The year was ninety-four
Another school, I’m sure to be bored
Then I spotted you as I walked through the door.
The months they flew right by
And now we have to say good-bye
Why must we always say goodbye
Why can’t we give it a try?
You’re sweet smile fills my heart with pain
‘Cause I know in the end I’ll have to walk away again.
They say love is so great
Then why does my heart ache?
Ninety-six over a year has passed since the time I saw you last
I move so we can be close again
Little do I know how it’ll end
All I want is to be in your life
Instead I fill it with strife
Oh how the days flow by
And now we have to say good-bye
Why must we always say goodbye
Why can’t we give it a try?
You’re sweet smile fills my heart with pain
‘Cause I know in the end I’ll have to walk away again.
They say love is so great
Then why does my heart ache?
A chance meeting on the street
All I want is to sweep you off your feet
But my regrets to myself I'll keep
Another call to say hi
Another time to say good-bye
Why must we always say goodbye
Why can’t we give it a try?
You’re sweet smile fills my heart with pain
‘Cause I know in the end I’ll have to walk away again.
They say love is so great
Then why does my heart ache?
“Isn’t that so sweet?” Sandy demanded. “Did you know he was going to college here in ninety-six? I read all about it in his bio. And he lived in Jackson! Did you know him? I mean I guess that’s silly. Jackson is big enough that how could everyone know every one; right?”
“I knew him,” Katherine admitted. “We were friends.”
“Omigosh! Was he as hot then as he is now? What’s he like?”
“Probably not like you imagine him; he’s a nice guy.”
“Kattie, is that you I hear?” Amy’s voice came from behind boxes.
“Amy!” Katherine rushed to relieve her friend of a box.
“Hi,” Amy’s grin was wide.
“I missed you this summer,” Katherine informed her friend as she showed her to the bedroom that was to be theirs. She walked back into the living room and watched Amy’s gaze land on the posters, her eyes widened before she schooled her features.
“Who put the posters up?” Amy asked as Katherine trailed her down stairs to help her bring her things up.
“Sandy asked me to help her. Amy, I don’t know how I’m going to deal with this. I’ve moved on but to live with his posters all over the walls…” Katherine shook her head.
“Politely ask her to take them down,” Amy suggested.
“How do I explain that? She asked if I knew him and I admitted I did and even said he was a nice guy. Now I go back in and ask her to take them down?”
“So what are you going to do?”
“I don’t know,” Katherine admitted. “Live with it I guess.”
They returned to their room to find that their remaining roommate was now present. Jennifer smiled and shook their hands before Katherine and Amy shut themselves in their bedroom.
“You’ve got to hear this,” Katherine informed Amy. She dug Adam’s CD from her box of discs and put it in the radio. She watched her friend’s eyes widen. Katherine opened the liner notes; her heart flipped. The name of the song was Goodbye and below the title was a dedication.
This song is dedicated to K.G.M. I’m sorry for all the hurt and pain I caused you but I will never regret loving you. Of all the times I’ve had to say good bye the morning after our last night together was by far the hardest. Your green eyes haunt me to this day. I miss you.
“Are you okay?” Amy demanded. “You’re pale as a ghost.”
Katherine handed her friend the liner and watched her read.
“Kattie,” Amy said it softly.
A knock on the door prompted Katherine to turn the disc off.
She opened the door to find Kim and Faith waiting.
“Hi,” she stepped aside for them to enter.
“Listen to this,” Amy turned the song back on and pointed to the liner notes.
“Wow! How does it feel to have a song about you?” Kim asked.
“I don’t know,” Katherine sighed.
“I think he should have warned her before putting her initials in here. Are you worried people will put it together?” Faith voiced her opinion.
“Put what together?” Haley stuck her head in the room. She had transferred to UT the previous year and become fast friends with the others. Amy explained and played the song and handed her the liner notes.
“I would be flattered,” Haley shrugged.
“He should have warned her,” Faith maintained as she flipped her auburn locks over her shoulder.
“I need to get some air,” Katherine jumped up and hurried from the room and out of the building. She needed time and space to clear her head and think. She started wandering aimlessly and without ever consciously deciding to do so found herself standing outside the building where Adam had lived. She wiped impatiently at tears. She could not put herself through this again; he was gone and it was over. She returned to the building where she lived and to her room. When she entered the living room the posters of Adam were gone; she breathed a sigh of relief. It was time to finish unpacking and to get on with her life.
As the year progressed, her correspondence with Adam slowed. He had all but stopped calling by the time she had returned to school anyway. Now his letters were coming less frequently, post cards soon replacing the letters he had once written. Sandy kept her abreast of all the latest gossip where he was concerned. He had been in some trouble with the law over drinking and apparent abuse of prescription drugs. He was also seeing a Hollywood starlet. Katherine spent an hour crying over that news before she resolved to be through with the matter. It was past time she moved on with her life; clearly he already was.
