Why couldn’t she let herself be happy? Paul was a good man. He loved her. He was willing to wait for her when any number of other women would be practically throwing themselves into his bed. Why had she even been so insistent about waiting the full six months with him?
Because of Michael, she mused, lowering herself into the fragility of the steaming pearlescent bubbles.
Sara needed to get her mind out of the past and focus on the present. Michael was her past. Paul was her future. Get over it.
Closing her eyes, hoping to clear the turmoil from her mind, she let the heat seep into her knotted muscles, lulling her into a peaceful state of semi-consciousness. With the exception of Lincoln’s new girlfriend, all of them had been friends since high school. Her and Roni and Nika, Linc and Mike and Paul…They’d all been thick as thieves, a tight-knit group until Lincoln and Roni had broken up and then they’d had to start hanging out separately from one another.
Her thoughts continued to drift from one random moment in time to the next, hopping from the time Mike had pulled on her pigtails in kindergarten and made fun of her Care Bears lunchbox to the time her mother had died a few weeks after her 16th birthday. The tears faded as she recalled Nika getting stuck in the tree when she’d tried to climb up to Sara’s window to bring her ice cream she wasn’t allowed to have when she was home sick with the chicken pox when she was 8.
And then, so pristinely, Sara remembered the moment she realized her and Paul weren’t “just friends” any longer…
It was 7 or 8 months ago when they were last all together to celebrate Nika’s 21st birthday. Lincoln’s last girlfriend had been sick so it was just the six of them at the Japanese Hibachi restaurant. It was just like old times…except for the fact that Michael had been all over Nika after a little too much sake and Lincoln and Veronica had been darting looks at each other like only two people who never should have split up were capable. At the end of the night, Michael had left with Nika, Roni had left in tears with Lincoln hot on her heels, leaving Paul and Sara alone in quiet conversation until the manager had to ask them to leave so they could close down for the night.
It had been a perfect night. The stars were brilliant pinholes of light sneaking through a marine blue canvas in the sky. Though the night was warm enough to allow them to make the relatively short walk back to her apartment, a chill raced up her bare arms each time the wind danced between them. Her shivers didn’t escape Paul’s notice and he’d slung an arm around her shoulder to draw her near, warming her skin with his nearness.
He insisted on coming up to her apartment with her to check it out. There’d already been four burglaries in her building that month and the last one had resulted in a broken arm when the tenant arrived while it was still in progress. After giving all her door and window locks a thorough inspection, he stood on the outside of the door until he heard the click of each lock being thrown before saying goodnight through the door.
Fifteen minutes later, Sara answered a knock at her door to find Paul still on the other side. Her question was simple. “Did you forget something, Paul?”
“I did actually.” His eyes were burning with intense fire when she opened the door, ready for him to say his keys were on her kitchen table or his cell phone was under her bed. But keys and phone were in his hand and then they were on the ratty carpet in the corridor when both hands moved to frame her face. “I have to leave town for two weeks to look into a school.”
Sara hadn’t known what to say to that. “Alright.”
“Can I call you when I get back into town?”
“Well, sure. You know you can call me whenever you want. We’re friends.”
His hands were still on her face. “Are you sure about that, Sara?”
“Well, yeah. I thought we’ve been friends for the last seven years, but…oh.”
Paul’s hands had dropped to his sides in an instant. “I…misread. I’m sorry. I’ll…go.”
And he had. He turned and left, not bothering to come back once he realized he forgot his keys and phone. After five minutes, Sara realized they were still at her feet. After ten minutes, she realized the way her “oh” had come out. After fifteen minutes, the taxi pulled up in front of his building. After twenty, he froze at the sight of her sitting in front of his door.
“Can I come in,” she asked, handing over his keys and phone. When he just stared at her, keys hanging from the lock, door ajar, Sara added, “You didn’t misread anything, Paul.”
“Yeah?”
She gave him a peck on the cheek and then flounced down the corridor to the elevator. “Call me in two weeks and get your answer. My new number is programmed in your phone.”
Their first kiss was two weeks and two days later. With sudsy fingers, Sara touched her lips at the memory. The kiss had been perfection. He was perfect for her. They were perfect together. Paul Kellerman was the kind of man she could really love. There was absolutely no reason to not return his love.
“It doesn’t seem like it now, Sara, but things really do work out in the end.”
Sara’s eyes flew open. “Michael?”
© 2009, Sydney Katt. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use of content will result in dragon attacks.
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