Lauren was sitting in her room, wondering what Landon's reaction would be. She knew he couldn't see, but that made it more unnerving. Although Landon couldn't see, Lance and Laura could, and she was worried about what they would say about the painting. She knew it was a little too much but at the same time, she knew she had to give it to him, because she knew that it was the only way to show him that she meant good. It was something to show him that she had good intentions, that she wasn't going to be like the others that Landon had met.
A few minutes later, Lauren heard a knock on the door which made her jump a little. "Come in," she answered.
At these words, Lauren's father peeked his head through the door.
"Hey, Dad." Lauren said with surprise in her voice. It was rare to see her father come into the room and talk to her. He was a loving father but he was not the type to express his feelings openly to people. It was really hard for him to do that. Her mother understood this from the beginning. It was hard at times, but she knew that her dad loved her and sometimes, sometimes at these rare moments in the world, he actually told her that he loved her.
"Hey, baby girl. I heard that you went to take a gift to the neighbors." he started the conversation tentatively.
"Oh, yeah. A canvas. I painted it a few hours earlier. I had to give it to him, Dad."
"Who did you have to give it to? Lance?"
"No. His brother, Landon."
"Oh. His brother. The young man that wasn't at the table because he had a headache?"
"Yes. Except he didn't have a headache. It's something more permanent than that."
"What do you mean?"
"Promise me you won't freak out and you won't tell Mom."
"I promise. Tell me what's wrong with him."
"This is something I didn't expect but besides the fact, he's really sweet and such a gentleman."
"Spill it out, Lauren."
"He's blind, Dad. He's been blind since pretty much forever."
Lauren expected him to go ballistic, to prohibit her from ever see him again. She totally expected him to just be mad, to not even want to hear anything else about the "blind guy." To her surprise, his answer was totally different than what she had expected. His gray eyes were kind and he held eye contact before saying, "Blind, huh? I had a blind friend in grade school. He was a really good friend. Always there for you when you needed a friend. I remember I was his only friend. People can be so cruel sometimes. But what matters most is that you gave him a chance. I'm proud of you, baby girl. I'm very proud."
Kyle pulled his daughter into a long embrace. Lauren knew that this was one of those moments which her dad almost never had. His hugs were warm and they felt very fatherly. He was a sweetheart, Lauren knew, but he wasn't very good at showing all of his emotions, especially love. Every once in a while, in one of those rare moments, Kyle let it show but it was rare to see that. But today was one of the days in which he showed his affection and that made Lauren feel better. Lauren looked up at her dad and asked, "Really, Dad? How come you never told me you had a blind friend in school?"
"I didn't think it was relevant." he said sincerely, with a hint of remorse in his voice.
"Well, thanks, Dad. Thank you for understanding. I seriously thought that you were going to completely disapprove of him. You have to meet him, though. He's really sweet. He's a good guy, Dad. He's been through a lot though. It pisses me off that other people could treat another human being in that way. Don't they have any values, any respect for others?"
"They think they do. But that's not real respect. Never has been. But you, Lauren, you have it and I'm glad you show it to others."
"Thanks, Dad."
"No need to thank me, sweetheart. It's true in so many ways. You're turning into a respectful, caring, understanding young woman. What more can I ask? But if he breaks your heart, I'm coming after him."
"Oh, Daddy. Come on. You're overreacting. And besides, he's too good of a guy to do that. Trust me."
"You've said that before, Lauren. You've said it before."
"I know but I'm sure about it this time. I got hurt last time because I wasn't sure at first and I decided to trust him. This time, I'm beyond sure. I can feel it. Last time, I wanted to feel it, but I didn't. That's why I got hurt. And if it does happen again, I'll do better. I can take care of myself, Dad. I promise. It's not everyday that you meet a blind person my age. And he's pretty amazing. He knows who enters the room just by the smell. And he has great abilities other people don't have. If that's not extraordinary, I don't know what is."
"This young man has really had an impact on you hasn't he? I've never seen you like this. I don't even know how to explain the way you're acting right now."
"Dad, what are you trying to say?"
"Nothing, sweetie. Nothing. Don't worry about it. You'll be fine."
"You know, sometimes you're weird."
"Am I really?" Kyle smirked and kissed his daughter's forehead before he headed out the door. Lauren stood there mesmerized because she couldn't believe the conversation her and her father just had. It made her see her father in an extremely new way. This was one of those memories that she would never forget and one if those lessons as well.