When she looked up in class one morning a few weeks after Christmas break to find a handsome stranger standing beside her professor, she allowed herself to admire him. He had a chiseled face, sandy blonde hair, blue eyes, and was well tanned. His polo stretched across the broad expanse of his shoulders. He spoke with their class sharing his own experience as an advertising executive. Katherine admired what had to say and the picture he made. When she entered one of the on campus eateries and found him reading a paper, she squared her shoulders and approached.
“Hi, Derrick wasn’t it?” she asked.
She watched him look up and smile.
“Yes, you were in Professor Reeve’s class this morning, weren’t you?” he asked her.
“Yes, I just wanted to tell you that I enjoyed what you had to say. This is my last year before I graduate and I’m looking forward to getting out there and getting my feet wet,” she shared.
“Good luck…I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name,” he told her.
“Katherine, Katherine Mayfield,” she extended her hand. She decided to go with her formal name; it sounded more grown up.
“It’s nice to meet you, Katherine; have a seat?” he noted her tray of food.
“Thank you,” she accepted.
“Where are you from, Katherine?”
“Jackson, Tennessee,” she supplied. “Where are you from?”
“Nashville, I work for Carter and Associates; they have an office there as well as one in New York and London.”
“I’m familiar with them,” she shared. “I was thinking about applying after graduation.”
“Go for it; they’re a good company to work for.”
“How long have you worked for them?” she asked him.
“Six year
s.”
They continued to talk until Derrick announced he had to get back to Professor Reeve’s class to address another group of students. Before he left, he asked to see her that evening. Katherine floated through the rest of the day on a cloud.
“Guess what?” Katherine bound into her bedroom where Amy lay across her bed with a book open before her.
“What?” Amy glanced up.
“I have a date!”
“You do?” Amy’s eyes widen. “Good! Good for you, Kattie. Tell me more,” she invited.
Katherine explained how she had met Derrick and his asking her out.
“I’m supposed to meet him in the lobby at six.”
“What are you going to wear?” Amy asked her.
“I have no clue; I should get on that,” Katherine admitted. She finally settled on a casual skirt and top and fixed her hair and makeup before preparing to go down stairs.
“Wish me luck,” Katherine requested.
“Good luck,” Amy smiled.
Katherine was nervous, she couldn’t remember the last time she had been so nervous. Of course when she stopped and thought about it she had only really dated two men in her life time. She didn’t think Kevin really counted. She took a deep, steadying breath when Derrick called for her.
“Hi,” she smiled nervously as she approached him in the lobby of her building.
“Hello, you look lovely,” he noted as he claimed her hand and kissed it.
“Thank you,” she could feel the color in her cheeks.
“Shall we,” he asked; she smiled and nodded.
She was impressed with his manners. He opened doors, handed her into the car, and had a charming smile and wit. She found herself laughing as he drove across town to an upscale dining establishment. It was the first time Katherine had ever been to such a place; she could only hope it didn’t show.
“How did you decide on advertising and marketing, Katherine?” Derrick asked her.
“I like creative ventures. I knew I didn’t want to pursue acting as a career or art but I wanted a creative career; one that let me use all of my creativity to make a living. When I began exploring fields that did that, advertising and marketing jumped out at me. How did you decide on it?”
“I had an uncle who was in the industry and I was always fascinated by his work,” Derrick admitted.
“You said you live in Nashville, is that were you’re from?” she asked him.
“Yes, my mom and dad still live in the Belle Meade area; I have a place in downtown.”
“So you live in the city, right in the middle of the bustle. Do you enjoy it?”
“I do. I like being close to fine dining and the specialty stores in my area. What about you? Have you decided where to settle after graduation?”
“I suppose that to some degree it will depend on where I hire on. I’ve never lived anywhere but Tennessee so it is hard to imagine living elsewhere.”
“You should apply at Carter and Associates; they are a great firm to work for and have additional offices if you do ever decide to move away,” he offered his charming smile again.
“If I was going to move away I think I would have already done it,” she shrugged. She had asked herself more than once if she should have set aside her dreams to follow the man she had loved. Now it was a moot point.
“Then they are still an excellent fit for you. I’d love to see what you’re capable of. If I’m impressed I could put in a good word for you,” he smiled again.
“I am not entirely certain what I am capable of. I’ve done well in class,” she admitted on a laugh.
“We’ll have to see what you’re made of won’t we,” he suggested as he studied her.
Katherine enjoyed her evening very much and was flying high by the time she returned to her dorm.
“It was wonderful!” Katherine told Amy as she changed for bed. “He’s mature which is very nice. He’s charming and funny and…I don’t know the last time I had such a nice time.”
“Did he kiss you?” Amy was sprawled across her bed and watching Katherine.
“No, not yet; it was only our first date. I feel good about this,” Katherine smiled and sank onto her bed. “I feel very good about this.”
