As he neared the apples he spotted a young woman with short, curly, brown hair crouched down to the floor. Derick was not able to see what she was doing with her hands because her back was facing him. She was blocking the Fuji apples, which were his favorites. Standing there longer than he intended, he was about to ask if she would kindly move her state a little to the left when he saw something familiar.

As the woman tried to steady herself so she didn’t fall over as she balanced on the balls of her feet, her shirt lifted a little and he noticed that she had a small tattoo of a ladybug on her right side. The only person he knew with a tattoo of a ladybug in that exact spot hadn’t seen or talked to him in years and now lived in Chicago.

Remembering that he was still standing in the produce section of a grocery store, staring at a woman as she bent down, he looked around. Good. No one was looking at him. He cleared his throat, “Um, excuse me.” The woman stood up and turned to face him with a start but had a kind face, “Oh, I’m sorry.” She moved to the side so he could get to the fruit.

“Joann?” The woman tilted her head as if thinking about her answer,

“Yes?”

“You don’t know who I am, do you?” She shook her head, “No, I’m sorry, I don’t.”

“It’s Derick.” There was a pause then tears started to fill her eyes. Her facial expression changed from confused to as if she just found a million dollars on the floor. Joann jumped onto Derick and hugged him, “Oh my god, hi! How are you, what have you been doing, it’s so great to see you!”

Derick was shocked that she was so happy to see him after all those years of not speaking, “I’m awesome. How are you? What are you doing back in Arkansas? I thought you were living in Chicago?”

“I still am but I’m in town visiting my mom and sister.”

“How long are you going to be around?” he was still shocked.

“Only this week, I have to get back to work.”

“Oh, that only leaves five days. We should hang out and catch up. God knows we have a lot to talk about.”

“Oh, I would love to but I promised Charlie I would take him to the Zoo and mom that I would help her with some photo work.” Derick raised his eyebrows, “Charlie?”

“Oh gosh, sorry. Derick, this is Charlie.” She stepped aside to show that behind her was a small boy with very blond hair and bright blue eyes holding an apple in one hand and the bottom rim of Joann’s shirt in the other. His wide eyes looked up at Derick like little watery planets searching for information.

“You have a son…”

“Yep, this is my little man.” Joann turned and bent down to face the child, “this is my old friend Derick. Do you want to say hello?” The boy said nothing to the strange man. He just looked up with his planets.

“So you’re married?” Derick said awkwardly and with a hint of disappointment. He hadn’t really noticed her ring finger before.

“Yes, his name is Tyler. He’s back in Chicago working.” she said.

“Oh, so he’s a business man.”

“He’s an architect and a writer.”

“Oh.” Derick was surprised she had found someone so utterly perfect for her. A bit more vexed then surprised.

“So what are you doing now?” Joann asked, bringing him back from his judgments.

“I am… in between jobs.”

“Oh, that’s too bad.”

Charlie pulled at her shirt, “Mommy, I ha’to go potty.”

Joann looked down at him and then back at Derick apologetically,

“Sorry, I need to take him to the bathroom and we need to go anyway. It was really nice seeing you again. Maybe you can stop by before we leave. Call me.”

“Okay, that sounds fabulous. I’ll call you.”

“Great.” she gave a big smile as Charlie pulled on her hand again.

Derick bent down to face Charlie, “Bye, Charlie,” he paused and looked up at Joann, “bye, Joann.”

She said ‘goodbye’ with a wave and then her and Charlie turned and walked away, leaving Derick with the fruit. The thought of him never seeing her again was passing through his mind. He would call her. Tomorrow.

• • •

Derick tossed and turned all night long. He couldn’t get Joann out of his head. Her presence in town was all he could think about. She was staying with her mother. Derick knew exactly how to get there. He knew her house like the back of his own hand. Derick would often drop by for a surprise visit before she went off to college. They would talk about everything some days and not talk at all other days. Their friendship was complicated in that she saw him as purely a friend and he saw her as more.

Another thought that kept coming to mind was the fact that she was married with a kid. Her boy was so cute, just like a doll with that blond hair. His father must be quite the model. Derick could just picture him: long blond hair flowing in the wind, bright blue eyes that sparkled in the sun like diamonds in the sky! A natural Fabio. But he couldn’t get too carried away with his thoughts. What if he was really ugly with wrinkles and grey hair? Over stressed and with a beer belly. No, he couldn’t possibly be that way either. Joann would never marry someone who would turn out that way. She was way too smart and picky.

