Virtually Mine: a love story (18 page)

When Kate flipped on a lamp, she caught
her breath. A white velvet jewelry box rested on the chair’s brocade seat. A
single fresh daisy had been placed on top.

Moving closer, she found that an envelope
was tucked under the box. It was labeled
Open Me
Last
.

Kate stood there for the longest kind of
time, just looking at all that Charlie had left for her. Reflexively, she
welled up with emotion over everything that had transpired. In a way, she was
afraid to open either the white velvet box or the envelope underneath. “Oh,
Charlie,” she murmured. “What did you go and do?”

Finally, Kate picked up the jewelry box
and lifted its hinged lid. Tucked inside, with a golden heart necklace, she
found the keys to her old rag top convertible. A scrap of paper attached to the
key fob read:

I couldn’t keep this either.

Overwhelmed, Kate sat down. She stared at
the envelope for a while. With a deep breath, she opened it and pulled out the
hand-written letter. As she read, she could almost hear Charlie’s voice,
pouring out his heart:

Dear Kate,

It’s been one of those days. I’m not
entirely sure why it is that there are so many things I have to say to you,
and
 
yet, I cannot manage to speak a
word of it to your face.

Perhaps it’s my IBS acting up. Perhaps
it’s just my fears. But certainly, it is because I’ve been in love with you for
so very long, and I can’t bear seeing in your eyes that you don’t return it.

Kate looked up soberly, her face washed
with regret. Mustering her courage, she continued to read:

      
I’m quitting my job tomorrow.
I’ll be turning in my notice as apartment manager, too. Maybe I’ll move to the
valley. Maybe I’ll go home for a while. Maybe I’ll just get on a bus and see
where it takes me.

It’ll be easier this way, Katie.
 
You’ll go on gracing the presence of every
person who has the great blessing of meeting you. And I’ll always know that for
the sweetest week of my whole unremarkable life, the most beautiful girl in the
world was virtually mine.

Kate buckled
over with sobs. Rivers ran down her reddened face. She wept harder and longer
than she’d ever wept, far more than she’d wept over Dustin. She realized that
she had long loved Charlie as a friend, but never once had she considered the
possibility that there could be something more.

Tears gave way
to prayers, prayers more fervent than she’d prayed in a very long time. “Oh,
God,” she cried. “What am I supposed to do?”

♥   
♥    ♥

Late that night, Charlie sat alone in a Ferris Wheel car on the Santa Monica
Pier, watching the thinning crowd as they returned to their cars. It was his
final night on the Wheel, he had decided, one last look over the shimmering
city, one last reminder of his very best memory: watching Kate enjoy this very
ride, and seeing the light of her smile.

Though the ride had ended, Charlie sat
relishing a few more moments of what he was reluctant to end. In the morning,
he would pack up what little he owned and head for a visit home. He would tell
his father everything. They’d put their heads together and figure out how he
could start anew.

That’s
when the ride attendant’s voice wafted into Charlie’s ears. “Closing down.
Sorry,” the ticket taker said. Charlie didn’t turn, not at least until he heard
another voice, that voice he’d come to adore.
 

“
Is there any
way you could run it one more time?” Kate pleaded. “Just this once?”

Seeing her, Charlie didn’t know whether
to hope or hyperventilate. As hard as he could, he fought doing either.
Instead, he sat paralyzed in wonder as she charmed the attendant into cranking
up the ride for one last whirl.

Time stood still. At least, it seemed to
as Kate approached and boarded Charlie’s car. Though he couldn’t bring himself
to look at her directly, he could sense the warmth of her smile.

Charlie swallowed hard, knowing he had to
say something. “How’d you find me?”

“I know you, Charlie,” she replied. “Just
like you know me.” Kate lowered the safety bar. “How long have you been
riding?”

Charlie glanced at his watch. “Couple,
three hours.”

Kate nodded. “Sounds like a personal
best.”

