‘How hard is it to find somebody just normal, just real?’ she says quietly, her voice heavy with emotion.
I don’t know what to say, so I just put my arm around her. She leans into me, and I appreciate the tenderness of the moment before she exhales.
‘It’s so crazy,’ she says. She flutters her eyelashes and bites her bottom lip; her eyes widen and her brows furrow with frustration. ‘I mean, I thought it was something special – he was hot, we had chemistry, you know? But now it feels like it was all just an illusion. I don’t know what happened or what I did wrong.’
My heart aches for her as I see the deep sadness in her eyes. ‘How about we track him down then? Be super-sleuths like when we were kids? I’m more than happy to put on my mac and sunglasses and stalk him out – where does he work? Where does he live? He can’t just vanish into thin air, right?’
Kayla shakes her head. ‘No, no, no. I’m not chasing down anyone who doesn’t want to be found.’ She pauses for a moment before continuing. ‘It’s better to just leave it alone. I’m not forcing anything – I just trust that if it’s meant to be, it’ll happen naturally.’
I nod, understanding the logic behind her words. ‘Yeah, you’re right. Maybe it’s better to just let things be and move on. What’s his name? Just in case I know him,’ I ask.
‘I’m not telling you,’ she replies. ‘It’s embarrassing.’
‘Come on, Kayla.’ I tilt my head and roll my eyes. ‘I’m not twelve years old. This is grown-up stuff! Tell me.’
She takes a deep breath and turns to face me squarely, looking me straight in the eye, almost challenging me. ‘Romeo…’
I can’t help but laugh. I hold the back of my hand to my mouth, biting down on both lips.
She smirks at me. ‘I know, right? Ghosted by damn Romeo!’
And together we exclaim, ‘Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou…?’
She looks at me with a small smile. ‘Married or arrested or on the run…’ she says with a quiet laugh, then she shakes her head and runs her hands through her hair. ‘I guess I should be thankful that I got away lightly, finding out what he’s really about sooner rather than later. I mean, I would rather be by myself than tied up with some lowlife coward… in fact, I’m much happier on my own, much happier being single. I’m going to put all the strength and energy into things that deliver – my business and my friends.’
It’s then that I’m hit by a sudden wave of admiration for her strength and courage. Despite the pain she’s endured, she’s still able to make light of her misfortune and pick herself up again.
I give her a gentle hug, my heart brimming with love for this strong woman in front of me. ‘You deserve so much.’
Kayla nods. ‘Exactly. Life is too short to waste it on what ifs and maybes.’ She nudges me gently. ‘You’re so lucky to have found “The One” you know…’
‘You think Ash is The One.’
‘Well of course… Don’t you?’
I nod slowly, unsure of what to say. ‘Yeah, I mean, I’m sure he’s The One – if there is such a thing as The One.’
Kayla gives me a curious look. ‘You don’t believe in The One?’
I shrug, feeling a little unsure. ‘I don’t know. I want to believe that there’s someone out there who’s perfect for me, but at the same time, it seems a little unrealistic.’
My lack of experience with the idea of true love taints my view; I was raised without the Disney notion of romance and marriage that many others have growing up – with my motherand I being each other’s biggest loves – and it’s left me a little doubtful of these larger-than-life romantic ideals. In a way, I want to believe that there is someone perfect for everyone out there. But on the other hand, from what I’ve seen, only a rare few seem to be able to make it work, so why would I? But I don’t think this is what Kayla needs to hear right now, so I bite my tongue. Nevertheless, I find myself hoping that the data is mistaken and one day we’ll get to all experience something out of this world. Double fingers crossed, eh?
‘What do you think?’ I ask her, changing the focus away from myself.
Kayla chuckles. ‘I think there’s more than one person out there who could be right for us. It’s just a matter of finding the one who fits into our lives the best. Relationships take work and effort. It’s not always going to be sunshine and rainbows.’
I grin, feeling a little more optimistic. ‘Yeah, I like the sound of that. It takes some of the pressure off.’
‘Did your mum ever meet anyone? Like have a boyfriend or anything when you were growing up?’ Kayla asks me.
‘No, never – she was just all about work and home and me, really – never a date or anything like that.’ I pause for a moment before continuing. ‘I don’t think she ever had time to even think of relationships or dating, but deep down, I always got the impression she didn’t want to be with anyone… maybe she’d had her heart broken in the past or just felt it wasn’t worth the stress.’
Kayla nods, her eyelashes fluttering as she clicks her tongue. ‘Oh, I get that.’
‘Big Sean told me that Mick, the Irish guy who left her this property, came looking for her once at the pub and she completely snubbed him. He said she hid out, pretended she wasn’t even there.’
‘Sounds like your mum ghosted Mick,’ Kayla concludes with a grimace.
