I composed myself, when I got to Fran's house, pushing the concern, I had, from my mind. Her house was breathtaking & it made me realize that Kyle must be very successful, since a teacher couldn't afford this kind of place on their salary alone. I got out of the car, taking a look around at the amazing view they had here, then made my way to the front door.
As I got closer to the door, it opened & I saw Fran standing there, with a big smile on her face. It gave me comfort that she seemed to be so happy, all the time. It made me think that everything that had happened, was for the best. She greeted me with a hug, then invited me in.
We chatted, casually, for a moment, then she gave me a tour of the house, which was even more exquisite on the inside. As we made our way through all the rooms, I noticed there were tons of photographs, everywhere, in every room & in every hallway. Some were old, vintage photos, while others were current. I loved that we had this love of photographs, in common.
"You love photos as much as I do." I commented as we walked down a hall, lined with framed photographs.
Fran stopped & smiled, as she looked at all the photos. "I do. I always have. I used to love all the old photographs at my grandma's house & those are some of the vintage ones that were hanging in the staircase, along with Kyle's grandparents' photos. Taking pictures is my thing, besides teaching. I actually hoped to one day teach photography. I even minored in photography in college." She said, her eyebrows up, proudly.
"That's so cool."
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"You should see my albums." Fran chuckled, then looked down, bashfully. "Follow me. I'll show you what I mean."
I followed Fran to the end of the hall, on the second floor of her house. We stepped inside a room, that looked like an office, but it was bigger than any office I had ever seen in someone's house. There was a couch & a huge, beautiful, wood, corner desk that looked like it was hand crafted by some gifted artist. Making up the entire wall across from the desk was a bookshelf & it was stuffed, with books, all perfectly placed. Fran walked to the shelf & looked up, almost admiring it.
"Kyle loves to read. He loves history, so he collects vintage books & books about history or historic moments in time. This isn't even all of his collection. He has two more walls of books in our basement. And then these are all of my albums." Fran waved her hand over a large section of the wall bookcase, where it looked like there were a hundred albums, each one labeled with a date & description.
I was in awe & suddenly felt inadequate, since my photos weren't displayed so, neatly or proudly. "Fran, this is incredible. You have everything so organized."
"I have always kept albums, since I was very young & then I had them transferred to these albums. I hired a student's older sister to do it for me & in one summer she was able to transfer them all."
I stared at Fran, my mouth hanging open, but I was smiling, because I was so impressed with her, at that moment. "I am in awe. Seriously." I turned my attention back to all the albums as Fran laughed, at my comment. I scanned a few rows then my eyes landed on an album that was labeled, 'Nick.' I squatted & touched it, before looking up at Fran. "Is this album of you & Nick?"
