Chapter Six

“So how long have you been writing?” Sarah asked her new friend over lunch.

“I’ve always been interested in it,” Karli replied as she dipped a French fry into her ketchup. “My degree’s in fashion merchandising, though. I did some hands-on stuff for a couple of places, but I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would. Then I stumbled across the writers’ group. Meeting them helped me realize I wanted to focus on writing about fashion. So, I finally worked up the courage and built a blog site about three weeks ago and got started. And I hit one hundred followers yesterday.”

“That’s great! It will be in the thousands before you know it.”

“Here’s hoping,” Karli smiled. “What about you?”

“I’m an Accounting major,” Sarah revealed. “I like it, and I’m good at it. But it’s not my passion and it never will be. I’m getting that degree so I can pay the bills, but I long to be an author. That’s the dream.”

“How much further do you have to go?”

“If I maintain the pace I’ve been running, I should graduate next summer,” Sarah announced. “The goal was to try to get it done in three years.”

“Impressive!”

“I’m ready to be done, that’s for sure,” Sarah said with a smile.

“I felt that way too,” Karli confessed. “And then when I graduated and got my job and it just didn’t make me happy the way I thought it would, I felt so lost. But with the blogging angle, I’m excited again, even though Evan isn’t.”

“Evan?”

“My husband,” Karli explained. “He’s not really into any sort of fashion-related stuff. Calls it ‘cute’.”

“Ouch,” Sarah said. “That must sting, feeling like you don’t have his support.”

Tim always supported my dreams no matter what they were, Sarah thought wistfully before stopping herself.

No. Don’t go there, girl. Have a nice time for once.

“It’s not that he’s not supportive,” Karli clarified. “It’s just more like, he can take it or leave it.”

“Let me guess – he’d rather watch pretty much any sporting event than even think about stuff like fashion.”

Karli laughed.

“Every day of the week. So, what about you? You married?”

“I was engaged once,” Sarah murmured, but didn’t offer details, and her tone conveyed that the subject was not a happy one.

“Anyway – how often does the writing group meet?”

“Twice a month,” Karli answered, shifting gears smoothly when she felt Sarah’s discomfort. “Usually every other week. The first meeting of each month is at the library, and the second one is typically at one of the restaurants nearby. We have lunch and talk writing, and sometimes we do timed writing sprints or play themed games. It’s fun.”

“Sounds like it,” Sarah agreed.

“So, why don’t we plan on riding together to the next one? I’d be happy to swing by and pick you up.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want to be any trouble.”

“No trouble at all,” Karli assured her. “Because I really don’t know anyone very well in that group, either. I figure if we team up, it will be even more fun.”

***

When Tim was done filling out the application, he handed it to John.

“Everything’s in order,” John pronounced once he’d reviewed the packet. “The next round of classes starts June fifteenth, a week from Monday. That gives you time to line out a place to rent and get settled in.”

“Yes, sir. I’m actually in a pretty nice extended stay hotel at the moment, so I may just stay there. I haven’t decided yet. That’s next on my list to figure out.”

“Well, there’s no shortage of apartment complexes in the area. Most are not too pricey and they’re all pretty safe. If you need some leads to work with, let me know.”

“Thanks,” Tim said as he stood up. “See you on the fifteenth, sir.”

“You’re welcome, Tim,” the program director replied as he shook Tim’s hand. “And please, call me John.”

***

“Hey kiddo, guess what I found for you?” Jodie called out to Sarah on Sunday afternoon.

“What?”

“A new daybed! Frame, mattress, sheet set, the works. Never even been used. And it’s free. All you have to do is go pick it up!”

“But I already have a bed,” Sarah pointed out.

“I know that, silly,” Jodie chided her. “But you also have a second bedroom that’s still completely empty, and it’s just so sad looking, dear. A daybed would brighten it right up!”

Sarah chuckled.

“All right, Jodie, all right.”

Jodie clapped her hands together with excitement.

“Here’s the address,” she exclaimed, and handed Sarah a piece of paper.

Forty-five minutes later Sarah was backing into her parking space to unload her newfound treasure.

Jodie met her at the curb.

“I asked Jack to come help you unload it,” she told Sarah.

“There’s no need to, really. The frame came apart easily, and none of it is heavy at all,” Sarah replied. “Besides, isn’t he fixing the sink in unit fourteen?”

“I’d forgotten about that,” Jodie admitted. “You sure you don’t need help?”

“Nope, I can manage,” Sarah smiled as she patted Jodie on the shoulder. “I’m good, I promise.”

Once she was done lugging all the pieces into her spare bedroom and reassembling them, she made the bed, then stepped back and viewed the results from the doorway.

I’ll be damned. Jodie was right. It does cheer this room up, Sarah decided, and grinned.

***

Tim spent Sunday reviewing his finances, and by Monday morning he had decided an apartment was the more economical choice. He signed a six-month lease for a one-bedroom apartment on Tuesday afternoon and spent Wednesday shopping for furniture.

After some deliberation, he settled on a dark gray sectional sofa with matching recliner, a coffee table, a bistro table with two chairs, and a full-size four-piece bedroom set. Satisfied with his choices, he arranged for weekend delivery of his purchases. Then he headed to Best Buy to select a television, entertainment console and surround sound system, booking them for delivery as well.

By mid-day Saturday, he’d checked out of the hotel and was unloading groceries and other household necessities from his truck. The furniture arrived as scheduled at one-thirty, his electronics at two-thirty, and by five o’clock in the afternoon Tim’s apartment had been transformed from a hollow hull into a livable space. 

Saturday evening found Tim Fresco humming along to his iPod playlist as he cooked his first meal in his new home, then settled in on the sofa to watch a baseball game on his brand new seventy-inch television. But the loneliness settled in as well, almost palpable as it filled the room all around him. Tim caught himself glancing at the empty space beside him. He moved to the recliner, but the ache followed him.

I wish Sarah was here. I wonder where she is and what she’s doing right now. I wonder if she ever thinks about me at all.

Little did he know that the woman who still held the keys to his heart – and who still loved him - was less than twenty minutes away.