Holly sat staring out the frosty coffee shop window. She was finally settling down into her new home, new job, and new life. Moving from Middletown, Ohio to New York City to start her career as a journalist, all in the span of a year had changed her life. Looking back on it, maybe she moved on too quickly. She had lost touch with all her old friends and even her family. But if that was what it took to put the past behind her and start to heal, then she was willing to sacrifice. Holly's mind suddenly filled with all the memories of that day. Her eyes burned from trying to fight back the tears. The sound of the screeching tires rang in her ear, and James, if he only knew how much she missed him. Holly leaped from her chair to leave the shop and try to forget. She can still remember the feeling of putting on her dress that day. Her excitement building with every button being done up or from every hair being perfectly curled. Peaking out the back window down at all her closest family and friends in their beautiful sun dresses and suits seated in her luscious garden. She could almost hear the sound of the soft violin playing in the rose garden she had grown up smelling every waking morning. But the sound of the violin suddenly turned into noisy honking as Holly stepped out onto the busy sidewalk. She looked around at the people bustling down the street and the cars moving as slow as the molasses in her grandma’s cookies. She headed back towards her sky scraping office building and up to her second home.
"Oh! Ms. Lambert you have a new assignment waiting for you in your office!" Holly’s boss seemed to be piling on the workload lately. She couldn't understand how she would be able to fit another project in her busy schedule. "This one takes priority, got that Holly?"
Holly opened the door to her picture window office to find a young man dressed in khakis and a sweater vest looking out onto Broadway and 49th. She quickly shut the door and turned back towards her boss. "Who's that man in my office?" she said nervously.
"That's your assignment! His name is Joshua Kennedy; he is that photographer that people have been raving about? His new book is coming out soon? Ringing any bells here?" Holly stared back, lost for words. "No? Well you'll be able to get to know him really well over the next few weeks, he's your new focus article for the release of his book!"
Holly stood in front of her door trying to regain her composure. "Joshua Kennedy?" Shaking her head, she looked towards her secretary.
"Holly, he was in Vanity Fair's top ten most eligible bachelors! Get in there!" Leave it to Janine to know everything about the men in NYC.
She opened her office door and eased her way inside towards her desk. "Hello there, Joshua is it? I'm Holly Lambert. Apparently you are my new assignment."
"So I’ve heard. I hope it's not to much trouble on such short notice." He said as he slowly walked towards her.
"No, no. It's all part of being a journalist in New York! So I’m going to have to follow you around on some photo shoots, do you have any coming up?"
"Skating in central park. I'll be taking some photos of it this weekend actually; it would be great if you joined me! Maybe we could grab some dinner afterwards."
Holly hesitated for a moment and the thought of James flashed in her mind. She looked up and met Joshua's eyes. "I will be there for the central park shoot, but i have a previous engagement for dinner that evening."
"Oh well that's ok, maybe next time then! So I’ll meet you by the rink at say...7? I'll leave you some of my proofs so you can take a look at my work." He handed her a thick leather binder. "Sorry to cut this so short but I'm meeting my mother for lunch!" He said, grabbing the door handle. "See you Saturday!"
The door shut and Holly sat at her desk not knowing what to think. He was definitely a handsome man that was for sure. She turned to her computer and without shame did what every girl does when they meet a man, searched him on Google. She was amazed to see all the wonderful things he had done with his work. She read about a gallery opening he dedicated to charity and profits from his past books going towards the homeless in New York. Not to mention his photos had a way of capturing the most beautiful aspect of everything from a raindrop falling from a petal to the innocence of a child. Holly found herself smiling as she read on about Joshua Kennedy and was beginning to look forward to seeing him work his magic this weekend.
