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ChapterEight
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Chef.” Andrea held out her hand to the gentleman before her, who eagerly grasped her hand.
“Please feel free to order anything you’d like. I would be more than happy to whip that up for you, Mademoiselle Hamilton.”
Chef Daniel stood before the table with his hands behind his back and a welcoming smile that Andrea couldn’t help but return.
“Thank you, Chef, I appreciate the offer, but it’s just coffee for me today,” she told him.
The man gave a slight nod of acknowledgment.
“What about you, Shelby? Would you like to order anything?” Andrea turned to her friend expectantly.
“That’s okay, Drea. I don’t want to spoil my appetite for later. We’re actually going out for dinner, my family and I,” Shelby informed her.
“But I would like another cup of coffee if that’s not too much trouble.” Shelby held up her empty cup.
“Of course, not a problem. I’ll have our waitress Suzie bring it to you,” Chef offered.
As they watched the chef retreat back to the kitchen, they sipped their coffee and carried on with their conversation.
“Wow, an oncologist, that’s great, Shelby. You must be so proud of Randy for following his dreams,” Andrea said sincerely. She remembered Randy had expressed his desire to become an oncologist, to help people. His sister had died from a rare kind of cancer that the oncology department of Whidbey Medical Hospital had failed to catch. By the time they had taken her to Seattle Grace for a second opinion, it had been too late.
“Yes.” Shelby beamed with pride. “That’s the reason he came back to Oak Harbor. He had a great job at the Mayo Clinic, but he said he couldn’t shake the feeling that this was where God wanted him to be. Now, he’s the head of oncology and finding innovative ways of treating cancer so that there are more survivors.”
Andrea’s eyes stayed focused on Shelby as she spoke. She couldn’t deny how admirable Randy’s actions were, and she realized that she was happy for them both. At first, she was shocked by the pairing as she remembered they weren’t as close back in high school. If she remembered correctly, she and her sisters had been the glue that brought their group of friends together.
“So, I heard that you are a big shot social media guru. How does it feel being famous?”
Andrea chuckled. “I wouldn’t say I’m that big of a star. I do ads for various companies, and I have a blog and a YouTube channel with a few thousand subscribers, but I am not insta famous,” she replied meekly. “I do well for myself, though. So I can’t complain.”
“Oh, come on, Drea, you’re being too modest,” Shelby chided with a scowl.
Andrea laughed at her friend’s actions, especially when she couldn’t stay in character, and cracked a smile.
The two spent the next hour talking, and trading stories of their lives before Shelby indicated it was time for her to leave.
The journey to Shelby’s home on Cathlamat Drive took half an hour. When they pulled up to the property, Andrea was impressed by the two-story brick home. “Your house is beautiful,” she complimented.
“Thank you. Would you like to come in?” Shelby looked at her expectantly.
“No, not today. I need to get back,” she informed her.
“Okay, no problem. It was really great seeing you today, Drea. I enjoyed your company.”
Andrea smiled back at her friend. “It truly was, Shelby,” she gladly agreed. “We should do this again soon.”
“Sure, you have my number, and I have yours.”
Andrea pulled out of Shelby’s driveway as she waved goodbye.
It had been a surprise not only to see Shelby but to have spent time catching up as if there weren’t twenty-four years of no contact. She wondered if meeting up with her other high school friends who had returned to Oak Harbor would be the same. She wondered if they would fall into a routine of catching up on each other’s lives or if there would just be moments of uncomfortable silence and the need to end their meetup as quickly as possible. A lot had changed after all.
She wished she had the power to turn back time; she wished she’d kept in contact with at least a few of her friends, but after leaving Oak Harbor and falling on hard times, she felt too ashamed to be in contact with anyone from her past. They reminded her of all her dreams and aspirations. She hadn’t wanted them to witness how much of a screwup she’d become, not after she’d been voted as one of the persons most likely to succeed after high school.
When she got pregnant with Rory and realized that she would have to do it all on her own, any ties she’d left to Oak Harbor were cut, and she threw herself into making a life for her and her daughter. Now here she was, a successful social media personality but with people around her who knew nothing about her. The friendships she had back in New York and when she moved to Arlington had all been superficial. In doing this, she never had to worry about losing anyone else in her life, and if at any one moment she needed to pack up and leave to start over somewhere else, she could without feeling any guilt.
Being back in Oak Harbor had shifted her perspective, though. Talking to Shelby today reminded her that along with her sisters, her friends had been just as important to her.
