Afraid to look up, Elly kept her face down.
“I’m – no, was - a secretary for a large shipping company. I was good at my job - the executive secretary to the president. I’m pretty sure he couldn’t live without me. It was good pay, vacations even. I was saving up to buy a nice house in this suburb that was just…perfect. I thought I had everything I ever wanted. Then I met Aaron.” It was the first time in days that she had said his name. It caught in her throat like a lemon drop. “I met Aaron and he was totally different.”
He was like a light that I didn’t know was out in me, she thought to herself. Kim nodded, as if she had known a million men like this.
“I fell in love so fast, so hard. I couldn’t even breathe, and I thought – if I don’t marry this man, I’ll die – and so I did. He made me love art, and food, but more than that, I loved him. It was like a great love story you see in the movies. He made me things. He encouraged me to buy my house and we were so… happy. I was always overjoyed at my life and found it incredible. My friends, I think, saw something else. He was very caught up in his art and his successes and trials made him very...emotional. I feel so stupid now, but...”
Kim’s face softened. She offered, “You thought it was sexy.”
Elly felt her heart wilt. “Yes! But more than that, I loved being a part of him expressing his creativity. I was part of his… passion. My job was so boring, and I was grateful that he was an escape from all that. We got married. He loved my mother, but didn’t handle it well when she passed away.” She felt her anger pouring over the table, out onto the street. “He had no roots in anything but his art. I knew he loved me. Then why did he, I mean how could he?” Elly stopped. “I’m sorry. I’m done for today. This is the first time I’ve talked about this to anyone. I feel terrible – you are a very nice stranger, assuming that you will get the nice ‘I’m new in town’ speech, and I unload all this baggage on you. You can go if you want. I would understand.”
Kim narrowed her eyes. “Are you kidding me? This is the most exciting thing I’ve heard in a long time. You picked up and just drove away from your life. You’ve done what a lot of us have thought about doing, many times.” She put her hand over Elly’s. “Not that it’s a good thing. It’s just…a brave thing. The people around here,” she said, waving her arm around, “are pretty boring. They are stuck in their upper class lives, get their coffee every morning, talk about politics – about which they all agree on anyway – spend too much money on their children’s schools, and get plastic surgery. You’re the most honest thing to come my way in awhile.” Elly surrendered a small smile.
The morning passed quickly. Elly shared more about herself than she ever had with any of her friends in Georgia. Kim told her stories that made her blush and laugh about the neighbors, the inhabitants of this strange little chic suburb, this Clayton. Elly had three hot chocolates and Kim had two more lattes and pumpkin bread. By the time noon rolled around, Elly’s ambition to drive into oblivion had disappeared. Her exhaustion soaked into her bone marrow.
“So what’s next for you?” Kim asked.
“I don’t know…I was headed west. I thought it would be pretty.” Elly winced at how stupid she sounded and stretched her arms above her head. “I’ll probably just find a hotel and stay the night and leave in the morning.”
Kim pestered her with rapid questions, “So there is no one there that you are going to meet? What is your plan? Do you know anyone out there?”
“Nope. I just thought I would drive until I found somewhere I liked.”
“So, what about here?” Kim asked.
“Where…is here?” Elly asked. Kim gave a grin. “You are in Clayton, Missouri. Land of heat and flowers.”
“Here?” Elly glanced around at the well-dressed crowd sipping their overpriced drinks behind the shiny marble countertop. “Yeah...I don’t think I really fit in here,” she lamented, unable to picture her squat body waddling down the posh main street.
“Yeah. I don’t either.” Kim turned her head thoughtfully.