Julian checked his watch. Where was she?

“ I’m only 10 minutes late, Julian.”, Eve said.

“ I was worried you weren’t coming.”

” I told you I needed to talk to you. As odd as it would seem, you are my one true friend these days, Julian.”

“ Never thought that would happen, did you?”

Eve laughed. “ No, so I guess hell has frozen over.”

They both laugh. Eve took a seat next to Julian on the bench.

” This is my favorite place.”, Eve commented.

” Because of its privacy and seclusion..”

” Exactly. You can go hours without seeing anyone else.”

” Which is what you want. You don’t want to be seen with me.”

“ Not really. I have enough complications in my life. Being with you would be hard to explain. Especially to the likes of Rebecca.”

Julian winced. “ Point made. She’s still quite upset about me walking out on our wedding night.”

” As would any woman. So, when is the re-scheduled date?”

” I don’t know.”

Eve looked at Julian. “ Julian, I don’t want you to think that my ego is inflated, but I hope you aren’t postponing your wedding because you think that WE will have a relationship.”

Julian looked away, and was silent for a few moments.

“ Since we’re being brutally honest, Eve, I will admit it. I did postpone my wedding because of you. Because I realized that I didn’t want yet ANOTHER marriage to someone that I didn’t love. That maybe I deserved something more, or at the very least, it was something to aspire to. I told you that I would be your friend, and that’s the truth. But, if you want me to be honest, yes Eve, I love you. You’re the only woman in my heart, and in my deepest desires, I want to have a life with you. I don’t think it’s unrealistic. You forgiving me was the unrealistic part, but you did. And since that happened, anything is possible.”

Eve looked at Julian like he was crazy. Then she began to laugh.

“ Julian, you know what? You’re right. You’re absolutely right. ANYTHING is possible. I could feel your feelings for me, and on some level, they’ve given me comfort. But, I can’t think about them now. I don’t want a relationship with ANYONE. I can’t handle it. I can only think about healing, and reshaping a life for myself and my daughters. I need your friendship.”

” And you have it.”

“ Good. I wanted to tell you about what’s been happening in my life. I told the girls about my past.”

” ALL about your past?”

Eve nodded. “ Yes, I told them about my singing life and everything that happened. I..I told them everything except for the name of the man that I was involved with all those years ago.”

” Oh.”

” I didn’t want to complicate the issue by bringing you up. But, I plan on telling them later, once they’ve had the chance to adjust to the news.”

” How did they react?”

” Better than I ever thought they would. They were so understanding. So loving. They had sympathy for me, and weren’t angry that I wasn’t the role model I told them I was. They were more relieved than anything.”

” Relieved?”

” Yes. I had set up such an impossible role model that they felt that they could never measure up to my example. Knowing that I had faults made me more ‘human’ in their eyes.”

“ They love you, Eve.”

Eve had tears in her eyes. “ I finally realize that. They love me for being their mother. Not because I lived up to some image of perfection.”

” Is that what you worried about? Not being perfect? Who is perfect?”

“ I know what you’re saying is logical, but TC insisted that I be his ‘perfect’ wife. My parents had insisted that I be their ‘perfect’ child. When I strayed away from it, then I was no longer their daughter. I wasn’t going to take a chance on TC. I suppose I didn’t trust him enough to believe that he could love a ‘non-perfect’ me. “

“ TC had the nerve to bother you about ‘perfection’, after what HE did?”, Julian said with a strong dose of disgust in his voice.

“ Julian, it wasn’t all TC’s fault. When you’ve been alone as I’ve been since it all went down, you think about your life. I have a lot of my own issues to work through, which is why I took the leave of absence from my job. Talking with the girls, we’ve decided to take a vacation as soon as school is out.”

” Where will you go?”

” On a cruise. I’ve been searching the Internet, and I think I’ve found the perfect vacations for us.”

“ How long will you be gone?”

” To be honest, I don’t know. I’ve planned for a month’s worth of vacations, but it could extend itself due to other circumstances.”

” Circumstances you don’t want to talk about right now?”

” Not really. I….I just didn’t want you to worry about me. I’ll be with my daughters, and we’ll be fine.”

“ What about money? You have enough?”

” Julian, I have more than enough. We’ll be fine.”

Julian took Eve’s hand in his. “ Eve, take your time. Work things through. Possibly, you could even reconcile with TC.”

Eve shook her head. “ Julian, that’s not going to happen. I could live with a lot, but not a baby. I’m not a big enough woman to forgive that. I’m hoping the time away will lessen the pain and make it more bearable. I’m going to a divorce attorney this evening. Going to work through what I want. I want no more pain. No more bleeding. A simple divorce.”

” That’s an oxymoron, Eve.”

” I know. But, if I set all of it in motion, and it’s been handled while I’m away, I think I’ll feel better about it when I come back.”

” Do you think TC will fight the divorce?”

” I don’t know. I can’t see how being difficult on his end will help things. This is a small town; what happened to us IS a scandal, and since I know neither he nor Grace will be moving away, it’s best to take care of it all as quietly as possible. Don’t you think that’s the smart thing to do?”

” Smart, yes. But, divorces can cause craziness.”

“ You’re talking about Ivy.”

” Yes.”

” Well, that’s another reason I’ll be happy to get out of town.”

” Why?”

” Because I went to see Sam earlier today. I confessed all to him, and told him how instrumental Ivy was in the breakup of his marriage. I just blew all her blackmail to hell.”

Julian got a huge grin on his face. “ Eve, you must let me pay for your vacation…it’s the least I could do for you.”

Eve laughed. “ Julian..Julian…Julian….”