What Happened to Lydia Deetz?

The Pain of the Past

White River Junction, Vermont - October 2007

Lydia Deetz opened her eyes as the sound of a distant train could be heard. The sun was beginning to come out, and Lydia knew that it was time time to start a new day. Just like she had done every day for the last ten years, Lydia threw on her work uniform, and headed down to the coffee shop which she had called her second home for the past decade. The chilly October air whispered through the empty streets of White River Junction, Vermont, as she walked with a solemn purpose that seemed to echo the quiet town's mood.

Behind the counter where she usually stood every day, Lydia's eyes danced over the familiar faces of the regulars, each one a silent narrative of a life lived in the shadows of the Green Mountains. She greeted them with a forced smile, her heart feeling heavier with each passing moment. Normally showing a smile to her customers wasn't that hard... but today was a very painful day for Lydia. Today was a day she had learned to dread over the years, as it was a painful reminder of a mistake in her past she had tried to bury deep within her soul. It was the anniversary of the day she had given up her unborn child using dark mystical arts she should have never tampered with. The sting of how terrible she felt that day eighteen years ago was still just as strong then as it was this very day for Lydia.

Suddenly, Lydia's thoughts were interrupted when her boss, a burly man named Larry with a penchant for Hawaiian shirts, even in the brisk fall weather, approached her. "Lydia, I need you to do something for me," he said, his voice a mix of kindness and urgency. "We're getting with the times. This newfangled 'Facebook' thing is all the rage. It'll help us get the word out about the shop. So I want you to make a profile on this website, and then find some way to advertise our business through it. Think you can handle it?"

With a sigh, Lydia nodded, her thoughts racing. Technology had never been her strong suit, but she knew she had to adapt to keep the lights on. She had always preferred the simplicity of a hand-painted sign or a good old-fashioned word of mouth. But alas, the world had moved on, and Lydia had to follow suit. She sat down at the computer in the back office, the hum of the machine a stark contrast to the comforting hiss of the espresso machine, and began to navigate the uncharted waters of social media.

Lydia quickly made a profile for herself, uploading a few pictures featuring her face prominently; mostly photographs her step mother took of her (since Lydia wasn't egocentric enough to take photos of her own face regularly). As Lydia began to create a special page about the coffee shop, a notification suddenly popped up on the screen causing her hand to freeze mid-click. A friend request had just come her way... and the friend request... was from Richard. Lydia's heart skipped a beat, and the room seemed to tilt on its axis. The name sent a chill down her spine, and her eyes filled with a storm of emotions she had buried long ago. It had been 18 years since she had laid eyes on him, 18 years of silence and regret. She stared at the screen, the cursor hovering over the accept button, her finger trembling with the weight of a decision she never thought she'd have to make again.

In the end, she couldn't bring herself to do it. The memories of their tumultuous summer romance in 1989 were too raw, too real. Lydia had never told anyone about her pregnancy, not even her closest friends at the coffee shop. The secret had festered inside her like a wound that never quite healed. Lydia had been too ashamed of what she did; too ashamed of how she did what she did. She couldn't face Richard, knowing what did to her unborn child; or rather what she did to their unborn child. So after a long pause... Lydia ignored the request, hoping it would be like ignoring a bad dream—it would just go away. But fate had other plans.

One evening, as the sun dipped below the horizon and the streetlights began to flicker on, Lydia was locking up the coffee shop... when she saw him. Right there... stepping out of a nearby car... it was Richard. He looked much older than she remembered, but still had the same smile that had once captured her heart. Her breath hitched in her throat as he approached, the chilly air seeming to thicken around her. The world felt eerily still, as if time had stopped to allow for this inevitable collision of past and present.

He walked up to her with an unmistakable glint in his eye, confirming her fears. "Lydia Deetz, is that really you!?" Richard exclaimed, his voice filled with genuine warmth. She nodded, her voice barely a whisper as she confirmed her identity. Richard looked excited as he said, "I can't believe I found you! You know it all started on Facebook. I had only found you the same day I tried making my own profile. You made the location of your workplace publicly available information, so I decided to come up and see if I could find you." Lydia looked at a loss of words. It had been so long, but Richard was treating her with so much loving affection just as he had the day they met... only now Lydia didn't feel like she deserved it.

"I'm sorry we lost touch" Lydia said sounding guilty. However Richard only made a warm smile as he said, "Hey. We were both moving around that year, and it just happened. It was hard to stay in touch with people faraway back in the 80's. But I'm here now. Anyway, you busy? I'd love to take you out to dinner tonight."

Unable to think of a good excuse in the heat of the moment, Lydia accepted, the weight of the decision heavy on her shoulders as she walked home. The silence of the evening seemed to mock her, whispering the secrets she had tried so hard to keep hidden.

Later that evening, Lydia met at the restaurant Richard had invited her to. The dining area was dimly lit, the smell of garlic and candle wax mingling in the air. Richard was already there, looking up from his menu as she arrived. He stood and offered her a gentle hug, the kind that spoke of shared history and lost time. They sat across from each other as they began to make small talk. Richard began to tell Lydia of his new career, while Lydia tried to say the bare minimum amount of words. Then at one point Richard said, "You know... I never got married. I never even seriously dated anyone over the last 18 years, because... I never could love any girl but you."

"I'm sorry," Lydia finally blurted out, her voice shaking with emotion. "I should've told you." The words hung in the air, thick and heavy. She couldn't meet his gaze, instead focusing on the tremble of her hands as they cradled her water glass. Richard's expression softened, the lines around his eyes deepening with understanding.

"You don't have to apologize or explain anything," he said, his voice a soothing balm to her soul. "I know you were pregnant." The revelation sent a shock wave through Lydia, and she gasped, her eyes flying to his.

Richard then began to explain, "You remember, I can see ghosts just like you, right? Well... there was this ghost I became friends with that was haunting this old building I was staying at in South America... and he told me during his last trip to the underworld, he saw two people that looked just like the Maitlands carrying the spirit of an unborn child to the great beyond. Then this creepy guy in a striped suit tried to stop them, but my ghost friend stepped in and helped the Maitlands send the creepy guy away by saying his name three times. The Maitlands thanked my friend for helping them, and when my ghost buddy asked the Maitlands who they were protecting, they said it was the daughter of a girl from the mortal plain named Lydia Deetz. They said that in a moment of regretful desperation, she removed her unborn child from her body, but that they wished to help the spirit of her unborn child get to the great beyond, because it was the least they could do for the girl that was the closest thing they themselves ever had to a child."

Lydia felt the tears spill over, the dam she had so carefully built cracking under the pressure. "If... if you knew all this time... why did you never come for me?" she managed to ask through her sobs. Richard reached across the table, his hand covering hers. "I tried," he said, his voice barely a whisper. "But I was lost too. However I never forgot about you. Never stopped loving you."

Lydia began to cry, feeling ashamed that Richard had known her darkest secret this whole time.

"Can you forgive me?" she choked out, desperation coating each syllable. Richard squeezed her hand, his eyes never leaving hers. "Forgive you? Lydia, you were just a scared kid. I left you all alone, when I should've never left your side to begin with. I'm the one who should be asking you for forgiveness."

And with that, the years of guilt and pain slowly began to recede, leaving behind a space for something new. Lydia and Richard then both got up and hugged one another; both adults finally ready to put the mistakes of their youth behind them, and begin a better life together.

TO BE CONTINUED...