Never Say Never

Chapter 6

But I saw the pictures! It was evidence that my father and mother used to be happy together. He was smiling in practically every picture and he had such a warmth about him that you couldn’t help but want to return his smile. My mother too, she looked so content in those pictures. What changed? Could this all really be because of me? Was my birth the turning point in my parent’s relationship?

“I can hear the clogs turning in that little head of yours.” Ryan leans forward to rest his hands on the table between us.

“Do you think I’m doing the right thing?” I ask softly, gazing at Ryan, willing him to tell me the truth.

Ryan shift in his seat, his face transforms from joking to serious, “Lea, this man means a lot to you. I can see it in your eyes. He left for reasons you don’t know and it’s only human to want, no to need to know why. The man you see now isn’t the same man you knew then, but neither are you the same girl you were all those years back. All I’m saying is that if this is what your heart wants then it is definitely the right thing. And before you jump to any conclusions about the man, remember that people don’t just change on their own, circumstances force people to change.”

I close my eyes, hanging my head, “This is one of those times when I realize that I would be completely and hopelessly lost without you in my life.”

I sigh as I feel Ryan’s palm cup my cheek, “This is one of those time when I realize that I would be absolutely nothing without YOU in my life.”

I smile, wrapping my fingers around his hand. The only person who could make me smile when the last thing on my mind is happiness. The only person I would ever trust with my life and love. The only person I owe my entire being to. And yet I couldn’t see him but as my best friend and companion.

“You sure this is the best place?” I whisper to Mike who is seated on my left.

“Positive.”

We’re sitting at a table in the supposedly information filled bar situated just a block away from the underground club. The place is boring to say the least. It’s like any usual bar you could enter in the United States. There are wooden tables and stools littered around the area. The main bar area is lined with solid, wooden bar stools. The lighting is dimmed down so as to belie the feeling of comfort and peace. The air is dry, filled with the smoke of cigarettes and the fumes of the alcohol being served by a middle-aged, round bellied man, standing behind the bar.

I gaze at the patrons of the place. There’s a surprisingly large crowd in tonight, even though it is Tuesday. The bar seems to be filled with all aged drinkers, some out after a hard day’s work, while others seem to be moulded into their stools. I gaze at the group of young men shouting and laughing at the pool table across the room. They seem to be college goers who decided to have a liquor-filled night out.

“Who exactly are we looking for?” Ryan askes gazing around the place.

Mike sips his beer before nudging his head towards the bar, “See that guy sitting at the end of the bar. His mouth working a mile a minute,” I nod my head as I spot a guy dressed in a plain blue shirt and jeans, he looks to be in his late twenties and seems to be enjoying the attention of a group of young men who are listening to his every word avidly, “his name is Dave and his our resident gossiper. You need to know anything about anyone, you ask Dave. He doesn’t seem too bright, but his information is mostly reliable.”

I look at Mike, “Mostly? Mike I need to be sure that what I hear from this guy I can trust.” Dave seems pretty ordinary to me, light brown hair which hangs over his forehead, a round face accompanied by a pudgy nose and a smile which some would call comforting.