10 Years Later
Charlotte stood nervously as the taxi left and she found herself standing outside his house.
"Idiot," she said to herself. "You're a bloody idiot, Charlotte!" She shivered as a freezing gust of wind chilled her to the bone. It was a far cry from the heatwave which she'd left behind in Queensland. She still couldn't believe what she'd done; jumped on a plane to Canada to see Vincent on a whim, a feeling. Something that said that he needed a friend. Or maybe it was just her own loneliness speaking to her. She wasn't sure.
It had been years since they'd last spoken. There'd been no dramatic fallout; life had simply got in the way. The last time she'd spoken to him he was engaged. That was seven years ago. Charlotte pulled a pocket mirror out of her handbag and self consciously appraised herself. She had more lines on her face than she'd had the last time that she'd seen her. She could see the faint traces of grey regrowth which hadn't been there before. Another gust of wind was what it took to make her start walking towards the house that the street directory said was his.
Charlotte straightened her back and tried her best to walk confidently up the path towards his door when suddenly she slipped on the path's icy surface and fell backwards.
"Ow!!" She yelled. "Oh my God!" Suddenly the porch line came on. "Shit," Charlotte said to herself, frantically pulling her wayward skirt back down. This was not how she wanted to make an entrance. She heard footsteps as someone approached her.
"Are you okay?" a strong, yet gentle voice asked her. It was him. Charlotte sat up slowly and lifted her head to look at him, wincing in embarrassment.
"I'm fine," she said. "Just bloody freezing."
Vincent also had a few more lines on his face and traces of grey through his thinning hair. He stared at her for a moment before his expression softened with recognition.
"Charlotte?" he said. "Charlotte! What?... What are you doing here?" he broke into a smile as he bear hugged her. "I've missed you so much," he said. "You have no idea." He let go of her and looked her in the eyes. "What are you doing here?"
"I just had this overwhelming feeling that you needed me," she answered. "I'm sorry, I should have called. Your wife-" Vincent shook his head sadly and Charlotte could see the pain behind his eyes.
"She left me," he said, barely able to hold his voice steady. "Two weeks ago." Charlotte reached forward and wrapped her arms around him tightly. To her surprise, Vincent scooped her up in his arms and stood up.
"Aren't we too old for this?" she asked, laughing.
"Never," Vincent replied as he carried her towards the house. "What am I supposed to do? Let you freeze to death trying to get to my front door? Seriously, Charlotte. Only you would wear a skirt to Canada."
Charlotte laughed as he carried her inside. It was as though no time had passed at all.