Lauren closed the door and went to grab a book of her shelf. Most of the books on her shelf were about one genre: romance. She was a sucker for romance novels and sometimes that's pretty much all she read. She was open to reading other things as well though, but her favorites were romance novels. She read as much as she could of them. The one she had right now had to deal with a single father who was raising two young kids on his own. It interested her because it was a story about a single father with kids who finds love. Most of they stories she had read were either dealing with single mothers or just women in general. Here she had found a novel about a guy, a single father who was struggling to raise his children while also giving up on finding love. It is when he gives up looking that love hits him in the face. The single father's name was Riley and his children's names were Claudia and Cameron. Claudia was one and Cameron was three. They were both pretty young. The story goes that Riley stayed away from home too much. His occupation was that of defending the country: a soldier. One day his wife filed for divorce and just left, leaving their kids behind and breaking contact with them. Riley didn't take it too well. He had to retire out of the Marines and stay home to take care of the babies. At that time, Claudia was only a few months old and Cameron was about one and a half years old....closer to his second birthday. Riley's world came crashing down when he couldn't find a job and because of that he lost his house. He had to start over and he picked to start over in Pennsylvania. They had lived in Colorado before but he chose Pennsylvania because he had family members who were close to their new address. A year later, a new neighbor has come to the town. Next to Riley's house is a vacant house which is assumed to be the future house of the new resident of the neighborhood. Nobody was expecting the new resident to be a woman, and a lovely one at that. Her name was Marie, and everyone immediately liked her. At first, Riley did not even want to see her, because she reminded him too much of his ex-wife. Whenever he did bump into her, he tried to avoid her and just turn the other way. Marie picked up on Riley's uneasiness and decided to go the way that he normally went. Here he had no choice but to confront his past and this new woman who had moved into town. It was here that Marie realized that Riley had been hurt badly physically and emotionally. From that point onward, she proposed herself that she would help him and his children out, no matter what that took or how long it would take her. Eventually, they learn each others' story and they slowly but surely fall in love. After a few obstacles, they get married. And it ends with the two of them being old and still living with each other.
She had already read the story once before and she had cried like a baby. This was the kind of love story she wanted. Not exactly the same ,of course she wouldn't have the same life as the characters in the book, but she wanted a similar love story. She wanted a love that would last forever. Maybe it was too much to ask for, she thought, after all, there are more divorces now than there were back then, in like forty or fifty years ago. I don't know. I just want someone who will love me like there was no other person in the world that they could love. I mean, maybe it's not possible to love for that long, but I have a hope that there is. That maybe the possibility does exist and it's not just a figment of imagination, or just another part of a fairy tale, or part of a story that was all made up and that no matter how much someone tried, it would never be real. I want to know that maybe there are people who live a beautiful romance. But hey, it can't all be fairy tale. Just look at my mom and my dad, they look pretty in love, and they're happy. They hardly ever fight and they show affection towards each other.
For a long time, Lauren thought about the relationships that she had been a witness of. She examined each relationship without wanting to come to a complete conclusion. The last relationship she thought about was her faulty relationship. Technically, it was not a relationship; she had stopped calling it a relationship with that. Reflecting back on that time of her life, Lauren realized that all of the signs that it was going to fail were there. For one, her "boyfriend" was a million times more kind to her "best friend" than he was to her. Whenever Lauren saw them interact, it seemed more natural. When he interacted with her, it felt like it was scripted, like he had rehearsed every line that he had to say. Looking back on all of that, Lauren realized that it had been doomed from the beginning, from even before it started. It hurt her less every time she thought about it. Then later, Landon's image passed through her mind and it brought a smile to her face. How different it was, she inquired. It was completely different from the reaction she had from thinking about the other boy.
At that moment, Lauren's thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. Cindy poked her head in and said, "There's someone here who wants to talk to you."
Lauren was excited at first, filled with anticipation as she asked the next question, "From whom?"
"Your aunt is here." Lauren's mother answered.
"Which aunt?" Lauren asked, with a hint of disappointment in her response. Cindy was too excited about telling Lauren the news that she didn't notice the subtle change when otherwise she would have recognized it.
"Emileigh. She's here to visit you."
Lauren's happiness level went up about two hundred percent. Emileigh was her favorite aunt. Emileigh understood Lauren even more than her own mother sometimes. And she loved the way Emileigh's name was spelled. It was supposed to be Emily, but her grand parents decided to make the name a little more unique than it was, so they added the leigh at the end. They were deciding between Emily and Leigha. So instead of choosing one, they combined both names to create a unique one just for her. The uniqueness of her name also fit the person. Emileigh was different. Always around making jokes and making the mood lighter on any situation. You couldn't stay mad at her for long because she'd eventually find a way to make up with you. She was special.
At this moment, Emileigh walked through the door.She was twenty-two and had gray eyes. Her smile lit up the whole room and she just brought happiness along with her. She was a professional photographer who liked to take pictures about everything. "Hey, favorite niece."
"Hey Aunt Emileigh. How are you? Haven't seen you in forever."
"I say the same thing about you honey."
Cindy left the room, knowing that niece and aunt would want to catch up on all the things that happened during the time that they hadn't seen each other. She walked away slowly and whispered to them that if they wanted or needed anything she would be downstairs.
