Some enchanted evening, you may find a stranger, you may see a stranger across a crowded room...
"What are you doing in the dark?"
The voice startled Sharon, and she quickly looked at her office door to see Andrea standing in the doorway, light shining behind her, hand on her hip.
"It seems fitting," is all Sharon could answer.
"Don't tell me you're actually mourning that SOB?"
"Don't start."
"Start? I started this years ago, I'm just on a different verse. South Pacific? Really?"
"So what do you suggest I listen to?"
"Well honey, if you're going to listen to South Pacific, at least choose 'Wash that Man Right out of my Hair'. I mean, really..."
"Too energetic at the moment. I just feel... tired. But rest assured, the only thing I'm mourning is potential, not reality."
"I get that, but you can't keep doing this."
"Keep doing this? He only left yesterday. It's been 24 hours, and most of that was a case we were dealing with. By my estimations I've spend exactly five hours feeling, and nineteen hours working."
"The crime was called in at 5 AM, and you weren't there. I know that because I was."
"I cleaned."
"Cleaned what?"
"Cleaned the apartment, and the sheets he used, and towels he touched, and the food he left behind."
"What else did he leave behind?"
"Nothing, actually, he took everything this time. ...Oh, a note. He left me a note."
"A note? How thoughtful."
"Don't be like that."
"Don't be like what?"
"Sarcasm is something I can't deal with right now."
"Okay, I'm sorry. What did the note say?"
"I have no idea. I tore it up and threw it down the toilet. I didn't want to be tempted to piece it together later. A note, Andrea. A note! What in hell is wrong with that guy? And what is wrong with me to be thinking about it here in the dark at work?"
"Honey, thirty years is a long time to hold on to a dream, and you've always held onto that dream tightly."
"I think I'm letting it go."
"I hope so, part of it anyway."
"Don't you believe in romance, Andrea?"
"Sure I do... romance between equals who are deserving of each other."
"I don't know if I believe anymore."
"You do, it's just buried at the moment."
"I hope so."
"I've got to go, Sharon, is there anything I can do for you?"
"Thanks. No... I've just got to let this pass and get on with my life."
"You know... you can give up on the man without giving up on the dream."
"Hmm?"
"He's just one person. Shake him off and starting preparing yourself for the person who can be the one to make those dreams come true. Who knows, the person you are needing in your life might be closer than you realize. Think about it."
Andrea left but before she did, she flipped through the musical numbers on the CD and changed it. Sharon laughed when she heard the new song.
I have heard people rant and rave and bellow, that we're done and we might as well be dead, but I'm only a cockeyed optimist, and I can't get it into my head...