A
FEW
HOURS
later, I was putting my phone and passport into my leather satchel.
“All packed?” asked Lucy.
“Yes, I’ve been all packed for the last week.”
“You sure you don’t want me to drive you to the airport?”
“No, I want to do it alone.”
Her
eyes filled up, and I held my arms out and hugged her. “Love you,
sweetie,” she said. “I’m going to miss you.”
“Me too.” I squeezed her tightly. “I’ll call you first thing when I land.”
There was a honk outside,
and I pulled away from Lucy, holding both her
hands.
“My cab is here. You’ll be okay, won’t you?”
“Of course. You know Freddy practically lives here anyway. Maybe I’ll
convince him to move in officially.”
“Good luck dragging him away from his momma,” I said, with a smile. Freddy
was a kid at heart, and I couldn’t imagine him flying the coop just yet.
She rolled her eyes. “That woman drives me mad!”
“She loves you, though. His whole family adores you.”
“Can you blame them?” She grinned, then her expression saddened. “I can’t
believe you’re really going.”
I gave her another quick hug. “I’ll be back before you know it.”
A
S
THE
CAR
pulled out of my street, I nervously fingered the rubber band around
my left wrist. I
gazed out the window anxiously, as the city streets flashed by.
Every sight, every sound, felt so much like Rad. I thought of that beautiful spring
day when he turned up at my office in the pink Cadillac. That night when we
kissed for the first time, under the stars. My phone rang all of a sudden, jolting
me out of my daydream. I picked it up, my heart drumming loudly in my chest.
“Audrey.” It was Sam.
“Hey.”
“Have you left yet?”
“I’m just on my way to the airport.”
“Do you a have a minute to stop by? There’s a package that just came for
you.”
I checked the time. I was running early. “Yeah, I can make a quick stop.”
S
AM
WAS
WAITING
for me downstairs with a brown envelope in her hand. “A
courier brought this in for you just after lunch,” she said as I got out of the cab. I
took it from her outstretched hand and looked at it curiously. My heart skipped a
beat when I recognized Rad’s writing on the front.
For Audrey
I tucked it into my satchel and pulled the zip across. “Thanks, Sam.”
She gave me a warm smile. “Take care.” She gave me a quick hug and glanced
quickly at her watch. “I should get going; I’m running late for my eleven o’clock.
Don’t be a stranger now, okay?”
Sam hurried off, blowing me a kiss. I stood there for a few moments, taking in
the buildings that I knew like the back of my hand. I realized how happy I’d
been here, and with a small pang of regret, I wondered whether I was making the
right decision. In the distance I could hear the
familiar sound of rock music
coming from the Stairway to Heaven Church a few buildings down. The music
came to a stop, and a small crowd of people filed out of the large, heavy doors
and made their way down the street.
“Audrey?”
To my surprise, I turned around and saw Duck standing there.
“Hi!” he said, with a smile.
“Duck, you look great!” I thought back to how he was at the Christmas lunch,
quiet and withdrawn. Now he looked like his regular old self again.
“I feel great,” he said, his head motioning toward the church. “I think I’ve
found what I’ve been looking for.”
A pretty brunette wandered up to us and linked her arm through Duck’s.
“Audrey, this is my girlfriend, Angela.”
She smiled brightly at me. “Hi, Audrey. Lovely to meet you.”
“Lovely to meet you too,” I said.
Duck beamed at me. “I told you, didn’t I? Everything happens for a reason.”
D
UCK
’
S
WORDS
RANG
in my ears as I sat in the cab heading toward the airport. I
felt like a bird, feathers shed and poised to take flight.
Everything happens for a reason.
I dug into my handbag and took out the brown envelope, running my fingers
across the ink where Rad had dragged his pen in the shape of my name.
Whatever happened next, I knew it would never compare to what was. I would
have to live my whole life knowing I would never find someone else like him,
