Jesse Martinez paced back and
forth in Cayden King’s bedroom. “I can’t do this,”
he said aloud with frustration as he shook his head. He turned
to Cayden. “I’m not going to the show.”
“Are you serious?”
Cayden King questioned. “You’ve been waiting forever
for this show and now that it’s here, you’re going
to back out?” Cayden glanced at him curiously. “What’s
really going on here? Why are you so nervous?” He questioned.
“This is the first show
I’m doing since Julia died,” Jesse admitted. “She
was with me at the last show and I was freaking out then too.”
He paused and glanced at Cayden. “I don’t think I can
pull it off.”
“Just relax,” Cayden
said as he pulled open the drawer on the nightstand beside the
bed. “We’re all going to be there to support you. You’ll
do fine.” Cayden reached into the drawer and pulled out
his watch and slipped it onto his wrist.
As Jesse stood by the doorway,
he glanced at the drawer and spied a small book that looked familiar
to him. Slowly, he crossed over to the nightstand. “This
is her diary,” he said softly as he reached down and grabbed
the book.
Cayden glanced at Jesse for
a moment before responding. “Yes. I was going to give it
to you after the show. I figured you should have it. I have no
business keeping it.”
Jesse shut his eyes as he held
the book. He felt closer to Julia Taylor more than ever as he
held her words in his hands. A smile crossed his face. When he
opened his eyes, he set the book back into the drawer.
“I can’t keep it,”
Jesse said softly as he turned to Cayden.
“Why not?”
“In order for me to let
Julia go, I can’t hold onto her anymore. I can’t keep
her diary because I’d be tempted to read it,” he explained,
“and if I read it, I’ll be right back where I was .
. . missing her.”
“I understand,” Cayden
said with a nod as he reached over and slowly shut the drawer.
“I’ll tell you what,” he said as he stood up and
stared into Jesse’s eyes. “I’ll keep it for you.
One day, when it hurts less, you might want it.”
Jesse nodded. “Thanks,”
he said softly.
“Don’t mention it,”
Cayden responded as he sat down on the bed and reached for his
shoes on the floor. “How are things going with Kathryn?”
He questioned as he began to slip his feet into the shoes.
“I took your advice,”
Jesse responded as he hovered near the nightstand. Cayden watched
silently. It seemed as if Jesse were tethered to the drawer.
He seemed more at ease. It was almost as if knowing that Julia’s
diary sat in that drawer, gave him the confidence to feel more
relaxed.
“What advice?” Cayden
asked.
“I’m taking things
slowly. I want to be sure that I’m with Kathryn because
I want to be and not because I'm missing Julia. Does that make
sense to you?”
“It makes perfect sense,”
Cayden answered. “And I think it’s the right thing
to do.” |
