porch. When she opened the door, any doubts about her appearance vanished as Brock gave her a very flattering look. He was dressed much the same in casual dress slacks and a shirt. He wasn’t wearing a tie, opting instead for an open neck look with a blazer. 

“Hi,” Portia said. “Let me just grab my purse and set the alarm.”