The Parlour (a first short story)

5 years had breathed by.


The dwarfed bell whimpered a chime as the door swung open; some places never change. Or perhaps she had.

Audrey shrugged off her coat and stepped towards the counter. The drizzle before had begun to turn into snow. But it was warm in the parlour. It smelled exactly the same when she left, of tea leaves and sweet cinnamon.

“Audrey! It really IS you!”

She couldn’t see whom it was that called out her name, but she remembered the hug as it wrapped around her. It was Kate. Perhaps she had aged; her hug had lost some of its old warmth.

“Hey Kate, I’m back.”

“Of course you are! And as pretty as ever! Have a seat! I’ll get something for you!”

Kate. She always had a way of making one feel more than welcome. Audrey headed to her quiet spot, and slid comfortably into the corner. The same pictures hung on the wall.

“Here, have some warm tea, it’d ruffle you back up.”

“Thank you Kate, I’ve missed you.”

“Sweetie, I’ve missed you too.”

They exchanged smiles.

“Audrey, your eyes have changed. They used to smile.”

Audrey turned and looked into her cup. She could not bear to break the news to Kate.

“Give me a moment, I know just the right thing that’d cheer you up! It’s been waiting here for you for a real long time now.”

Where was it that she heard the phrase. A women’s heart is an ocean of secrets. Kate must not know. Not now. Not this way.

Kate returned with a glass in hand; a frozen plastic box in the other. She looked at Audrey, and smiled.

“Jon never told me his recipe. He knew you loved it. And he always wanted to have just one thing that’d make you smile. He always felt that he wasn’t enough for you Audrey… and the recipe made him feel like he could always make you happy.”

“He didn’t need the recipe Kate, I loved and love Jon. He is more then I thought of him.”

“Why are you here Audrey…? Where’s Jon? Did he come with you?”

She could not keep her heart from wrenching.

“He wanted to, but he couldn’t get away from work and…”

“I know Audrey. I saw it in your eyes. What’s happened to Jon?”

She tried to hold her voice back, but her heart could not stand the burden.

“Jon… Jon died, Kate. It was a car accident.” She could barely hear herself.

Kate slumped back into the wooden chair.

“I’m so sorry Kate, I’m so sorry! I didn’t know how to…”

“It’s okay.”

Kate reached out and held Audrey’s hands.

“I knew Jon’s gone. I’m his mother. Mothers always know. I received a mail a few nights ago, and it was Jon. He didn’t say anything, but there, in the envelope, was this.”

Kate pushed the frozen box towards Audrey.

“Open it.”

Audrey’s hands trembled. Her fingers slowly found the leverage, and the lid came off.

Jon’s ice cream.

Audrey’s eyes swelled with days of bottled tears, and her heart could not hold them any longer. The drops flowed across her red cheeks, and her eyes glistened with a smile.

Audrey was young again.