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“You believe me.”
She resembles a lost child. A beautiful, lost child. How is it that I have been seeing this woman for weeks now, but never actually really seeing her? Audrey’s been here this whole time, completely confused and bewildered by my animosity towards her. And yet, despite all that, she kept trying. She kept going. She forged ahead, determined to show me that she wasn’t who I thought she was, while also trying to convince herself of the same. She must have been so lonely. So terribly lonely. My gut twists at the thought, my head spinning with this magical revelation. And it is magical. Unless I am really going crazy and seeing things that aren’t real lately. But, she is real. This woman with a heart of gold and a smile that could light up the universe is as real as it gets. She’s right in front of me… begging me with her eyes for help.
And I’m going to make sure she gets it.
I lightly dance the tips of my fingers across her palm, her body slightly trembling at my touch. Kendra has never trembled. I saw the signs in her body language lately, but never put two and two together. But how on earth could I at the time? This whole situation is one hundred percent nuts.
“I believe you now, but that’s only because I’ve been with you these past few weeks and seen the complete change.”
“But my mom,” she cries softly, her lip trembling again with the coming of new tears.
“She’s fine. I saw her today.”
Her eyes light up. “You did?”
I quirk up one side of my face in a smile. “That’s where I’ve been all day. I had to see for myself how you seemed to know so much about a girl who owns a café in Sheridan.”
Something seems to dawn on her. “You remembered me?”
Grabbing her fingers, I lace them together with mine. “You were kind of hard to forget.”
I note the sharp intake of breath, her chest heaving, her smile wide. Just those little touches that tell me I affect her produce a heightened awareness inside of me. I suddenly feel like I’m twenty again, on dates with my first serious girlfriend. Except, this seems… more. So much more.
“I so wanted to see your new movie and meet you after.”
Her statement after everything surprises me somewhat. But, still. I answer anyway.
“I looked for you at the after party.”
Her eyes light up like a thousand-watt bulb again. Something which again sets my stomach fluttering with a euphoria I haven’t felt in years. It’s so strange as I’m looking at Kendra, but I can’t see her. All I can see now is Audrey. Sweet, beautiful, coffee-bean-colored-hair Audrey.
“You did?” she asks again, her voice turning up a notch and making me laugh.
“Sure. I wanted to see you again… talk to you. I had been thinking about you all day and when I couldn’t spot you in the movie theatre, I had felt certain I would spot you at the after party. It’s strange—I felt so disappointed that you never turned up, not realizing you were with me that whole time.”
Her eyes glance down like she’s unsure of herself. “But, I’m just a small town barista from Sheridan.”
Gently, I lift her chin up so that we make eye contact. “You’re not just anything. You can never be just, Audrey. You’re everything.”
“How can you say that?” she implores. “You hardly know me.”
She’s right. I do hardly know her. It doesn’t stop the fact that I feel it in my gut… in my heart. “I have seen and heard enough these past few weeks to know that it’s true. Besides, you turning up here after your wish comes true must tell you something. It was obviously meant to be.”
Her eyes are full of wonderment as she takes in my words. “But, I’m in someone else’s body while my own is stuck in a coma over a thousand miles away. This was not the kind of wish I had hoped would come true.”
I sigh, gripping her hand. “I know, but you’re not on your own anymore. You have me to figure all this out with.”
She closes her eyes, releasing a breath. “You don’t realize how much of a relief it is to hear that. Although,” she says, opening her eyes again. “I can’t just simply carry on as Kendra while leaving my life behind in Sheridan. I have my mom… my life back there.”
I place my other hand over hers, noting that this feels so right. “I know you can’t, and we will address that. I will take you to Sheridan if that’s what you want. You can go anytime you ask. I just request that I be there with you.”
She bites her lip, trying to suppress her wide smile. “Of course.”
“And if we go, we must tread carefully. It’s probably not a good idea that you visit yourself in the hospital.” I internally laugh at that sentence. I’ve entered cuckoo town.
“Why not?” she asks, quizzically.
I shrug my shoulders. “I don’t know. Could it somehow rip a hole in the universe? Cause a glitch in the space-time continuum?” I shake my head. “Man, I’ve been watching too much Star Trek.”
A burst of giggles sound around the room causing me to look her way. In that moment, I’m struck by the beauty in her eyes. The childlike innocence that’s currently causing my heart to beat against my ribcage has me stumbling over the words trying to form in my head. As an actor, I have never been stuck for words, but this woman in front of me has caused me to. Just by simply being.
“I have no idea what will happen, but I need to know everyone is okay.”
I nod my head. “I can assure you that Full of Beans is running smoothly, and your mom—although rightly worried about you—is fine. But, I can totally understand why you would want to be there.” I pause a moment. “When would you like to go?”
Her eyes sparkle at my question. “Is tomorrow too soon?”
I have so many work commitments coming up—some of them important as they’re to do with my next movie. Normally, I would care, but right now, for the first time in my life, I find myself being in this extremely strange position where my acting career has little meaning to me. All I can seem to care about is this lost soul in front of me. A woman I hardly know but feel I must know.
“I will see what I can do.”
