Sweet Awakening (Complete Story) by Andrea O'Hanlon

Sweet Awakening Chapter 17

Chapter 17

I opened my eyes to see Lisa staring at me. "Good morning" I mumble at her. She looks wide awake. "Good morning to you too there is coffee on your table behind you. It is Sunday morning and we are going out today." I curl up under my blanket. "I don't want to." Lisa yanks the blankets away from me. "It is a beautiful May morning. Let's go for a jog before you drag me to the shop to make sweet for tomorrow. Which by the way we are not spending over 4 hours there today. I know you didn't have a nightmare last night. So I know you got enough sleep. "Fine, we can go for a jog." I crawl out of bed and grab the coffee she made for me. It has now been 3 months since I fought with Paul and last seen him. After I left the resort. I caught a cab home. By the time I got there. Paul had called Lisa, and she was waiting at the house for me. We went inside and she told me she wasn't leaving until I talked to her. She spent the rest of Saturday with me staring at me waiting. It wasn't until Sunday morning after I had another nightmare. I woke up to her holding me. I finally explained the nightmares and the guilt to her. Lisa told me it wasn't my fault. That her and my parents are happy I found Paul. That my mom told her she didn't mind me spending less time with them. That 4 times a week was excessive. They wanted to tell me they were getting a summer home in Florida. That is why they were picking me up to surprise me and to give me the good news that they found a place. Lisa and I talked all day about my parents and how proud they were of me. For the last three months Lisa has been staying with me or making me stay at her place. I have wakened up to her staring at me the whole time. The nightmare are becoming far and few since I talked to her.

Lisa and I go for an hour jog. She has been dragging me out for her routine jogs. She tells me it good for me to exercise and get fresh air. We make it back to my house and we are breathing heavy. Lisa gets into her car. "I will meet you at the shop. I will run home shower and change. We are staying at my place." I nod my head at her and wave goodbye. I grab a change of clothes and get into the shower. I close my eyes and let the hot water run down my back. My body still aches from the running. I have been feeling better since Lisa made me start jogging 4 weeks ago. She said four months of mourning is enough. Time to join the world again and remember them with a sad smile on my face instead of tears and restless sleep. Slowly Lisa is getting me back on routine. She won't let me work for long hours either. She says she won't let me get lost in work this time. A small laugh escapes me when I remember her yelling at me for not leaving the shop on time last week. I seriously needed to finish packaging the last batch. Lisa told Kelsey and April to finish and dragged me out of the store.

I am almost to the shop when I hear my phone go off. It is Lisa ring tone. She is probably wants to know how far a way I am. I turn the corner and all I see is smoke and flashing lights. It take me a moment to realize that there is a fire. One of the shops must have caught on fire. I can't turn on to my street. It is all blocked off. My heart races my shop was on this street. I back up and find a parking spot. I start walking towards my shop. Lisa is running towards me. "Whose shop is it?" Lisa face has anguish all over. "Tell me it isn't yours?" she shakes her head no. "The shop next to yours caught on fire. The whole block has to be cleared." We walk up to the barricade to watch the fire. As we stand there I can see in through the front window, the flames have come through the adjoining wall and has caught one of the tables on fire. All I can do is sigh as I watch.

4 hours later I am standing in front of my shop. I can't see the damage until Tuesday. Jacob and Danielle has shown up. "What else could go wrong this year?" Lisa step up to my left side and side hugs me. Jacob comes up on my right. "This may be a bad time, but Danielle got a job offer in Georgia. She took it and there is an IT position. I was going to tell you at dinner tonight, but would you like to have a fresh start and move with us to Marietta Georgia? It is northwest of Atlanta. It is a quiet town that doesn't have a sweet shop. You could re-open down there." I look over at Lisa with a questioning look. Wondering what her thought are on the matter. "We can move together. As you know Sara and Adam are moving down there. I wouldn't mind moving to be closer to her and the twins. We could also combine our shop and run one together. What do you think?" The idea of moving away from where I grew up scared me. The furthest I moved was an hour away from my parent. My parents are no longer here. Iowa hold sad memories for me. "Let's do it. Moving is scary, but there is nothing holding me here anymore."

Tuesday morning Kelsey and I sift through the rumble to see if we could salvage anything. The insurance company called earlier to let me know that everything is considered destroy. That in a week I will get a check after everything is appraised. They estimate somewhere near 40,000 for replacement cost. Her number shocked me. As I look through the destruction. 40,000 is what is it going to take me restart a new shop. I go into the office to see if any of the files are salvageable. Kelsey joins me. She looks so distraught. I know she is worried about employment. Lisa is going to let her work at her shop for now. I am glad I keep my recipes at home. I can save none of the paper work.

Two week later Kelsey and I are sitting at Lisa coffee shop. Kelsey is on break. "As you know by now Lisa and I are moving with Jacob and Sara to Georgia. I know you have been worried about work since Lisa is shutting down the coffee shop." Kelsey twists her hands together. I slid over an envelope to her. Kelsey eyes got huge when she opened it. "What is this?" I grab her hands to help stop the shaking. "This is for all the years you have been with me. This is for staying through all the good and bad times. For picking up my slack when I would fail. I know you know my recipes by hearts. Molly has even told me the two of you have been coming up with your own recipes. Lisa will transfer the coffee shop to you. So you can open a sweet shop right here. This is half the insurance money. You deserve this. All the equipment that is here is now yours." I got up and moved my chair closer to her. Kelsey is trying not to cry now. "Thank you so much. But..." I squeeze her shoulder. "Yes, you do. You deserve every penny of it. Since you won't need all of it to remodel this place. Make sure you spend some of that money on you and Molly."

I just got back from checking another sites construction progress in Dyersburg Tennessee. Instead of going straight to the office to work. I walk down to capitals for lunch. For the thousandth time since she walked out the door. I am thinking of Christine. How I wished I wouldn't have pushed her. How I would have went after her. Instead, I am a coward. I come to a corner and wait for the light to change. I swear I hear Christine laugh. It has to be my imagination is playing with me. The light finally changes. I look both ways as I cross the street. There about a block away from me I see Christine a head of me. I am desperate to get to her. The sidewalk is crowded with the lunch rush. I try my best to get to her. By the time I reach the spot she was Christine has disappeared. My head is running with thoughts. There is no way that could have been her. Christine is in Iowa running her sweet shop oblivious to the fact I miss her. I turn around and find a seat in capital. I pull out a piece of paper and write down all my feelings and what I would have said to Christine if she was really here. When I get back to the office, I give it to my secretary and tell her to shred it.