Pathway to my Heart

Chapter 16

Kayla settled into the green and white striped sofa.  It had been a long and very exhausting day she’d spent with Emma.  After eating at the café Emma had insisted that they window shop some more.  Kayla found window shopping pointless.  Not only could she not afford anything the windows had to offer, she found walking though busy city streets quite annoying.

“I know this isn’t too fancy of a place.” Emma apologized again.

“It’s nice.”  Kayla answered.  Emma’s apartment wasn’t bad.  The floors were mostly old faded hardwood and the walls needed a fresh coat of paint but it was clean and organized and smelled faintly of clean laundry.

“Even the old place you live in is way better than this.”  Emma commented.  She was snuggled up in a large, but broken, recliner.

Silence fell between the sisters and Kayla’s mind wandered back to the man she had thought was Scott.  She had had all day to think of it and now she had convinced herself that the man in the café was not Scott.  Why would he be in such a place anyway?  His wealth could permit him the luxury of eating anywhere in the world.  If you wanted to dine in China he could be on a plane and in China as quick as he could swipe his debit card.

“What are you thinking about?”  Emma finally asked.  Kayla looked away from the stain on the hardwood floor and up at her sister.

“I thought I saw someone I recognized today.”  Kayla admitted with a little disappointment.

“Mr. Rich?”  Emma inquired.

Kayla nodded.  “I really tried not to fall in love with him.”  Kayla sighed.  It felt good to let those words slip from her mouth and in turn place some of the burden on her sister.

“It’s not bad to fall in love Kayla.  Not every man is like Todd.”  Emma reassured.  Kayla mentally counted the times she had had this conversation with her family and even her roommate.  Even though it wasn’t a new concept the words were hard to take in and swallow.

“Well he was like Todd.”  Kayla countered.  He had left her right at the time she had wanted him to stay.  Now, a few weeks later, he was with another woman acting as if the thing between them had never happened.  Kayla knew Scott just wanted the date because she was so stubborn at first.  He’d probably persisted so long just so he could tell all his buddies he could get any girl…even the stubborn ones.

“It seems to me that both of you played a part in your “breakup”.  You treated him like dirt and so he left…he did what you asked, he got out of your hair.” Emma said.

“I don’t know how to open up anymore.  I’m afraid of getting hurt.”  Kayla admitted.

“Sometimes you just have to jump in with both feet and hope that when you’re done you still have one underneath you.  Even if you get knocked to your knees that’s not the end of it, you can still pick yourself back up and start over.” 

“Wow, so philosophical…that was deep.” Kayla teased.

“I know…I’ve been working on that one for decades.”  Emma teased back.

“Well, I obviously have to get over him. He’s moved on and I think it’s time I move on too.”  Kayla proclaimed.

“So you’re pretty sure it was Scott at the café?”  Emma asked.

Kayla hated to admit it but she was now sure it was him…even if she’d been telling herself all along that it wasn’t.  She nodded and looked at her sister with sheepish eyes.  “Why does love hurt so much?  Do you have a philosophical answer for that?”