“Are you going to see him again?” Amy asked.
“I am. He asked to drive up and see me.”
“From Nashville?” Amy’s brow rose in surprise.
“Yeah,” Katherine nodded.
“Wow. He’s definitely interested. Promise me you won’t rush into anything,” Amy requested.
“I won’t,” Katherine smiled as she tugged her leg up onto the bed and propped her chin on her knee.
Derrick continued to drive up and see her as the year wound down and proposed on her graduation day before she had ever cleared the aisle where she had been seated. Katherine accepted.
Katherine folded the last of her clothing into her suitcase and surveyed her nearly empty room. She had been packing for days in preparation for the day she would leave to start her grown up life. Today she felt almost hesitant. She had been in school of one sort or another since she was four years old and her mother had enrolled her in preschool; she wasn’t sure what to make of a world that didn’t include classes. She was also going to miss all the friends she had made; Amy more than the others.
A lot had happened to her in her four years of college. She had fallen in love, had her heart broken, finally mended, and had fallen in love again. What did the rest of life hold for her? She couldn’t help but think of Adam. Today should have been his graduation day as well. No, she supposed not, he’d never really been serious about school; she had been aware of why he as there and that was how she had known it was going to be an issue sooner or later. She hadn’t told Derrick about Adam. She knew she needed to but she couldn’t figure out how to bring it up. Their relationship had been fairly proper, like Derrick was, but his kiss was nice and she was sure that when they finally crossed that line the rest would be as well.
She had a feeling that now that they were engaged he might make a move in that direction; she had mixed feelings on the matter. She loved him, wanted to start a life with him but she knew things could change and didn’t want to rack up regrets. Katherine sighed. The trouble was she didn’t regret the night she had shared with Adam; never had and didn’t believe she ever would. It would always be a moment she held close somewhere inside her; that didn’t mean there wasn’t room for someone else. Katherine shook off the thought. She would cross that bridge when she came to it. Derrick, himself, was a conservative guy, maybe even more so than she was; she knew they could work it out.
“These were waiting for you downstairs,” Amy announced as she entered with a bouquet of what had to be at least two dozen pale pink roses. “I thought you and Derrick weren’t going to rush into anything,” Amy mused.
“We aren’t rushing to the altar just yet,” Katherine assured her friend. “He’s already warned me that he is about to be very busy with work and in and out of town.”
“Good, so you aren’t in any kind of trouble?” her friend teased.
“No! Actually, we haven’t even been there yet,” she admitted.
“Oh,” Amy looked surprised.
“What?”
“Nothing I just figured…I mean you two seem so crazy over each other and he’s been driving up to see you.”
“If we had I would have told you,” Katherine assured her friend.
“Are you going to read the card?” Amy asked.
“I guess I could,” Katherine laughed. She plucked the card from the holder and stopped short.
“What’s wrong?” Amy asked.
“These are from Adam,” she shared.
“What did he say?”
“Kaitlyn, congratulations and good luck! Don’t forget to reach for your dreams and good luck with Ken.”
“Ken?” Amy frowned as Katherine laughed.
“He told me when he left that I would end up marrying some perfect Ken doll hus
band,” Katherine shared.
“Oh, that’s funny. How does it make you feel?” Amy was watching her closely.
“A little sad, but we’ve both moved on with our lives, Amy,” Katherine assured her friend.
“Can I see it?” Amy reached for the card; Katherine handed it over. “This is his handwriting isn’t it?”
“Yes, why?”
“He could wire the flowers but the note wouldn’t have been in his writing,” Amy informed her as she flipped the card over. “P.S. You looked great out there. Love you, Adam Ellington,” Amy read. “Katherine, he was here, of course, how else would he know about the proposal? His wishing you well with your Ken was a reference to the proposal.”
“I wish he had taken the time to see me,” Katherine frowned.
“Kattie, you were swarmed with people; I’m guessing that he couldn’t risk being recognized. And then right after Derrick took you and your parents to eat. When would he have seen you?”
“I guess you’re right,” Katherine sank onto her now bare bed. She suddenly wanted to turn back the clock and post pone Derrick’s proposal so she could see Adam one last time.
“I have to go,” Amy stood and moved to hug her.
Katherine wished her friend well and then carried her own luggage and boxes into the living room. She had just set the flowers on the counter when Sandy entered.
“Wow, Derrick really went all out with the flowers. What did lover boy say?” Sandy plucked the card from the holder. Katherine grabbed for it but wasn’t fast enough. “Is this some kind of joke?” Sandy’s eyes were the size of saucers.
“No,” Katherine finally managed to grab the card from the girl.
“He sent you roses; you must have been pretty good friends,” Sandy accused. “Wait a minute, Katherine Mayfield….your middle initial is G, right?”
Until Next Time (The Shooting Stars Series) Page 14
