Echoes of the Past
By Lisa Arnett
Chapter One
(Chicago: less than 4 years after the revealing reunion at Pony’s Home)
Early one morning, as the first rays of sunlight tickled Candy’s nose, she recollected a happier moment in time. She envisioned a sun-drenched summer holiday in Scotland where she and Terry had spent many private moments together – teasing, laughing, playing, and dancing; how could she ever forget experiencing her first kiss. In her mind Candy thought, “I fell in love that summer. His pure and unabashed affection swept me away much like the full moon lulls the oceans tides. His love, so chivalrous & resolute, helped me get over Anthony’s death. If only…if only things were different, maybe then we could be together…” Candy, facing her bedroom window, looks out at the horizon and whispers, as if in prayer, “Terry… I miss you.”
Even after all this time, her memories of the tall, flirtatiously handsome brunette, tucked away deep in her heart, evokes an aching sense of longing she thought she had forgotten. She realizes that no matter how hard she may try to suppress, disguise, or even deny, her feelings for Terry, she will always love him. She questions whether or not her desire for him would ever dissipate. Since the time she saw him last, she no longer read, nor heard, about any negative reviews concerning his career; his dream of becoming a well respected and sought after Broadway actor had come true.
A maelstrom of thoughts invades her psyche. “I wonder… how you’re doing Terry; are you happy? Does she please you with her touch? Do you find joy… solace in her presence? Is there rapture in her kiss? I wonder…do you think of me secretly as I do you? Do you ache for my touch… my embrace… the feel of my lips on yours? Or has her love made you forget about what we once shared? Oh Terry…” A gentle tapping on the door interrupts her thoughts. She slowly gets out of bed, dons her robe, and asks, “Who is it?”
A soft-spoken voice answers, “Candy, are you dressed? It’s me, Annie.”
Candy, snapping out of her bittersweet reverie, opens the door and cheerfully greets her best
friend. “You’re early Annie. I
wasn't expecting you until 8:30. Give me a few minutes to get ready, okay? Then we can take care of some of those items on your list.”
Annie nods and says, “Please excuse my anxiousness Candy, I can’t seem to contain my excitement over all the preparations necessary for the wedding. When Archie & I decided to finish our education at the University, extending our engagement was the best course of action to do at the time. But now that were due to graduate this spring, I can hardly believe that our ceremony is less than a year away -- I feel so overwhelmed!”
“Don’t you fret -- everything will be perfect on your wedding day. I just know it. Annie, you’re going to make a beautiful bride, everyone’s head will be reeling when they see you. Not to mention Archie’s reaction as you walk down the middle of the aisle towards him in your gorgeous, form-fitting, seductively revealing, satiny-white wedding gown. I can only imagine what his facial expression will look like. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Albert had to remind him to close his mouth before you reached the altar.” Candy and Annie break out in the giggles. As Candy dresses, Annie asks, “May I ask you a personal question?”
“Sure…about what.”
“Well, we’re both the same age and I was just wondering about your love life…”
Candy chuckles and says, “It’s pretty much non-existent, except for my friends; besides work keeps me too busy to think about love and all its possibilities.”
“Friends, what do you mean by that?”
“Just that most of my affections gets doled to all of my dearest and closest friends, like you, Archie, Patty, and Albert. Oh, and I can’t forget everyone at Pony’s Home, too…”
“But Candy, I thought you and Albert were going to develop a relationship that was far greater than just a simple friendship.”
Candy (fully dressed) smiles, walks over to Annie, and sits beside her on the bed. “We have Annie, but maybe not in the way you thought. Don’t get me wrong, I love Albert and he loves me, too. But our affection for each other is more like the emotions felt by two siblings. Albert’s always been there for me, even when I least expected it. It was amazing to discover that he – Albert, no less, was the key person responsible for much of the happiness in my life. He’s there whenever I need him -- offering support, guidance, encouragement, and friendship. I trust him completely. He’s literally the older brother I never had.”
“Are those purely your feelings, or are they also echoed by Albert? I mean, after all Candy, he did reveal that he was your prince of the hill.”
“You’re right again Annie, but Albert and I had a discussion about our relationship that pretty much sums up how we both feel about each other…Besides, the whole idea of the prince of the hill was an image I created for myself. It wasn’t something that Albert manifested. Does that make any sense?”
“Kind of, but what was said in your discussion with him?”
“I see that you’re not giving up until you get a straight answer out of me, huh?”