Lauren looked at her aunt. She had her mom's hair and the same wide and happy smile. They were sisters, that was obvious. They had similar personalities, Except that Cindy was a lot more serious than Emileigh, but Emileigh was a lot kinder than Cindy and less judgmental as well. It was for this reason that Lauren felt better when she talked to Emileigh. It was easier to connect with her; she actually took the time to listen and to understand Lauren. Lauren always admired her aunt more than she probably should, but Lauren loved Emileigh. It was Emileigh who was behind the scenes of her recovery from the failed relationship. Instead of Cindy being the one who was there for Lauren it had been Emileigh. Don't get me wrong, Lauren thought, I love my mother. She's my mom, the one who had me, the one who was there through the tough and the good times, the one who was there for the healthy and especially the sick times, but she wasn't like most mothers. She didn't have that normal and intuitive kindness that many mothers had from the beginning. She was easy at judging people without knowing them, even if it didn't seem like that at all.
Emileigh's voice brought Lauren back from her thoughts. "So tell me Lauren. What has happened since the last time I saw you?"
"Ummm....a lot, I guess." Lauren began.
"Okay. Tell me all about it."
"Well for one, I'm not brokenhearted anymore. I got over that with the help of my best friend, which was actually that asshole's best friend."
"what?!"
"Yeah. It happens. He was actually pretty sweet. He helped me get on with my life, to forget my sadness. And he defended me whenever the asshole would talk shit about me. I miss him so much right now. My best friend, not the asshole."
Emileigh laughed and then said. "Well I'm glad about that. I still can't believe you didn't let me beat the crap out of him. I would have done it with pleasure."
Now it was Lauren's turn to laugh. The expression on her aunt's face was so serious that she couldn't help but laugh. It was rare to see her aunt as serious as she was right now. A while later, when Lauren had recovered, she answered, "It's fine Aunt. He wasn't even worth it."
"Okay. So how's the painting coming along?"
"Oh...it's going fantastically. I have been painting a lot more lately and I am totally loving it."
"Good, because you have talent."
"Thanks. Just a few hours ago, I gave one of my paintings to a friend I met the other day. He's really sweet."
"That's good. I can't--- wait. Did you say he?"
"Oh come on Aunt."
"Answer the question."
"Yes. I said he."
"What's his name? What's he like?"
"Whoa. Slow down." Lauren chuckled at her aunt's reaction.
"His name is Landon. He's a really sweet guy. I've never met anyone like him. He has superb hearing and he has superb smell as well."
"I'm not following."
"There's something else about him that I have to tell you though."
Emileigh gasped and then added, " Is he a criminal?"
"No. It's not that bad."
"Okay, then. What is it?"
"I don't know how to say this in an easier way."
"Spill it, child. I need to know."
"He's blind." Lauren blurted out in a barely audible voice. She didn't know how her aunt was going to respond but she had to tell her.
"He's blind," Emileigh repeated in a breathy voice. "Wow. I was not expecting that."
"I know. But he's really sweet. He's such a nice guy. He's been through a lot because people don't want to give him a chance."
Emileigh placed her hands on Lauren's shoulders, and added softly, "Sweetie, you don't have to explain yourself. It's okay. So he's blind. It's not the end of the world. I can see that you're happy that you met him."
Lauren's eyes began to form tears, but she held them back effectively. "Thank you. I knew you'd understand."
"Tell me more about this Landon." Emileigh urged her on.
"Well, he's been blind for practically his whole life. But like I said, he has a superb sense of smell and a superb sense of hearing. When I went to give him the canvas I painted, he knew it was me because he said that he smelled paint. I mean, I'm practically around paint all the time. What impressed me was that we had barely met once before. The fact that he remembered my smell is kind of creepy but it makes me feel kind of special. I know it's crazy but it's true."
"Wow. I want to meet this Landon guy. He's made my baby feel like she hasn't before." At these words, Emileigh winked at Lauren. But then, seeing Lauren's expression, added, "I'm glad that you feel something. Do you trust him?"
"Yeah. I do. One of those things that I can't really explain. But I do trust him."
"Well that's a good thing. Your gut instinct is almost always right...or maybe it's all the time, I don't know. But it's something to that extent."
Emileigh stood up and made Lauren stand up as well. Emileigh pulled Lauren into a warm embrace. Emileigh had missed her niece and Lauren had missed her aunt. Emileigh also had something to tell her niece.
"You know why I'm here?" Emileigh asked Lauren.
"No," Lauren said, still wrapped in Emileigh's embrace.
Emileigh pushed Lauren gently away from her and looked straight into her eyes. Emileigh debated on whether or not she should tell Lauren why she was here. But it was the least she could do. "Because my boyfriend, well ex-boyfriend, beat me a few weeks ago. I was scared to leave but one day, I grabbed the phone and called the police. I showed them my bruises and he went straight to jail. I was relieved but then the police called informing me that he had escaped from jail. I needed somewhere to be safe, with someone I could trust."
Lauren was in shock. She couldn't believe what she had just heard. This was not happening.
Emileigh continued. "I didn't love him anymore but I was scared to end it. When I did, he attacked me. But now I'm here."
Lauren hugged her aunt. She couldn't believe this. Right now, Emileigh felt so vulnerable. A terrible thing had happened to her and yet, she didn't stop being a happy person.
Lauren admired Emileigh a lot more than she already had and at the same time, she thought about Landon. Both Landon and Emileigh were strong and brave. She admired them deeply and she was glad that she had met Landon and that Emileigh was her aunt.