A Time To Love

Chapter 13: "The Courtship"

1908. A new year. And, for Audrey, an uncertain year. Her mind never stopped thinking of Daniel. It had been over two weeks since she had seen him last, although he never did see her, so perhaps it never counted at all. Oh, how she missed him so!
She couldn't get the woman with golden blonde locks and hazel eyes out of her head either. She wondered who she was, but most of all, who she was to Daniel.
It was as though the stars had aligned, as Audrey looked up and noticed him coming down the street towards her.
"Daniel?" She was so enchanted to see him that she didn't even notice the young woman hanging off of his arm. It was her. The beautiful woman from that very night.
He heard her voice and looked over at her, straight into those sparkling blue eyes of hers. "Audrey..."
They were now just a few feet away from each other, as Audrey broke the ice, "Daniel, long time no see. How have you been?"
"I've been well." He replied simply. "Yourself?"
"I've... been alright." Audrey looked over at the mystery woman as she leaned against him comfortably, "Uhh -"
She quickly spoke up, noticing Audrey's awkward demeanor, "I'm Rosalie Wilson, and you are?"
"Oh, it's nice to meet you." Audrey concurred, "I'm Audrey. Audrey Harris." Audrey looked at Rosalie and then to Daniel and added, "You two look close. Are you..-"
"We're courting." Rosalie said without hesitation.
Audrey took a moment to let it soak in before responding, "Oh, really? Th...That's wonderful!" She looked at Daniel and added, "I'm happy for you."
"You seem to know Daniel well."
"Of course. We're good friends." She didn't stop looking at him, as he stood idely by, unable to find anything to say for himself.
"Well, it was nice to meet you, Audrey."
"Oh, you as well! Uhh...Rosalynn, was it?" Audrey inquired, making Rosalie chuckle dryly before correcting her, "Rosalie."
"Oh, sorry! I'm terrible with names. Rosalie is a beautiful name, by the way."
"Thank you."
Daniel finally spoke up, "I suppose we should be heading off now."
Rosalie looked up at him and smiled, "Of course. Goodbye, Audrey."
"Goodbye! Take care."
Audrey headed off, brushing against him as she passed. She looked back for a moment and watched as they left, her focus entirely on him before turning back.
Just as she looked away, Daniel turned back to see her one more time. His gaze lingered longer than intended for.
"...maybe, we should go there next, what do you think?" She went on before noticing Daniel's distracted demeanor. "Daniel?"
"Huh?" He said as he turned back to her. "I'm sorry, what were you saying?"
"Nothing. It's not important."
"Oh. Okay."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Audrey had returned from her outing, and as she closed the door to her room, finally having a quiet moment alone, it hit her. Tears fell from her eyes. She couldn't quite figure out why, but her heart ached like it never had before.
Audrey sat down on the edge of her bed, wiping away her tears and trying with every bit of her strength to gain some sort of composure. She couldn't understand why she felt the way that she did.
The door creaked open, and Rachel emerged.
"Oh-" Rachel looked at Audrey awkwardly, as he little sister wiped her face clean of the tears she had been crying previously, "Are you alright?"
Audrey took a deep breath and put a smile on her face before exclaiming, "I'm alright!"
Rachel shook her head, "No, you're not." She sat beside her and rubbed her back, before adding, "And, quit pretending you are."
Audrey couldn't hold it back anymore, as she began to weep again, "I just don't get it." She cried, "I shouldn't be crying. I should be happy."
"About what?"
Audrey paused, not quite sure how to explain it, "Daniel is courting someone." She finally said.
"And, it hurts you, doesn't it?"
"But, it shouldn't." Audrey retorted. "I should be happy for him and for her. He's my friend, after all. I should support him."
Rachel rolled her eyes, "Enough with that. You have every right to be upset or mad, or jealous. Whatever you're feeling, Audrey, you're allowed to feel that way. Besides, did you even know about her before today, even though you two are supposed to be the best of friends?"
Audrey shook her head, "No. I just met her today. It was a complete surprise. Maybe that's why Daniel has been so distant lately." Audrey looked up at Rachel, with teary
eyes, and a furrowed brow, before asking, "You don't think that he was just using me, Rachel? That our friendship didn't really mean anything to him, and that now that
he's found someone else, he has no use for me anymore?"
Rachel pulled Audrey closer to her, wrapping both of her arms around her, "I sure hope not, for your sake. But, if I had to guess, I'd say that's not what it is at all. I think he cares a great deal about you, Audrey. Even more than you realize."
"If he cared about me, why would he do this to me? Does he even realize how it breaks my heart?"
Rachel let out a heavy sigh, "I've asked that question plenty of times myself, and I still don't know the answer." She looked at her and pointed a finger to her chest, "I think what you first need to do is figure out why you feel the way you do about all of this."
"What do you mean?"
"Why your heart is broken the way it is. Come on, Audrey, do I have to spell it out for you?"
"I..I'm not -"
"What? You mean, you don't realise that you're in love with him?" Rachel proclaimed, jolting Audrey backward.
"L-Love..him? I don't - "
"Audrey, you can not sit there, and tell me you don't feel anything for him. Maybe seeing him with that girl and realizing he has someone else hurt you so much because you do love him. Your heart beats for him, and to think that his beats for another is soul crushing."
Audrey sat up and paced, trying to figure it all out herself. Rachel was right. Why did Audrey feel so strongly? And, why did it hurt so much?
She stopped, realizing what it was, "You're right, Rachel." She began, making her sister's ears perk up, "I do love him...as a friend. I don't have to love him in a romantic sense to feel so strongly about him. I love him, to the point where I'd do anything for him. I want the best for him, and I want to see him happy, but I guess there's a selfish part to that love, where I want to be a part of what's best for him, a part of what makes him happy. Seeing him with her and realizing that he was doing just fine without me hurt so much cause I found out that he could be happy without me. He could move on just like that, but yet I'm left broken-hearted cause I'm not
fine without him. I can't be happy without him. I need him, more than he needs me, and that's painful, Rachel."
Rachel replied, "Of course it is. It wouldn't hurt if you didn't care so much."