(Annie winks)
“Okay, a month after our reunion at Pony’s Home, Albert reluctantly dove head-first into his obligatory responsibilities as heir to the Audrey estate. For a while I stayed at Pony’s Home, but then I dreamt of the possibility of establishing a clinic in that region and I didn’t want to ask financial backing from Albert. You know me; I’m too darn independent in my actions to resort to anything remotely close to begging. I would rather work harder; improve upon the skills I’ve already learned as a nurse, gain respect, financial, and social clout through my own actions, then to use any money from the Audrey’s.”
Annie sighs and says, “But Candy, you are an Audrey! And what does that have to do with your relationship with Albert?”
“Be patient---I’m getting to that. (Smiles) After Albert started his duties, he was always away on business for extensive periods of time. Before he went away, I developed an infatuation for him. I think it started more or less after he revealed who he was. I began to miss him more & more. While he was out of the country we wrote each other religiously. His letters were always very endearing. It was through his letters, though, that I began to get a clearer picture of who he was as a person, but most of all, how he saw me…”
“And how was that…”
“He spoke much about how he missed his days of being an independently free-spirit who could roam the world and commune with nature; he dreaded having to wear his corporate attire, but what he abhorred the most was having to participate in all of the social engagements that followed his numerous business transactions. He literally felt caged in…”
“That sounds so depressing…”
“More like suffocating – Albert was living a life of obligation & duty; it wasn’t making him happy. As hard as I tried to cheer him up, my attempts weren’t very successful. Even though he later asked me to accompany him on his travels, we both came to the realization that I would be better off pursuing my nursing career here in Chicago.”
“Are you certain that’s what Albert wanted you to do?”
“I believe so…he always encouraged and supported me no matter what my endeavors were. He was thrilled about the idea of establishing a clinic close to Pony’s Home. He also knew that I was not willing to accept any monetary assistance from him. So he simply let me be to work on the project independently.”
“Do you think there may have been some other reason why he decided against your joining him abroad? Like maybe…some other person?”
“Hmmm…at first, I wasn’t really sure because sometimes I’d get a hunch that he was keeping something from me, but I never confronted him about it.
“Why not…what stopped you?”
“Nothing stopped me, really. You see Annie, although Albert & I have much in common, our thought processes differ. He has an intense emotional maturity that allows him to detach his personal feelings from not only the public eye, but also the people closest to him. Even I was fooled, or maybe I simply allowed myself to be fooled. I don’t know…back then I had convinced myself that because Albert had been there for me from the very beginning, surely he was the man I was destined to be with. I truly thought he felt the same way about me, but I was mistaken…”
“How…did it have something to do with your hunch?”
“Did it ever…during one of his return trips to Chicago, I met him at the villa. I was so eager to see him, Annie; I had missed him immensely. At that time, I believed what I was feeling was love; the same type of love that binds you and Archie together. I wanted to reveal to him what I was feeling. But as soon as I entered the solarium, I saw something that changed my mind completely…”
“What was it? Did it confirm your hunch?”
“Albert hadn’t noticed my entrance at first. As I stood by the door, I saw him gazing intently at a photograph with such fixation and awe; he had the look of love written all over his face. I had never seen him look that way before, Annie. Not even with me. There was a twinkle in his eye that lit up his entire being. I felt like an intruder who had just violated a sacred ceremony, but since I was already in the room, I had no other choice but to get his attention. My rushing out to greet him was due in part by how much I had missed his presence, but moreover, because I wanted to find out more about the photograph. As always, he greeted me with his biggest smile ever. We hugged each other and celebrated our reunion for a few moments, but then my eyes veered towards the photograph…”
“Was it someone we know?”
“Annie, it was a picture of a very beautiful woman; one I had never seen before. She had long, blonde, wavy hair, freckles on her cheeks and nose, and eyes as bright and blue as a cloudless summer sky. Her smile could melt an iceberg and her eyes sparkled with such optimism…”
“Wow…Her description could almost pass as yours, Candy, except for the blue eyes.”
“It’s funny that you say that because Albert said something very similar. When I asked him who she was, he told me that she was a nurse he had met in Africa before war erupted in Europe. He told me that she reminded him a great deal about his sister Rosemary and me, as well. In fact, he had mentioned about her to me in one of his past letters while you & I were still studying at St. Paul’s Academy.”
Incredulously Annie exclaims, “Really?” Candy nods in response and prompts Annie to ask, “Who is she?”
“When I asked him what her name was, with tender reverence he said “Chloe.”
Candy walks towards the bedroom window and looks out across the yard. She leaves Annie sitting alone on the bed contemplating what she had just said. Meanwhile, Candy’s mind travels back to the moment in time when she first talked to Albert about a woman who greatly resembles her...
©(2003) Lisa Arnett