The idea that she would marry a businessman stumped him. She always hated men who wore suits to work. He was a writer as well, that meant he was flighty. However, he probably only wrote books about architecture. Joann didn’t deserve someone like that. She deserved someone who loved her and wanted her by his side 24/7. Someone who would call her just to say “Hi” and “How is your day going?” Someone like… Derick.

Derick had loved her ever since they met in high school. He was in high school and she was still in middle school. She was a friend of his best friend’s younger sister so naturally they would have crossed paths. She was young and cute. He was older and didn’t know what he wanted. He didn’t like her immediately, however. He went through one girl before he realized that Joann was the one he really liked. She turned into his best friend. They were “joined at the hip” some would say. Even closer than him and his friend Ronald, the one who basically introduced them.

Derick would go to Joann for advise when he was having girl troubles and she would gladly help him. He knew that she was the one he really wanted to be with but he didn’t tell her. It wasn’t until two years later that he actually told her how he felt. She was surprised but didn’t like him the same way. She told him she only wanted to be friends but he didn’t just drop it then. He was too persistent.

They started hanging out more but she was getting uncomfortable that he wouldn’t leave her alone. Now that Derick thought about it, he was a real pain. He constantly told her how he felt and made her feel guilty. When she liked anyone else or did anything with anyone that was more than friends would do he would be furious but then he himself would go off and date girls right and left. As a matter of fact, he had just asked someone out when he told Joann how he felt.

The grandfather clock in the living room chimed, stating it was four in the morning. Derick turned to his side and looked out the window. It was light outside from the stars. The moon shone through the blinds. He wanted to wake up so he could call Joann but he knew that he was going to have to wait a little longer. He didn’t want to seem too anxious. Derick could hear the clock ticking now. Forgetting the fact that she was married but knowing if he carried on, thinking of the past and possibilities, he would make himself upset, he closed his eyes and thought about sleep.

Today was laundry day and trash day. It was the day that everyone was out of the house except for Joann. She started by washing the clothes and then putting away the dishes. That morning she woke up extra early for some reason unknown to her and made Charlie some breakfast and then a lunch. Tyler had already left with Charlie. It was Monday so that meant that Tyler had to go to work and he brought Charlie to daycare.

Joann took the trash out of the kitchen and carried it through the garage to go in the trashcan outside. As a young girl she would always run as fast as she could away from the trash as she closed the lid so that she wouldn’t smell the week-old garbage stained to the black plastic. To this day Joann would run away from the stench. Today, however, she wasn’t paying much attention and tripped over one of the boxes that lined the garage walls.

Looking to see what she had stubbed her toe on she spotted dust particles floating in the air above a cardboard box. Written on the box in black sharpie were the words Photo Albums. She sat up, crossing her legs, and wiped off the dust to open the box. Inside there were three photo albums and two pictures in frames. Joann pulled one of the photos out of the box. It was a picture of her sister and her old friends from high school. She laughed at the memory it brought to her attention.

The picture was taken on her 21st birthday. They had thrown her a surprise party, which ended up being a wild goose chase. Margaret, Joann’s friend, was supposed to drive her to the restaurant where everyone would be gathered and surprise her with a big “Happy Birthday” greeting. It turned out that Margaret had the directions to the first restaurant they had decided on.

Joann and Margaret drove around town for an hour and a half before finally their friends called Margaret to see where the hell they were. Joann put the pieces together and figured it out before they got there but still acted surprised. Margaret was upset, though, that she ruined the surprise. She said that is was supposed to be a birthday to remember. Joann laughed again. Margaret had no idea how memorable it actually was. To that day Joann could still remember the first drink she ordered. A Rum ‘n Coke.

Taking out the second picture, a piece of paper fell to her lap. She recognized it immediately. It was the letter her mother gave her when she went off to college. She had secretly slipped it into Joann’s suitcase so that she would find it when she unpacked. It read:

Dear my Joann,

So proud of you, love,
Mom

Tears filled Joann’s eyes. She remembered feeling homesick the minute she got on the plane. The feeling of, “I’m really doing it. I’m really leaving home.” struck her as reality set in. As she unpacked her bags in her new room both tears of excitement and sorrow started to well up in her eyes. When that letter fell out of her shirt she thought that it couldn’t have appeared at a more perfect time. She called her mother that night to tell her that she loved her and she missed her already.

