Chapter 4
Promptly at 7 Robyn walked through the doors of the coffee shop we had met at just a few days earlier. I had gotten there a little early at was sitting at a table waiting. I stood up when she got to the table and we went to get in line together. “How about we get our coffee to go and we go for a walk” I suggested as if it was off the top of my head even though I’d been planning it all along.
“Yeah, that sounds nice” Robyn agreed.
We ordered our drinks and left the shop. I led her in the direction of a park only a couple blocks away. We chatted a little on the way, but not about anything important.
Finally we came to a park bench. I sat down, and Robyn followed. I took a deep breath and started the speech I had prepared to tell. “Robyn I want to give you an explanation for the way I’ve acted, and may act in the future. I guess I just need to tell you the whole story of what happened with Kristy and me” I started.
“Taylor, you don’t have to talk about it if you’re not ready” she told me. She may have picked up on some uncertainty in my voice, but I was determined to get through this.
“No, I want to” I said. “I want you to know. I don’t want you to ever feel awkward about it. And I guess just being open from the beginning is the best way to do it.”
“Well, only if you want to” she said.
I nodded. I turned my head slightly away from Robyn. I wasn’t sure if I could look her in the eye while I spoke. I took a deep breath and began. “Kristy and I knew each other for most of our lives. Our parents were good friends and we were always stuck playing with each other. When we were little we always had a love hate relationship. You know, one minute we would be playing nicely, the next I was cutting the hair off of her Barbie’s or she was destroying my race car track or something like that” I began smiling at the memories.
“By the time junior high rolled around we had gotten past that and were best friends. In fact we spent so much time together that everyone always figured we were a couple. We always thought it was funny how people assumed that. Sometime in high school that changed again though. I think one day when we were 16 she went to give me a kiss on the cheek or something, and I turned my head at just the right time and she caught my lips. There was something in the kiss. I don’t really know how it happened, but that point on I knew we were meant to be together.”
“We got married when we were just 20. People told us not to get married so young, but we didn’t listen. It just felt right to us. And I still don’t regret it to this day.” I paused there for a moment. The hardest part was coming, and I mentally prepared myself for it. “We’d been married for a little over a year when she found out she had leukemia. She was so strong, she fought it for almost 8 months, but I guess the disease was stronger. Towards the end I could see her getting a weaker little by little, but I just tried to convince myself she was going to make it. But one morning I woke up and…she didn’t” I whispered the last two words. I squeezed my eyes shut to try and block tears, but it didn’t help a lot. It was the first time I’d ever shared my story, and as hard as it was I felt a small weight lifted off my chest.
I finally turned and looked at Robyn. She had tears in her eyes too. We stared in each other’s eyes for a moment before she wrapped her arms around my shoulders and pulled me in close. Being in her arms was so comforting. I buried my face in her shoulder and shed a few more tears.
Finally she spoke. “Taylor, I have no idea what its like to lose someone so close, or what exactly you are going through right now, but anytime you need me I am here.”
“Thank you for listening to my story” I whispered.
“Thank you for telling it” she whispered back.
