Chapter 1: The Meeting

In the darkness, Sara sees a pair of headlights speeding at her as she swerves towards the next lane.  She feels the slush take her and the little car across the line, right in front of the oncoming traffic.  The last thing she says before she blanks out is, “Shit!”

Twenty some years later she sits on her youngest daughter’s bed and thinks to herself, “I can’t do this again.” As she watches her little girl all grown up pack her things.

"Hey, make sure you have everything packed.  I don't think you want to get all the way there just to find you forgot something you can't live without." Sara says absentmindedly while staring out the window as her youngest is preparing to move in with her friend a state away.   

By what she can tell, her daughter seems to be on top of everything.  She even has a wonderful job set up, but she can’t help to not worry about her as she runs her fingers over the cotton folds of her dress repeatedly.  If she had just secured a job for her here, she wouldn’t have had to worry if she will make it in the big city or not.

"I know mom, I am packing up almost everything.  All the things that are left will be going to the thrift store.  Other than that, I'm all good, but do you know when dads supposed to be here?  He mentioned he was going to try to get here early so we can beat all the traffic getting out of work.  You know that Grand Rapids is going to be hell if we get stuck on the highway there at 5." Nora says worriedly while looking over everything one last time.

"No, actually I haven't talked to him in months.  The last time I did, was when I first found out you were moving.  I thought he might be able to use some of his connections to get you a job there.  Of course, I was wrong, but I at least thought I could try."

Climbing off the bed, she starts to leave the room, but Nora rushes over to her and hugs her tight.  "Mom, I'm so scared.  You have always done everything for me.  Now I must do it all by myself.  I feel like I'm falling down the rabbit hole into Alice's Wonderland."

"Sweetie, you will never be alone.  I will always be there for you.  If you're scared when you get there, don’t hesitate to call me.  If things don't work out, come back home.  We will figure it out together.  I just want you to know that I will never turn you away.  I am your mom and always will be.  I love you." Sara says as a single tear forms in the corner of her eye.

As she says it, the doorbell loudly clangs, and Sara realizes that it is time for her baby girl to leave the nest.

"Perfect.  Dad has always had the worst timing." Nora laughs as she smiles at Sara and then they both walk to the front door and greet George.   While Sara does, she looks past him and notices the beat-up moving truck out front.  “I guess this is it.” She thinks to herself.

For the rest of the morning and most the afternoon, they spend packing Nora's furniture and boxes full of all her belongings into the truck.  Then finally, when everything is packed and ready to go, George closes the doors and gets in. Nora turns to Sara and hesitates for a minute, before she says, "Mom, I love you.  I will call you as soon as we get there." 

Nora hugs her again and then she watches as her baby girl leaves for the beginning of her adult life.  Afterwards, she walks back into the house, and looks in the fridge for something to make for supper.  Scratching her head, she announces to an empty room, “Lovely, I guess it’s off to town for me.”

After she gets ready to leave, she suddenly feels lonely, and it hits her so hard that she almost starts crying.  "What's wrong with me?  I act as if I have never had a child leave home before.” She says to an empty room, before shaking her head and deciding she had better leave now before her stomach starts aching.  

A few minutes later as she pulls into the driveway of the supermarket, she notes that the parking lot is almost completely full except for one spot at the back.  So, she pulls in and parks with just enough room to get out of her red Buick LeSabre.  A throw back from when she was still married.  Walking inside quickly, she grabs a cart from the corral and takes her list out of her purse.

While passing by, she happens to notice a man over by the meat counter and stares for a moment too long.  As she does, his brilliant blue eyes immediately lock with hers.  He smiles and nods to her.  Smiling back Sara finds herself thinking, “I wouldn't mind having him tonight.” 

Just then she realizes she knows him from somewhere.  But where?  She is certain that she would remember him if it had been recently. 

“Should I ask him if he wants to come over for supper?” She wonders as she looks down at his hands while searching for a wedding ring. 

"Looks like you are making something good tonight.”  He says as she catches him staring at her breasts not her food. 

He looks up and licks his lips when he notices that she is watching his every move, right before thinking to himself, “I would love to nestle between those beautiful breasts and fall asleep.”

"Yeah, well I should never come to the store when I'm hungry, but I just realized I didn't have anything good in my fridge."  She giggles uncomfortably before continuing.  "Besides, looking at your cart you could use a good home cooked meal." Sara states as she flirts with him, but at the same time feels bad too.

While standing there, she notices that all he has is canned soup and fried chicken from the deli in his cart.

"I just wish I could come over and have you cook me a good meal.”  He states while smiling and then glances down at his watch before sighing and then saying “Well, I must be going, otherwise I will be late for work.  It’s just too bad we all must pay bills." He laughs right before he adds, “I hope to see you again.  By the way my name is Sam.  What's yours?" He extends his hand to take hers and then a big grin spreads across his lips because he can already tell that playing this game with her is going to be interesting. 

Thinking to himself, “Do I tell her?  Or do I keep pretending I don’t remember her as the little violinist?”  Wondering what he should do, he decides there is no point because chances are they won’t meet up again anyways.  If they did, he would never be able to tell her that he is no longer the poor boy from down the street.  Women tend to only want you for your money when they find out you are worth billions.

Placing her hand in his, he raises it to his lips and runs them across her soft, silky skin.  It instantly sends chills up and down her spine and takes her breath away, as it does him.  Not knowing what to do or say, Sara just stands there staring with her mouth open before she realizes it and finally answers.

"Sara by the way.  Maybe next time I can cook you a little something." She says with all the promise in the world in her words, even though she knows full well there won’t be one.

"Definitely, well I hate to go, but alas, work calls."

As he opens his arms, she thinks he is leaning in for a friendly hug goodbye, so she obliges him graciously.  However, as soon as he wraps his arms around her, he tickles her sides.  She frees herself a few seconds later after quite a bit of giggling and then play punches him in the shoulder.

"What was that for?" She asks while still feeling unsure of exactly what has just happened.

"I wanted to see if you were ticklish.  I have a fetish for ticklish women." His smirk grows as he stares at her with a glint in his eyes.

Before she can say more, he turns and goes to the checkout counter.  Soon after, he disappears into the night.  Afterwards, Sara continues shopping, but Sam haunts her every thought.  “Damn! I should have got his number.”  She murmurs under her breath, while checking out. 

On the way home, she keeps playing the way his lips felt on her skin over and over again in her head.  The minute he touched her, her nerves seemed to come alive, and she suddenly felt everything.  It was absolutely amazing the way her body reacted to a simple thing as a kiss.  Of course, she may never see him again, so why even keep thinking about it.

Shaking her head, she sighs and then takes the keys out of the ignition before going into the house and making food.  There must be some way she can find him. 

On the way home he says to himself, “Why didn’t I get her number?  She may have been different from all the rest.” In a lonely voice as he drives home to an empty house.