Henry pulled up to the old yellowed barn that housed the Black and Red Tie winery, he and Vicki were picking up Cara for dinner. Ever since that night at Henry's when Vicki met Cara, all three would get together and have dinner at least once a month. They both got out of the sleek Jag that Henry drove and headed into the winery. It was early evening, everyone had gone home for the day except for Cara, as Henry and Vicki approached her office they could hear raised voices in a heated argument. Henry and Vicki both instantly went on alert and headed to Cara's office.
As they got nearer Henry signalled that he only heard one heartbeat and they peered into the open office door. Cara was at her desk facing the wall arguing on speakerphone with someone.
"I said no, I'm done, it's over," Cara was vehement about what she was saying.
"But Cara, we can make this work, I don't think that this is what you want," the voice on the other end said.
"I SAID NO. Please, leave me alone. I never want to see you again."
"But…"
"No Easton, please this is what I want. Just leave me alone, I can't do this anymore," Cara breathed out with a waver in her voice and leaned forward on the desk. Henry watched as fat tears rolled down her cheeks and made tiny splashes on the desk top.
"Alright, alright," the voice now known as Easton's voice, "I don't agree with this Cara, but alright."
Cara breathed out a sigh of relief, "Thank you Easton. It is for the best, you will see that." There was a lengthy pause.
"I don't know what else to say."
"There is only one thing left to say," Cara replied, her voice more steady than she thought it could be, "Goodbye Easton."
"Goodbye."
Cara hit the button to disconnect the call and sat back. She had known the minute that Henry and Vicki walked into the winery, she had felt their presence. Cara turned to look at them both, "I'm sorry that you had to hear that," she whispered with the barest breath.
Henry shook his head as Vicki stepped inside the office, "There is no need for that Cara, truly," Henry said. Cara nodded to Henry and just kind of looked lost. "Cara…" Henry opened his arms as invitation. Cara looked up at Henry before getting up from her chair and launching herself into his arms. Vicki watched as Henry soothed Cara in a fierce hug that looked as though it had to hurt their distraught friend, but she was crying, heaving silent tears that seemed to be her only focus. "Vicki here, take my phone, call the restaurant and cancel our reservations please," Henry asked the other woman there and held out his cell to Vicki as Cara continued to shake in Henry's strong grip. As Vicki stepped outside to make the call Henry soothed Cara as best as he could by simply letting her cry it out. By the time that Vicki came back, Cara was stopping her tears.
"Cara, are you alright? Is there anything that we can do?" Vicki asked handing Henry back his phone and placing a hand on Cara's arm.
Cara nodded and grabbed a tissue from the box on her desk, "I will be." Large tears still leaked from her eyes, but the heart wrenching sobbing had subsided. "I am not really feeling up to dinner though, could we get out of here and maybe spend a quiet evening together?"
Vicki looked at Henry and smiled, "Movies and popcorn at Henry's?" Vicki suggested. Henry and Cara both smiled small smiles.
"Let me grab my coat," Cara said as she turned off the light at her desk to go with them.
It was about half way thru the second somewhat nondescript movie that they were watching that Cara just started talking. She hadn't been really watching the movie, just staring at it with a glazed look while Vicki and Henry had been keeping up appearances and pretending to watch the movie all the while watching their friend.
Cara talked about all the times that she and Easton had, the good and the bad, and lately it had been more bad than good. With deadlines pressing at work and the stress that she was under from trying to run 2 businesses it had become overwhelming to try and juggle all of that and make time for a boyfriend who never really helped the situation much. Forever demanding to see more of her, and yet although was perfectly capable of coming to see her, never did. It was always her going to see him. He had complained that they never did anything, and yet when asked what he wanted to do the answer was always the same; "I don't know" or "I don't care". The times that she had suggested things it was met with a shrug and a deflection, and the rare time that he suggested something it never fell within the timeframe that she had to work with.
Henry held her as she cried out how she never knew from one day to the next where she stood with him. Every day was a question as to how his mood was or if she had done something wrong and was he mad at her again. It was no way to live. In such turmoil, discontent and constant worry every passing hour of saying the wrong thing or doing the wrong thing or having to cancel because of work again.
After all the venting was done, Vicki and Henry both were the ones with the words of comfort, telling her that she made the right choice for herself and for her health.
Cara fell asleep on the couch exhausted and drained after her last batch of heart wrenching sobs for the love's broken heart that she had caused. As much as she didn't want to do it, it needed to be done for both of their sakes.
In the weeks that followed that wretched night, Henry and Vicki both saw marked improvement to Cara's health and attitude.
"She looks better than she did, like a weight has been lifted from around her shoulders," Vicki stated as she and Henry shared a drink after a tough case battling a mischievous water sprite that had been accidently trapped by the daughter of her client.
Henry nodded, "I agree, she does still have moments though where she stares off into space sometimes with a forlorn look in her eyes."
"True," Vicki said, "Something like that will only take time to heal."
After Henry left Vicki's office that night he drove to Cara's place to check on her as it was still early yet. He found her sitting curled up in a wicker chair on the widow's walk of her home simply staring off into space, watching the stars go by, once again with that forlorn look.
"Cara?" Henry said softly in question.
"We used to watch the stars sometimes you know, just me and him." There was no need for her to explain who 'him' was. "Never talked about the cosmos or how big the universe is or what could be those tiny pin pricks of light while we were watching them. We just simply enjoyed each other's presence and gazed at the stars."
Henry stood silently beside her chair as she said these words and watched keenly as she got up from her chair and leaned precariously over the wrought iron railing.
"He hates me now, I know he does."
"Come now Cara, he doesn't hate you. No one could ever truly hate you," Henry protested.
Cara turned to look at Henry, the light in her eyes had dimmed, "He hates me. Thinks I am a quitter for doing this. I don't blame him for hating me. He just doesn't truly understand why. I hurt him, caused him pain and quit. That is all that he sees." Henry stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her for comfort. "I still care, I wonder how he is. Hope that he is doing ok. That he has put it behind him and moved on or is at least moving on. He deserves that at least."
"Cara…"
"No Henry. My life is complicated on an epic scale. That complication was never truly understood or accepted. And to be battered against it every day was like the ocean beating against the rock cliff, eventually the rock cliff erodes and is worn down into nothingness, until the sea swallows it whole." Cara turned to look at Henry over her shoulder, "It hurts Henry, it hurts that I decided to stop being the rock cliff and be something else, something that the sea could not erode any longer."
Henry could feel the pain that the woman in his arms was feeling. The anguish, the torment, and although he wished he could do some much more, he did the one thing that would bring her even a small measure of solace. He slid the hair on the side of her neck to one side and bit down gently with his sharp fangs. He sent feelings of calmness, soothing, and an image of a gull floating on the breeze overlooking the ocean as it battered against the rock cliffs of his home isle.
No more words were spoken when Henry pulled back from her neck. They simply stood together watching the stars knowing that in time, things would be right again.