Where's Bar Harbor?

Kari

Steve sat back in his chair, Kari waiting for the explosion. Her boss had taken her under his wing for the last two years and had tried to start grooming her for larger responsibilities at the newspaper. She was happy just taking photos here and there wherever he needed her, but Steve wanted to eventually get her in front of a camera. She was quiet and introverted by nature, her willingness to stay in the background suiting her perfectly as a photographer, but he wouldn't have it.

"Where the hell is Bar Harbor? Is it even big enough to be on a map?" he grumbled, turning toward his computer, his thinning black hair combed over as best he could manage. He reached up and smoothed it down as if her thoughts were being read.

She crossed her arms across her chest and leaned back in her chair, so grateful that he hadn't thought to scream at her just yet. The meeting wasn't over, but he seemed to be taking it better than she thought he would. He was highly emotional and belonged on a Broadway stage somewhere rather than behind a desk at a newspaper. He was rail thin and yet his eyes shone with secrets that the world might die to know about.

"It's in Maine," Kari responded, suddenly realizing that she didn't know much more than that. Having just made the decision to move with Lisa and Sicily, she hadn't really taken the time to dig deep into what her new surroundings would look like. She honestly didn't care. It would most likely just be an extended vacation and then she'd return to New York. How a city girl would ever survive anywhere but the heart of the city was beyond her.

"Well no shit, Sherlock. I knew that. But in the scope of your career... where is this place? Is it where Bigfoot has been seen or where Jimmy Hoffa's bones have been claimed to be buried?" He turned from the computer, his thin fingers tapping rapidly on the large wooden desk between them.

"I don't know. I just know that life has thrown a truck full of lemons at me and I need to get out of here, Steve." She sighed, her fingers coming up to rub along the bridge of her nose, his stare burning a hole in the top of her head.

"I understand."

She looked up, waiting for the rest of his dissertation on how he understood all right. He understood that she was running instead of fighting. He understood that she was racing from a great and grand career to the middle of nowhere. He understood that she was throwing away the opportunity to be coached and mentored by one of the best known names in newspaper in the twenty-first century.

He stopped at simply, I understand?

"You understand what?" she muttered, her hands dropping back into her lap, trying to remain focused as the colorful awards that littered the walls of his large office called for her attention. Just beyond his chair was one of the best views of the New York City lights, the small corner of the city snuggling in the newspaper as if it were one of its own and beloved.

And it was.

"I understand having your heart ripped from your chest and needing to go heal." He shrugged. "I used to live in Los Angeles and I'm here now because my first wife took everything from me. It wasn't the house or the cars that hurt so much, but knowing that she didn't love me anymore. Knowing that I'd spent so many years saying 'no' to every advance for both relationships and my career just to make her happy. I gave up everything for her and she took my life - my heart - and crushed it."

Kari shook her head, her heart aching more for the man in front of her than for her own situation. "I'm so sorry. I had no idea."

He nodded and breathed in deeply. "Yeah, no one does. I'd like to keep it that way, but I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'll miss you, kiddo. I'll put in a call in Bar Harbor to the local paper and see if I can get you a job. They'll know my name if nothing else."

"No, you don't need to do that. I can find something to just pay some of the rent and buy groceries. I don't want to burden you at all. I feel horrible having to put in my notice with all of the time and energy you've put into my career over the last few years." Kari rubbed her fingers together absently, her emotions threatening to choke her. The last thing she needed was Steve being nice.

He was the one who had demanded more from her, the one who’d pushed her past her breaking point and every time he had, she'd come out on top. He was the reason her photos were as good as they were. He was the reason she'd stepped far out of her comfort zone and into places and situations that she never thought possible. Her job had helped not only make her a damn good photographer, but given her the willingness to pretend to be fearless until she truly was. She leaned up and grabbed a Kleenex from the small box on his desk, touching her eyes with it as emotions swam over her vision.

"I am too doing that. I will miss you like crazy, but here's to hoping you'll come home when your heart heals." He leaned back in his chair and pushed a few more buttons on his computer, a smirk running across his thin lips. "Have you seen this place? Looks like an old-timey Normal Rockwell painting. Are you sure you know what you're signing up for?"

She shook her head and let herself be completely honest. "I have no idea, but if I've learned anything from you over the last few years, it's to be brave and walk into the unknown as if you've visited it a thousand times."

He smiled. "That's my girl."