Joann looked at the picture in her hand now. It was her graduation picture.
She felt the sudden urge to call her mother. She put the picture back in the box and ran inside with the letter. When she got to the kitchen she picked up the phone and dialed her mother’s number. It went to voicemail. She decided to leave a short message just saying “hello” and “I miss you”. She hadn’t talked to her mother in about four months.

Joann and her mother had a good relationship but after Joann went off to college and got married, there was less time to see each other. After Charlie was born Joann made it a point to go and visit her mother so that Charlie would know his grandmother and aunt. Then Joann started writing again and Tyler was going to work and there was no time. Charlotte would often call to see if she could get Joann to come and visit her but their lives were never in sync. Her mother would end up going to Chicago and visiting with Charlie and Tyler and of course, Joann.

The phone rang and Joann answered it immediately, without looking at the caller ID, “Hello?” There was a male voice on the other end, “Hey honey, is everything all right? You sound like you were crying.”

“Oh, Tyler, I’m fine. I was just remembering some sad things. I think I want to take a trip to see my mom.”

“Really? When?”

“Maybe next week.”

“That sounds good but I am going to be working with a client all month. I wish I could go. You can just send my love.”

“Oh right. I’m sure you are just torn up about it.” Joann rolled her eyes, “I know that you don’t really like my mother.”

“It’s not me! She’s the one that doesn’t like me! You know that she is always giving me that look.”

“What look?”

“That look of, ‘You stole my daughter away.’”

“Oh please. She does not give you a look. She is just proud.” she smiled.

“Of what?”

“Her.” Joann walked to the breakfast table and sat down with a laugh, “She will be sad that you can’t come.”

“I think she will live.”

“But I’ll be sad that you can’t come.” Joann could hear the smile on his face.

“You see me everyday. You can bring Charlie and just have girls week… except for Charlie.”

Joann shook her head and rolled her eyes, “Okay, well I am waiting for her to call me back. So, I’ll let you go, oh wait, you called me. What were you calling about?”

“I was just calling to say ‘hi’ and ‘I love you.’”

“Okay, I love you too.” she said with a grin, “Do you want to have lunch this afternoon or do you have to meet with your client?”

“I can tell him that I have something more important to attend to.”

Joann waved her hand in the air, gesturing the unimportance of her request, “Well not if you can’t. I was just wondering.”

“Honey, I would much rather be with you. Trust me, it’s fine.”

Joann laughed. She knew he was going to say something along those lines. “Okay then I’ll just pick you up around twelve thirty. Is that okay?” she asked.

“That’s fine. See you then, bye.”

Joann hung up with a bye and sat at the table for a while longer while she thought about what she was going to say to her mother when she called her back. There was still laundry to be done and she needed to close the garage door. Joann walked back into the garage and closed the door. A basket of clothes still sat on the ground that had to be put in the washer.

She transferred the wet clothes from the washer to the dryer and then replaced them with the dirty clothes from the basket. There was a loud noise as she pressed the button to start both the machines. Joann was unaware of the phone ringing in the kitchen. She took the clothes that were hanging on the clothes rack and put them in the basket so she could bring them inside and fold them.

When she walked into the house again she heard the phone ring halfway and then stop. The answering machine picked it up. It was her mother. Joann dropped the basket in her hands and rushed to the phone. She picked it up, “Hello!” On the other end her mother was finishing a word then was silent for a second, “Joann?”

“Yes!”

“Did you call?” asked her mother.

“Yes! I wanted to see if Charlie and I could come over next week.”

“Sure! You can come over tomorrow if you want. Do you want me to make the arrangements? I can get started on your tickets online.”

“No, that’s okay. I can do it. Are you sure tomorrow will be okay?”

“Of course. I’m not doing anything and I never get to see you anyway. Tyler isn’t coming?”

“He has a client keeping him busy this month.”

“Oh, that’s too bad.”

“I know, he really wanted to see you.” Joann rolled her eyes in her head. Her mother knew, too, that that wasn’t true but she didn’t say anything about it.

“You can always come another time when he can come.”

“I can’t wait.” Joann beamed.

“Okay then. I will plan to have you here for tomorrow.”

I’ll be posting it piece by piece. As soon as each piece is edited I will make sure to post it.

Thanks.