A Couple Weeks in Book 1

Or weekends that she'll be here and that'll be that. 

It's not a surprise. She wasn't destined to be here for long, her future is brighter than this dusty watering hole. I s'pose that's the nature of being stuck in a pit stop. People come and they go. 

And I was not nor will I be the one that she calls, so I tried to not get too attached. 

But still, it was difficult... 

There is something to be said for someone who doesn't quite realize how bright the room gets when they walk into it. She is ambitious, both professionally and personally. She went for a career even though she wasn't sure she could pull it off as a relatively new mom but she can and she will and it is obvious it shouldn't have even been in question. And she holds her family together by a sheer force of will I have trouble explaining. She does everything. The kids, cleaning, cooking, the dog, the...husband, working full-time and part-time, and games of summer all happen because of her. And yet she is perpetually being taken for granted. But she keeps doing all the things because she loves so much. Them and him. 

But she cries too easily. I think it's complicated and I don't think she's entirely happy. I think she wants him to love her like she loves him but I'm not sure she feels it and it makes her sad. She doesn't deserve to cry.  

She doesn't feel it or see it but she is beautiful. So beautiful. In so many ways. She is witty and brilliant and wry, and confident in her beliefs and opinions even when she is so wrong. And she won't keep it a secret when she thinks you're wrong or being stupid but she won't make you feel bad because of it. When she has the weight of the entire world on her shoulders, she will stop and ask you what's wrong. Her tastes and takes are impeccable and it's difficult to find something in my library that isn't in hers. 

And I can't see everything and I only hear when she's upset but he should take a moment and see the life she's made for him and be grateful and love her the way she deserves to be loved. Because she deserves the greatest of all loves.

As for me, I'm going to enjoy the few remaining shifts we have together. I'll enjoy our effortless banter and the color she brings into this old place. I will chide her for her incessant sighing and the rolling of the eyes. I'll try the awful food she tries to get me to eat. And I'll listen when she need to talk. 

And on the last day, I'll tell her I'm going to miss her incredibly, I'll hug her goodbye, and I'll watch her walk out the door. And be happy that I, at least, got to know her for one truly memorable moment.