Love In Her Eyes

8

I won't bore you with all the details, but, in summary, I proudly walked the stage in some black Dior T strap heels, which were a gift from Mr. Dior himself, on graduation day with the rest of my schoolmates.

Though I was excited about graduating, it couldn't hold a candle to the way I felt when I got that first phone call from a new modeling agency, their headquarters located in none other than New York City.

My father teared up that day he dropped me off at the airport; with a kiss on the cheek and a wave of the hand, his little girl was going to America for the first time.

I was eighteen and had never felt so grown up in all my life.

I really hit it off with Mrs. Eileen Ford, the owner and founder of Ford Models. She prided herself in offering a global scale of beauty, and I was more than happy to represent the UK.

Before I knew it, I was flying to the United States twice a month, minimum. It was exhilarating, but also a bit exhausting.

* * *

One normal day, when I was at home and not flying across the globe, my mother had asked me to go the store to grab a few things she needed.

So there I was, browsing the bread aisle, when I was suddenly distracted by a figure in my peripheral vision.

Though he wasn't facing me, and he was still a few feet away, seeing his profile was all I needed.

It was Keith.

In a panic, I glanced around anxiously. Should I turn the other way and leave? Should I say hello?
Should I-

"Gwen?"

Aaaaand too late.

My eyes flashed wide as I feigned surprise.

"Keith?! Is that you?"

"It's me. Goodness is that you?"

"Yes," I laughed, hoping he meant that in a positive way.

"I must say, you've only gotten more beautiful."

"Ah, well thank you."

He gestured to our matching shopping buggies.

"Need some bread?"

I nodded, feeling a little awkward.

"Me as well," Keith said, his eyes scanning the shelves.

After a second I said, "So, did your wife ever make it back?"

Keith's eyes cut to mine; he didn't miss the sarcasm in my voice.

"She did in fact."

"So where is she?"

"At home with the baby."

Oh.

Not exactly what I was wanting to hear, but all right.

"Baby, huh? Congratulations."

"Thank you. I always thought at twenty seven, I'd be touring the world with the band, not at home changing diapers or grocery shopping on a Friday night. But life's funny like that." He chuckled good heartedly.
"But I suppose it worked out for the best, the band ending when it did. The Yardbirds, we had our time in the sun. We weren't going to get much further, though. Sales were down, and what little new material we had wasn't being accepted like we'd hoped. And Page was always hungry for more, I could see that from the beginning."

"I'm sorry about that," I say. "How everything came to an end."

Keith nodded.

"It's all right. It was time."