Moving Forward Part 1

Moving Forward 1

Three Years Later

He shot her an exasperated look before piping up cheerily,
"Daniela, I found out I have cancer and my dog got run over."
"Wha...oh well yes let's do that next week," she replied snapping out of her reverie, focusing on her flamboyant friend and shop manager Tim. She clearly hadn't been listening, but couldn't seem to keep her mind on things lately.
"I need those ad copies tomorrow Tim, and we should run another special to bring in more customers. How about offering a free drink with every dozen pastries ordered?" Tim tapped his chin before replying,
"What we really need around here is someone who's actually getting some you know what. But yes, that special sounds good; I'll get right on it." Daniela looked out after Tim gliding his way to the signboard with a fond smile on her face, shaking her head. She loved the man, but his hints at her single status had increased over the last year and a half, getting less subtle each time.

Spinning around in her Goodwill issued desk chair, she leaned back and looked out the window. Across the street she could see her storefront sign reflected in the window of the family-run toy shop. 'Tea & Sweets' it read, in gently curving letters sided by a half open book next to a tea cup. "Put one foot in front of the other and just survive" had been her motto. She was indeed doing that, and while business was now on a firmer footing, she was still lacking what she had set out for. Watching couples walk by shoulders touching, smiles radiant, she sighed and wondered when it would happen for her. Having made a life-changing choice to live out this part of her, it was ironic that romance now just didn't seem to be in the cards for her. Somehow she thought the perfect woman would materialize out of thin air and prove to her she'd done the right thing and they would be living happily ever after by now. Daniela’s heart lit up in the next moment, catching sight of her beautifully personable daughter skipping down the sidewalk drawing smiles and waves from the nearby shopkeepers.

Hugging her daughter tightly, she kept nodding and offering small comments as Sadira went on about her day in school heading over to her own little desk in the corner. The child was by now familiar with coming to mom's shop after school, waving to the regulars and after grabbing a snack from Tim, sitting down to do her homework. It had taken some adjustment soon after the separation and consequent divorce, but she'd come to accept that she would only see Daddy on the days marked with a smiley face one her little flip desk calendar. She checked, but today wasn't one. Daniela watched her daughter and felt a little tug in her chest when she forced a smile and dropped her head to do her homework with a small determined nod. "Mommy," she heard half an hour later, "don't forget about the play date with Lian and her mom tomorrow. We're supposed to be going to the science museum, and it's going to be so cool!" Sadira shrieked. It had been a small blessing when the new girl Lian had come to Sadira's alternative private school, she'd been talking about her for two weeks now nonstop and it was great to see her glowing again.

As much as Daniela looked forward to meeting new people, there was always a certain part of her she withheld. It was strongly suspected she had no interest in men after she turned down a single dad from the school that was considered a great catch, and she did nothing to disabuse anyone of that notion. She was going to live openly with who she was; it was just hard to do when she apparently wasn't dating a woman (or man for that matter). It would feel a little silly telling everyone she met "Oh hi, just want to let you straight off the bat I'm a lesbian...well no I've never had a girlfriend, but really I am a lesbian!"

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© Sipoftea 2008

Thoughts anyone?

Sip