Fireflies

Chapter 4

 Chapter 4

   Stratton woke up to sunlight streaming through the window and the sound of honking horns and traffic on the street below.  He rolled out of bed and pulled on a clean pair of pants and a button- up shirt. Once he had freshened himself up, Stratton made his way down to the lobby for breakfast. However, once he reached the lobby, he realized he wasn’t all that hungry, so he made himself some coffee and headed out the door.  He quickly realized he had neither the letter from Kathryn nor his wallet, so he rushed back up to his room to retrieve both.

    When he finally had himself put together, Stratton left the hotel and walked down the street in the September morning sunshine. He looked in awe at the buildings and rushing people.  Stratton wandered aimlessly for a while before deciding to hail a cab and get to Kathryn’s apartment. He checked his watch and saw that it was almost 11:00, which was good. On the weekends, Kathryn never woke up before 9:30, and Stratton didn’t know if that was still true; so he decided to play it safe.

    When he reached the apartment, Stratton stopped nervously and wondered what he was going to say. He could hardly believe that he was standing here outside the girl he hadn’t seen in six years. His phone buzzed.  He looked down to find a text from Abigail. It read

“Hey babe. Hope you are enjoying New York. I miss you already xx Abigail.” Stratton’s insides squirmed reading the text. He felt guilty for not telling Abigail what he was really doing in New York. He replied

“I am, but I miss you! I’ll see you in a few days. Love you.”

Stratton took a deep breath and walked up the steps to the brownstone apartment and knocked on the door.  An older man opened the door and said.

“We aren’t buying anything.”

Stratton chuckled and replied, “Sorry to bother you sir, but I’m looking for a Kathryn Young. Does she still live here?”

The man smiled and peered closer at the younger man. “You look mighty familiar. Have you visited Kate before?”

Stratton blinked at the change of name. Kathryn never wanted to be called anything but her given name. Maybe coming here wasn’t such a good idea after all.

“No sir, we were friends in high school, and I was wanting to talk to her.”

The old man paused for a moment, still studying Stratton before calling, “Rachel, come here a minute. There’s a gentleman looking for our Kate.”

There was a silence and then a woman’s voice calling, “Kate? Well don’t let him stand outside. Bring him into the parlor and I’ll be right there.”

The man said, “You heard her, come on in. The living room is on the left.”

Stratton followed the man into the living room and sat down on the worn but comfortable furniture. He was settling into a wingback chair when an older lady, Stratton was assuming Rachel, walked in.  She was a tiny woman with gray close cropped hair. She smiled at Stratton before saying, “I know who you are.”