“Melissa? Is that you?” I looked up from my tattered copy of Pride and Prejudice to be blasted by the sun. I held up my hand and looked upon the face of my interrupter. For a minute I had to brush off the dusty corners of my mind because I was drawing a blank on who this was, granted I still could barely see their face. Finally my brain connected with my mouth.

“Cedric Myers, where have the likes of you been for so long? I heard you where back in town and it took you a week to meet me. That’s just pathetic man.” Cedric sat down and suddenly I felt home. I knew that I was actually home but it didn’t feel the same without Cedric.

“Well Mel, you haven’t been around for awhile either so what do you have to say to defend yourself? I would sure love to hear it. I bet it’s a good tale. Wait, I’m good at concocting stories let me guess. You succeeded in your task to be a museum curator and unexpectedly you fell in love with an artist. You dated him and finally decided to get one of his works in the art realm. He became a hit and left you alone, heartbroken. So you returned to your homestead to mend your heart and be close to your family. How close am I? “ Melissa waited to deliver her huge blow. It always amazed people when she gave away the last part because she knew they were getting their information from her mother, who wasn’t giving out the last tid bit for a good reason.

“Wow Ced! You’re really close, but you left out one really important detail. Didn’t my mother tell you?”

“She told me all of that, what did she leave out?”

“My three year old son Trevor.” Cedric’s mouth didn’t gape open. He didn’t get up and walk away. He leaned across the table and put his hands on mine. The next words out of his mouth shocked me. Truly shocked me.

“How are you doing?” No one asked me that. My own parents were shocked when I told them but not anyone I told asked me how I was doing. I felt suddenly overwhelmed, and I did something I only do once or twice a year, at the most. I cried. He did something then that I never would have expected. He picked me up and put me in his lap. Like Santa does with little kids. He just sat there, holding me while I cried. He started stroking my hair and telling me that everything would be ok. I felt so relieved that someone cared this much about me. He was really still my best friend even if we had been so far apart.

“Thanks Ced. I really needed a good cry. You were always there for me. No matter what.” I looked over at him and he wiped my tears away. He smiled at me and I suddenly asked myself why hadn’t I ever tried to date him. Finally I got my wits about me.

“Can I buy you dinner tonight for helping me out? You really did make me feel better again. Plus we can catch up on old times.” I gave him he puppy dog face hoping he would say yes. He looked at me and grinned.

“Well if you insist. But why make it dinner how about lunch?”

“I can’t. My parents are watching Trevor and they are probably about ready to pull their hair out from being around him so much so fast.” I gathered my stuff up and got ready to walk to my car.

“Well he can come along to you know. We could have a picnic the three of us. Then the two of us can get dinner tonight.” He stood there with his hands in his pockets with the biggest grin on his face.

“Ok. You can follow me back to my parents’ house.” I started getting my keys out of my purse as I walked across the street and suddenly I heard yelling.

“Mel, get out of the way.” I looked up to see Cedric sprinting across the street. I then looked ahead to see a pickup heading straight for me. I felt Cedric grab me and hurl me out of the way. Cedric landed right next to me.

“God, Mel are you alright?” He looked into my eyes with concern.

“Yeah I’m fine.” I started to stand up and the last thing I remember is Cedric grabbing me before I passed out.