Ghost of my Past

Chapter 3- Explanations

    Sylvie seemed to sense that I was having trouble finding words, so she added,

    "Of course you can, Kelly. Charlie would love to talk," I gave her a look as she said this, as she cleared everyone away from the end of the bar. I mean, I knew who was behind me, but as long as he stayed behind me, it wasn't real. Not yet, until he sat down beside me.

    "Faith, what happened? Why did you leave?" That got me to turn to face him. Only one person called me by my middle name. As soon as I looked him in the eyes, I immediately closed mine, tipping my head down, until his hand reached out and gently guided my chin back up.

    "The real reason I left. I loved my job, you know that better than most people, Kelly. But the accident… The one thing I never told you, was that I had asked my doctor what I would need to do to get him to sign off on being fit for duty. He gave me the information for the best physical therapy in the country, the only thing was it was in New York City."

    "So that's why you left? You just wanted to get your job back?" He paused for a moment, but before he could continue, I said,

    "I didn't tell you because I knew if I did, I wouldn't have been able to leave. Kelly, it was an impossible decision. Choosing between the only two things I've ever really loved. No matter which I chose, I knew it meant losing the other."

    "Did it work? The therapy. Did you get your clearance back?"

    "No. That's why I couldn't come back until now. I mean, I've healed. But not enough to ever get my job back. As soon as my doctor told me that, I couldn't come back here. I left you in order to recover so that I could continue doing the only other thing I'd loved, and now that's been ripped away from me too."

    "Char, I can't imagine how that felt. And I don't know what I would have said or done if you had felt like you could have told me back then, but I'd like to think that I'd have encouraged you to go. I do know that you loved your job as much as I do. And I know what it feels like to think you might not be able to do it."

    "And what I've come to realize now, is that I never should have left. I may have lost the job, but at least I still had someone who cared about me enough to risk his own life to get me out of that fire."

    "Of course I did. Charlie, I would have done anything for you. I thought I could forget everything with Stella, but I think she saw through it."

    We sat there in silence, just sipping our drinks. Until Kelly asked,

    "Do you plan to stay in the city?"

    "Not sure yet. I'm staying with Sylvie for now. But we'll see."

    "You wanna get outta here with me?"

    "I'd like that, yeah." And with that, we strolled out of Molly's and down the street.