Fractured [SHAWN MENDES]

~78~

For the first time since opening Ford's, Taryn was taking a day off. Unlike The Good Luck Lounge, her place was open seven days a week. She wanted to have twenty-four hours with her boyfriend when he returned from Los Angeles, so when Patricia offered to manage the brewpub for a shift, she jumped at the offer.

She'd arranged to meet Shawn near the baggage carousels at Pearson International Airport, and the longer she waited, the more impatient she became. It had been a long three weeks without him while he traveled around promoting his new album. They'd been back together for almost two months, and during that time she'd moved in with him. All she wanted was to hold him in her arms again and feel his plump lips against hers. Thinking about this made her flush as she stood on her tiptoes to see if a head of tousled brown curls was visible above all the other people walking down the ramp.

"You look like you are waiting for someone special," a woman next to her, who was probably in her seventies, remarked with a little laugh.

Taryn turned and smiled. "I haven't seen my boyfriend in forever."

"Forever, eh? I'm in the same boat. My sweetie is arriving from Los Angeles and it's been forever for us, too."

"How long?"

"It was fifty-two years this June," she said as if that was nothing at all.

Taryn's eyes went wide. "Why haven't you seen each other?"

"Let's see if I can tell this before our men arrive," she winked. "Ephraim and I were college sweethearts at Berkeley, and everyone thought we'd get married after graduating. He was offered a job overseas, but I didn't want to leave California because my whole family was there. We fought about it that entire summer, and eventually he left for Italy while I stayed behind, regretting my decision. We met other people, got married, and had children. My husband's job brought us to Canada and now it's my home. I was widowed six years ago, and out of the blue, Ephraim contacted me on Facebook. Turns out he lost his wife to cancer around the time I lost my Carl. We started chatting and realized we still had feelings for each other, and now here we are, meeting up for the first time in over half a century."

"It's so romantic that you found your way back to each other!"

"He was my first love, and I'm hoping he'll be my last. No disrespect to Carl, but Ephraim was always the one. Sometimes life is complex, but I like to think it works out in the end," the older woman said wisely.

"My boyfriend and I were on a break for months, but suddenly that doesn't seem so long. I think I'd wait over fifty years for him, too, though."

Taryn looked out at the throng of people again and spotted the love of her life walking towards her with a guitar in one hand and his backpack slung over the opposite shoulder. She waved enthusiastically, and he responded by giving her a smile and increasing his pace to almost a jog.

"Oh he's a doll," her new friend commented. "Fifty years without him would be misery."

"He's pretty great, alright. I hope you have a wonderful reunion with Ephraim!" She impulsively gave the woman a quick hug before running to meet Shawn.

As she approached him, he set down the guitar and opened his arms so that she could jump into them. He swung her around, making sure she didn't hit anyone, and then gave her a long deep kiss. "I missed you so much," he whispered in her ear.

After a couple more smooches, they retrieved his luggage. Taryn looked over and saw the older woman with a handsome man of the same age. The loving smiles on their faces made it obvious that even after fifty-two years, their feelings had remained strong.