Victoria's Dilemma

Someone was knocking at the door. Victoria did not know what she would do. It had been forever since she had last seen Dante. She wondered if he still looked the same as he had when she had left him standing in the gondola in Venice. She had never meant to hurt him, but she was not ready for the commitment that he had wanted. She hoped that he had forgiven her.

The knock at the door became more insistent, and Victoria tried to think what she would say when she would open the door to face him. Would she act as if nothing had happened, or would she beg for his forgiveness? She could not decide.

Victoria nervously took the doorknob in her hand and slowly opened the door to face a tall, blonde police officer. "Ma'am, are you Victoria Hermoine?" he asked her. "Yes, I am," Victoria answered with a catch in her throat. "Ms. Hermoine, I need to ask you to come down to the station with me. There has been an accident," the police officer replied.

Victoria could feel her heart beating rapidly inside of her. What had happened to Dante? Had his plane crashed? Had he been involved in a car accident? Thoughts of despair ran through her mind as she followed the police officer to his squad car. She would never be able to forgive herself if Dante had been hurt or worse killed, and she would never be able to tell him how she truly felt now.

As she opened the door of the squad car to get in, she heard a familiar voice from the back say "I told you I would come back for you, my love." As the squad car began to drive away, no one could hear Victoria's cries of joy.