The Loving Silence

Chapter 24

"Hi, can I help you?"

"Yes, I have a delivery for mr Hart. Have I come to the right place?"

"Yes." Arlo beamed. "Is that it?" he asked and nodded toward the envelope in his arms.

"It is part of the delivery, yes. We were instructed not to begin lifting in the boxes until we were certain we'd come to the right place and delivered this to mr Hart personally." He shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. "I hate to ask, but this isn't our only delivery today and we can't proceed until the recipient has read this." He waved the envelope slightly as he couldn't help bouncing a little on his feet. He really didn't want to be late to his other deliveries, but if this one went well, he was told it would be a regular delivery job, and he could not risk losing that. "Could you fetch him, please?"

Arlo blinked, a little stunned. "Of course, I'll be right back."

He turned around and went through the swinging doors to the kitchen. "Boss? There's a delivery man out there that needs to speak to you."

Rick continued to carefully add spices to the large pot. "You may sign for it, I need to finish preparing the today's special." He responded without turning around.

"I would, but apparently it is a rather big delivery and they were instructed not to carry it inside until you read the content of the envelope from the sender."

Rick swung around, almost dropping the ladle. Now it was his turn to frown. Without saying a word, he washed his hands and went out the swinging doors to get to the delivery man.

"Hello, my name is Rick. I was told there's something I need to read?' He had his suspicions whom the sender might be, but he hoped he was wrong. Still, he had to know for sure. "May I know the name of the sender?"

"Yes, sir, here you go. We will begin carrying in the boxes once you've seen the content of the envelope and confirmed it."

He reached out to give him the envelope. "Here you go."

"Thank you. And the sender's name?"

He bit his lip, trying his best to fight his urge to turn away from Rick's questioning gaze. "I was informed that everything you needed to know was in that envelope." He said quietly. "I don't know what it says though. I am only here to deliver."

Rick nodded slowly with narrowed eyes and turned over the envelope in his hands to break the seal. Inside was a letter and... a key? What was going on here? The unsettled feeling in his stomach grew more pronounced as his worry increased.

He recognised the handwriting, and he had to close his eyes briefly to calm himself down, reassure himself that all would be well. Even if the letter was from Rue, that didn't necessarily mean that his fears were...

He opened the letter, took a deep breath and began to read.

"Rick,

I know that I haven't been a very good friend lately, and for that I know I should apologise. But any apology I could give you would mean very little if I cannot also promise to do better from here on, and I can't do that. I do not wish to leave you with such empty words. While it may be difficult for you to believe, considering how I have behaved recently, you mean too much for me to be able to do that.

You have no idea how much I wish I could tell you that I'll change, but that would mean lying to you and I don't want to do that. You have always been honest with me and you deserve no less honesty in return.

Since we last saw each other, I have had to face the truth. And the truth is that we cannot go back to how we used to be. There's something I have to do and I don't know how long it'll take or when I'll be back. If I'll be back. Since I don't wish to lie to you, this is all I can tell you. I love you, but I have passed the point of no return. I can't go back anymore. Too much has happened.