A burst of courage came over Charlie’s
heart. Okay, maybe not a burst, but a nudge more than he’d ever had with Kate
before. “I saw you met Eric,” Charlie admitted. “He’s the one you fell for. I
mean, I couldn’t be more hetero and even I know he’s, you know,
very...visible.”

Kate nodded thoughtfully. “Yeah, Eric
seems like a very nice guy, but to tell the truth—” Kate stopped mid-sentence
as the Ferris Wheel began to move. “Ooh.
 
Here we go.”

Charlie braved a glance in her direction.
“You don’t have to—”

“Actually, I do,” Kate added. “Some matches,
they look good on 8x10 glossies. They do. But...truth is, the whole time I was
with Eric, I couldn’t help thinking about you. Not just who you were as Brad,
but who you’ve always been to me as you. It’s your heart I fell for, Charlie.”

Charlie felt his jaw drop. “You. Fell for
me.”

Kate nodded. “Really did.” She shivered
in the night air. “Kind of chilly tonight.”

Pulling sheepishly at his tee shirt,
Charlie finally found words. “I sure wish that I had a jacket to give you.”

Amusement danced in Kate’s eyes. “This is
the part where you put your arm around the girl and offer to keep her warm.”

Charlie shook his head. “I, uh... I
couldn’t.”

“Look at me, Charlie.”

Charlie mustered his courage. He turned
his face toward Kate’s. As he did, for the first time, he noticed the golden
heart necklace, glittering around her neck.

“Charlie, I don’t know where this will
go. All I know is...I adore you. And I’d like to give us a try.”

Charlie fought for air. “Dry throat. Very
dry.”

Kate reached out and took Charlie’s face
in her hands. Sincerity glistened in her eyes. “I like how you look. Your face,
it...it just shines with everything that you are.” Slowly, she drew him into an
exquisite first kiss—gentle, promising, and pure.

As Kate’s lips parted his, Charlie gazed
at her, dazzled. “Throat’s better. Definitely getting better.” Encouraged by
her musical laugh, Charlie braved kissing her back, and then, almost as
quickly, he broke away. “I’m not, by any chance, imagining this, am I?”

Kate looked deep into Charlie’s eyes,
deeper than he remembered any girl ever looking at him before.

“No, Charlie,” she glowed. “This time,
I’m pretty sure it’s for real.”

♥

About the Author

S
usan
R
ohrer is an honor graduate of James
Madison University where she studied Art and Communications, and thereafter
married in her native state of Virginia.

A
professional writer, producer, and director specializing in life-affirming
entertainment, Rohrer’s credits in one or more of these capacities include: a
screen adaptation of
God
’
s Trombones;
100 episodes of drama
series
Another Life;
Humanitas Prize finalist & Emmy winner
Never
Say Goodbye;
Emmy nominees
Terrible Things My Mother Told Me
and
The
Emancipation of Lizzie Stern;
anthology
No Earthly Reason;
NAACP
Image Award nominee
Mother
’
s Day;
AWRT Public Service Award
winner (for addressing the problem of teen sexual harassment)
Sexual
Considerations;
comedy series
Sweet Valley High;
telefilms
Book
of Days
and
Another Pretty Face;
Emmy nominee & Humanitas Prize
finalist
If I Die Before I Wake;
as well as
Film Advisory Board
& Christopher Award winner
About Sarah
.

Among
the books she has authored, Rohrer’s previous fictional title,
Merry’s
Christmas: a love story,
is also an adaptation of her original screenplay.

Other Books by Susan
Rohrer:

Fiction:

MERRY’S CHRISTMAS
:

a love story

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0097SO5KM

Nonfiction:

THE HOLY SPIRIT:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005ES7358

IS GOD SAYING HE’S THE ONE?

Hearing
From Heaven

About
That Man in Your Life

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007JWCPS2

Recommended Reading:

NEVER
THE BRIDE:
a novel

by
Cheryl McKay & Rene Gutteridge

FINALLY THE BRIDE:

Finding Hope While Waiting

by Cheryl McKay