Saturday evening rolled around and Holly was trying to get ready for the meeting with Joshua but no matter what she put on she felt like the Stay Puff Marshmallow man. She couldn't understand why she was so nervous for this meeting. He was only a client its not like she was going on a date or anything. Holly made her way down to her car and off the Central Park. Fifteen times. That's how many times she checked her hair in the rear-view mirror. She made her way down to the rink and saw Joshua already taking photos of children spinning in their figure skates. She walked up behind him and he turned to meet her eyes.
"Holly! Glad to see you! You look great! Isn't this just perfect? Light snow and families skating together." He took her hand and led her to the opening of the rink. They stood together watching the ice skaters as the sky turned to night.
Holly turned to Joshua. "So I read about all the charitable things you've done with your work. What made you decide to do that?"
"It just seemed right. I mean I have so much and I've been so fortunate." He said fiddling with his camera lens.
"That's such a great attitude to have in a city where money means everything." Holly was happy to be learning this side of Vanity Fair's top eligible bachelor.
Holly spent several hours with Joshua, taking pictures and learning more about his background and how he became interested in photography. Holly must have gotten carried away in the evening. At the end of their meeting Joshua once again asked her to join him for dinner and she almost agreed, until memories of James flashed in her mind. No, she had to remember to keep this strictly about business. What was she thinking? She could spare no time for getting to know a new man. Her future came first in life now, not love.
"I'm sorry I can't Joshua, in fact I’m late for another meeting i really must be off!" With that Holly was darting back to her car and back up to her apartment.
Over the next few weeks the two had several more meetings all ending with Joshua asking Holly to join him for some sort of date like experience. Holly couldn't bring herself to accept any offers. After all, Holly had promised herself not to be involved with any man since the accident. James had been the only man she ever had a relationship with. It was always James and Holly from the time they were college students. She had given up not even talking to her family; she couldn't throw that all away for an amazing, kind, giving and handsome man to the name of Joshua Kennedy.
They had planned to meet for the final time at Rockefeller Center just before Christmas. Holly took her time asking her final questions to finish her article with and Joshua took his time taking his pictures that day. As they stood facing the giant Christmas tree Joshua handed Holly a sweetly wrapped gift with red paper and a gold ribbon.
"What's this!" Holly said as she unwrapped the gift to find a beautiful close up picture of her on their first meeting in Central Park.
"I thought it captured you perfectly, everything from your crooked smile to your sad eyes. Give me a moment of being the journalist here and forgive me when I ask, but why is it that your eyes are so sad?"
Holly turned away for a moment. Her heart sank to her stomach; she didn't realize she was so obviously broken. She felt like she owed it to Joshua to tell him about James and that fatal day a year ago. "I don't talk to my family anymore." she said.
"Oh, well we all have our family problems." He said encouragingly.
"No, no it's not like that. I wish it were as easy as just family problems. But it's so much more complicated." She began to slowly break down as the memories flooded into her mind.
"Last year I was getting ready for my wedding. I was engaged to James, my college sweetheart, my soul mate and my life was absolutely perfect." She turned to him, tears beginning to fall from her eyes. "The wedding was to be held in the backyard of the house I grew up in." She smiled. "With a band and the little white chairs with bows tied in the back! James picked out the perfect tux with a white vest and tie and he insisted on wearing white shoes to match. I wish now that I hadn't fought him so hard on not wearing those shoes, wasted breath and precious time that we could have used just loving each other.
She turned to look at Joshua. He calmly watched her spill her emotions to him and he was openly accepting every one of them. She went on, "The day of the wedding was beautiful but I knew somewhere deep inside that things weren't right. As I was getting ready in my room I felt an awful pain in my chest and as I took a seat to catch my breath, I heard tires screeching from streets away. I knew, I knew right away that it was James. My family rushed in minutes later to tell me but i couldn't concentrate on a single word they said. The room was spinning and my dress felt like it was suffocating me,” she said as she tried to wipe every tear away with the memory.
She looked up at Joshua and he wrapped his strong arms around her. At that moment she knew it was a good decision to tell him everything. She had lifted a weight off her shoulders and found a new friend she could trust.
