A World Apart
Prologue:
Paths
Audrey Parker had been having one of those days.
Drake's principal had called earlier to inform her that her son had been given a month's worth of detention that he was required to attend for hitting on a substitute teacher, she had forgotten to sign the permission slip for Megan's field trip and it seemed the world was coming to an end because of it, her boss was demanding she start showing up on time (rather than thirty seconds late), and, for the life of her, she could not find her keys.
As she walked down Main Street, her heels a sharp warning click to the people in front of her to move out of the way, she was overcome with a familiar urge. It was an urge she often succumbed to: the simple act of looking up at the sky and sighing angrily in frustration. She ignored the urge, however, because she needed to find her keys.
If Audrey Parker had looked up at the sky and sighed, she would have found several things happening in succession. First, she would have felt some relief from the overpowering stress that had started to cloud her mind around four that morning when she realized she'd forgotten to do the laundry and would have nothing to wear. The second would have been to give up the search for her keys, at least until she reached the car that she hoped she remembered where she had parked. The third would have been for her to glance across the street, through the window of a bookstore, where she'd see a book she'd been wanting to get for some time. She'd make a quick decision, cross the street, and enter the store, where her attention would be grabbed, not by the book, but by the intensely handsome man standing near the counter.
It would be instant chemistry. He would stand a little straighter, her broad shoulders squared, his dark hair starkly bringing out his strong cheeks and jaw. She would blush and smooth her coat, trying and failing to look uninterested, wondering when the last time she'd had a date was. At that moment, the rain would begin to pour down outside.
She would look back out the window, downtrodden, because she hadn't bothered to wear her raincoat. The weatherman was always wrong. A hand would touch her on the shoulder. She would look into his near poetic, military face, and he would offer his umbrella, gentlemanly.
"Please," he would say, "Please take it, if you have somewhere to be in a hurry." For he must have seen the look on her face.
She would shake her head. "No." He'd look disappointed and she'd smile. "No, but if it's not too much trouble, maybe you could walk me to my car?"
He would smile and hold out his hand, saying, "Of course. My name is John. John Marly."
And she would take his hand, shake gently, and say, "Audrey Parker."
And they would walk through the rain, a whole new path opening up for them.
Audrey Parker did not look up, though.
Instead, she continued rifling through her purse, the frustration building up inside her until she could barely stand it, and she became more angry than she had in a good long while. And then the sky opened up and poured down on her, and she let loose a string of curses (which she hadn't used in a good long while) and she ducked into a dingy coffee shop in a foul temper. The next thing she knew, some moron had bumped into her, pouring his lukewarm drink down her blouse.
He apologized profusely, bumbling as he tried to help her clean her blouse. She swatted his hands away, because she was already soaked through, and what did it matter?
"I'm so, so sorry, miss, I'm so sorry, I... I didn't mean... It was... oh, I'm such an oaf!"
"It's alright!" She had snapped, angry. Upon seeing his wounded expression, she softened a bit. "It's alright. Just… Don't worry about it."
He nodded, his face sad and somehow familiar to her. She couldn't quite place it, but somehow familiar.
"Please." he said, voice strained, "Please send me the dry cleaning bill. Here, I'll write down my address for you. My name is Walter Nichols."
She paused. "Right. Walter Nichols, the weatherman." He nodded, goofily, pleased she recognized him.
They talked for a few minutes, mostly because she didn't want to head back out into the rain, and after he made her laugh (a few small, only half-forced laughs) he gathered his courage and asked her out on a date. Through a healthy does of pity for both him and herself, she agreed, and an only slightly altered path opened up for them.
Audrey Parker hadn't looked up.
But what if she had?
TBC
A/N: This first chapter went through several edits, because it was late at night when I wrote it and the tense threw me (it was like, two in the morning, okay?) so if there are any more errors, or if you think the tense sounds weird, please let me know! Thanks!