Sara's Smile

Part 1

Returning her hand to the ledge, she didn't seem offended. "You here alone?"

"The roof?"

"The nightclub."

"Oh." I nodded. "Yes."

"I came with a group of friends. It was on my list to dance at a nightclub. And now that I've achieved that, I just want to go home and either find a good movie to watch or get some reading done." When Sara chuckled, I was powerless to prevent a tiny smile from forming. "Took me thirty-four years to attend and dance at a ladies only club."

My surprise showed. "I would have guessed you were twenty-nine, maybe thirty."

"You're officially my favorite person tonight." When she winked at me, I felt the butterflies stirring within my stomach. Wait. Butterflies? What was wrong with me? Forget this attractive stranger's warm smile, pleasant chuckle and borderline flirty wink. I had business to attend to. My final business on this planet.

"Is that right?"

"Mmhmm. Get enough fresh air yet?"

I gazed out over the well lit city, shaking my head. "Not quite. Why don't you go back inside? It's chilly out here."

She agreed with a nod. "And you're not wearing a jacket. Why don't you join me?"

"I'll be down in a minute." Ha ha. Get it? I'll be down. Yeah, I should have been a comedian.

Not.

"Okay. I'll wait for you." She smiled and I sighed. Killing myself was one thing, but I didn't need nor want an audience. Granted, if I jumped, I wouldn't have to deal with her reaction to my death, but I deeply wished that Sara would just leave.

"You don't have to. Not like we're friends. We don't even know each other."

"So tell me something about yourself."

I swallowed a groan. Of all the roofs in this city, I just had to select this one. Something told me that it would be easier to get rid of a stray cat after feeding it than to make warm smiling Sara leave. "Like what?"

She shrugged. "Anything."

"I'm a Capricorn."

Sara laughed. "Cool. I'm a Gemini. What else?" When I didn't respond in a timely fashion, she elected to share some of her own personal details. "Let's see...my name is Sara Lawrence. I'm originally from Brooklyn, New York, but I lost my cool accent as we moved when I was twelve. My favorite color is purple. Three months ago, I was diagnosed with Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis, and--"

"MS?" I interrupted, trying to wipe the sympathy from my face as I studied her. Though I didn't know her, I had the strong impression that Ms. Sara Lawrence from Brooklyn was a true sweetheart. She seemed so upbeat and amicable and now had to deal with this debilitating disease. Why did life enjoy smacking people -- good people like Sara, down so much? Life's a bitch, and then you die. Ain't that unfortunately the truth?

"Yes," she paused, studying me as well. "Don't look at me like that, Haley. I'm fine. At first, I wasn't, but that's because I was uneducated on MS. I didn't even know that there were four types and RRMS is the least severe and most common. It may eventually progress to a higher stage of MS, yet I learned that could take years. Years as in decades. MS isn't the death sentence I thought it was. If you take good care of yourself, eat right, exercise, take your medication, it's possible to live a relatively normal, healthy and long life. And right now, thankfully, I am symptom free and I feel great. I still have those days upon awakening when it hits me, wow, I have Multiple Sclerosis, but I'm dealing with it.